In our latest Band Spotlight, we chat to Kye Coulson, who talks about being blind, and performing in East Yorkshire heavy metal band, Silk Spinster.
W] Hi guys, how are you today?
Hey man, I’m doing great. Fresh off the release of our first music video on 10th March so I’m pretty pumped about that. Thank you for giving us this opportunity.
W] Some of your members have disabilities, can you talk me through in detail how that has an effect?
Ok, so I am actually nearly fully blind and deaf on my left side. I have been like this since I can remember, so overall, I have adapted to it fully; however, it goes without saying that it affects my musical career as it affects my everyday life. In regard to my eyesight, my right eye picks up a lot of the lack from my left, so I manage pretty well. The biggest issue here is that I lack decent depth perception. So, there may have been a few times when I hit my fellow bandmates with a mic stand or ran into them on stage because I didn’t see them on my left or because I misjudged how far away they are. Luckily, my bandmates are pretty durable and equally as patient, so we deal with it ok and laugh it off.
The deafness is way more annoying for me, mainly because I can’t hear stereo mixes. I have been in the studio a number of times where the guy on the desk slaps a pair of headphones on me and plays something for me to sing to. I will usually have to ask them to fiddle with the balance because the left channel is wasted on me entirely. More annoying, is when the producer lets you hear the next mix of a song, and you can’t hear how they truly envisioned it should sound through both left and right channels. There are ways around this, and ultimately, it’s not a huge problem, but it is definitely notable.
Honestly, I deal with my sight and hearing impairments pretty well. The only thing that I would say majorly impairs me sometimes is my Hypermobility. Hypermobility, for those who don’t know, is a heritable connective tissue disorder that affects your joints and ligaments. This is sometimes called ‘double-jointedness’ which is accurate, but there are different levels and if you want to know more give it a quick Google, anyway, I digress. my Hypermobility leads to my joins dislocating pretty regularly; if I am having a bad spell, this can be multiple times a week. You learn ways of coping with this, and you grit your teeth and bare it. But there have been a couple of times on stage where I have walked from one side of the stage to the other and then I have felt a stab of agony as my hip partially dislocates. Sometimes its my knees, maybe my shoulders or my back starts hurting, but usually its my left hip. It can be pretty difficult to run a heavy metal show when your leg has just decided it wants to be a foreign entity. But, alas, the show must go on.
W] Have you found it’s affected the band at all, if so, how?
Yeah, it definitely has an effect. My sight and hearing issues are neither here nor there, I don’t know any different, so I have adapted pretty well. However, my hypermobility is a whole other story sometimes. For example, when we played Hornsea Biker Festival last year my hip was refusing to behave itself. I would walk for about 10 mins then I would be in bad pain and my hip would be out of place. It is a strange disparity, having to sit down and hobble about backstage and then have to run on stage and do a high-energy show, just hoping you don’t feel too uncomfortable afterward. But honestly, I love music, I love our shows and I love our fans so I wouldn’t trade it for the world. My band is all incredibly understanding, and I am blessed to have those guys with me in Silk Spinster. At the end of the day, the show must go on, and ‘it is what it is’.
W] What would be some of the biggest challenges you face as a band, and why?
As a band there is a wide range of challenges you face, especially nowadays. There are obvious challenges such as travel and things like that, but that’s just part of the job for us so we don’t really see it that way. What we will say though, is that there is still a stigma around metal in general. We have been turned down for shows because we’re a metal band, when there have been other way heavier acts there who just claim to be a different genre, it’s strange but I suppose that’s just the landscape at the moment.
I think the biggest issue for us and for bands today is getting noticed. In 2021 it was claimed that 60,000 songs were uploaded to Spotify daily. That is just one platform of many, so being noticed is harder than ever. The goal is to create something new yet familiar to grab people’s attention, that in and of itself is hard; and I have all the respect for those who try. I think payment is also a big issue for us and for other bands. You spend months doing shows and in the studio. You spend hundreds of pounds on production and marketing just to get paid $0.003 – $0.005 per stream on average from streaming platforms. We do it for the love of it, for the art, we aren’t in this for the money (obviously). But it is nice to have something to put back into the band to make better and better music.
W] What do you think venues could be doing to make live spaces more accessible for disabled musicians?
A big one is ramping. So many venues across the UK do not have a disabled entrance. Sometimes, this isn’t doable because of the building itself, but if you can, definitely do. It opens up your venue to everyone and it shows you care. Beyond structural changes like that, just being aware of who your artists are. Learn a little about them, maybe have a chat before the show. Ask if they need anything sorting before the show, just build a general rapport.
W] What would be your advice to other bands, who have members with disabilities?
In one phrase: “the show must go on”. It can be hard; you may be in pain, or you may feel generally down in yourself. It can be difficult but try to remember how great you feel while performing and remember that all those people in the crowd took time out of their day to see you and support you. Take a deep breath, centre yourself, and crack on. This comes with a caveat though, know your limit. If you are in a really bad way, seek help and get some assistance. Look after yourself. While the show must go on, there won’t be any shows if you burn yourself out. It is about attaining balance and that can take time and experience. Be kind to yourself, be mindful of the fans, and put on the best show you can; the only sin is not trying.
W] What about any venues that are looking to make their spaces more inclusive?
As for venues, make sure you have your venue up to snuff. Have a disabled loo, a ramp to get in, etc, the list goes on. Each venue is different so I can’t speak to all the changes here but look at your property and work out what you can do it make the experience more comfortable for those with disabilities, do some research and work within your means. The best advice I can give.
W] What inspires you outside of music, think of specific movies, people, and places?
For me I am a massive nerd, I love sci-fi and fantasy stuff, be it movies, games, or books. Me and Tom, our guitarist, play Dungeons and Dragons every Monday; doesn’t get more rock and roll than that right? I also have a Master’s degree (MRes) in History and have degree in archaeology, so history definitely inspires my lyrics. I have written quite a few lyrics on historical things. We also have a few songs about fantasy topic such as our song “Silk Spinster” which is about hunting down and slaying a monster. Horror also plays a role in the inspiration; our song Midnight Life is a cheesy 80s-inspired slasher horror anthem about an axe-wielding murderer. We have a lot of inspirations, but I recon as a band we’re actually pretty nerdy taste-wise.
W] What are you guys working on at the moment?
More and more singles. We have started working with Kai Ulrich from Balansonic Studios in Germany. He has been a veritable sound design wizard when it has come to how we make our music. He was a ton of experience which we are lucky to be able to pull from. Our next single, “Silk Spinster” is going to be released on 23/03/23 and we are super excited to share that with the world. It is definitely our best work today in terms of studio releases and we cannot wait for everyone to hear it. As for which of our songs will be coming out after that, well…you’ll just have to stay tuned to find out.
W] Is there anything you would like to plug before we finish that I might have missed?
So, 8th April 23 we are playing O’Riley’s for Heaven and Hull NWOBHM Festival, which is being headlined by Graham Oliver of Saxon fame. That is gonna be a wicked day, so we’d love to see you there. Also, on 15th April 23 we’re playing at The Fenton in Leeds as part of Metal2TheMasses, a battle of the bands type event where the winner will go on to play Bloodstock Festival. If you can make it to that gig please do and support us and the other contestants there, it’s gonna be an amazing show. Beyond that, look out for our single on 23/03/23 and check out our website at www.silkspinster.rocks to stay up to date on what we’re up to. Last but definitely not least, I’d like to plug WARO, be sure to stick around for more content like this, WARO is awesome and does great work.
W] Thanks so much for your time!
Thank you for having me I really appreciate it.
