Undiscovered Band of the Month: Kordan

Kordan is a Brooklyn trio meshing lush textures, pulsating beats, and somber melodies to project dreams of bleak, dismal cities in a holographic future. Arthur (vocals/guitar), Liz (vocals/synth), and Gabo (bass) emerged from the vibrant rave and indie rock scenes in Puerto Rico during the early 2000‘s. After stints throughout the US, the trio converged again in Brooklyn to forge Kordan.

In Fall 2008, Cut Copy chose Kordan as an opening act on their North America tour, taking the band through Minneapolis, Chicago, Montreal, Toronto, and back to New York City. In the Summer of 2009, Kordan released their demo recordings as the Fantasy Nation EP, garnering critical acclaim. The debut release heralded Kordan’s aural world tinged by cyberpunk visions and Japanese street culture. The following Autumn months saw Kordan playing a CMJ showcase and other key shows in New York City, such as opening for The Drums and The Mary Onettes.

Kordan recently finished recording their debut full-length album The Longing. Taking cues from their earlier release, The Longing depicts a story of love in a hazy metropolis circa the year 2036, where the sky is tuned to a dead channel, the city glimmers with neon dreams, and holograms of lovers drift away.

l   Official Site: www.kordan.tv   l   "Mirror" MP3   l 


How did you meet?
The three of us knew each other from the underground music scene in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Later we went our separate ways, as Lizzie moved to San Francisco, Gabo moved to DC, and I moved to New Jersey. About a year ago, we all bumped into each other again in Brooklyn; Gabo was working now at a non-profit and organizing events, Lizzie was finishing school, and I was teaching and finishing grad school. After a while, we started to hang out, discovered that we shared the same vision in music, and decided to give Kordan a go.

Where did the band name originate?
We wanted to come up with a name that sounded androgynous and simultaneously ancient and futuristic. The name for the old computer language FORTRAN popped up, which we changed to Kordan. Later on we learned that, unfortunately, "Kordan" is also the last name of a corrupt minister in Iran.

Who are your main influences?
Early on I became entranced by Debussy's La Mer and Ravel's Dauphne et Chloé, from which I learned that melodies hidden within lushness could move a listener as powerfully as a straightforward tune. This became apparent later on when I was exposed to Cocteau Twin's Heaven or Las Vegas and My Bloody Valentine's Loveless. During the early 2000's I became deeply involved in the drum & bass scene coming out of the UK; the music was dark, futuristic, and apocalyptic. Artists such as Stakka & Skynet, Dom & Roland, and Konflict were making the music to a techno-futuristic dystopia set in the near future. At the same time, I was immersing myself in the cyberpunk novels of William Gibson, the holographic cityscapes in Blade Runner, the dystopian Tokyo of Akira, and the techo-shamanic writings of Terence McKenna. More recently, bands like Lali Puna, Broadcast, and Ladytron have showed the way to merge dance beats, synths, and lush guitars to produce a mature-sounding body of work.

Favorite Bands?
Currently our iPods are blasting Soundpool, Washed Out, Delorean, Moderat, Fever Ray, Ladytron, Blonde Redhead, and Portishead's Third.

Plans to Tour?
Living in a metropolis like New York gives you the advantage of "touring" within your own city, so mostly for now we're playing shows across Manhattan and Brooklyn. There are plans in April to play Berlin, Hamburg, and other cities throughout Germany, and hopefully Australia later this year.

Plans for next release?
Our debut full-length album The Longing was just finished a few months ago. The original plan was to release the album on our own, but recent interest by record labels have made us push back its release to later this year, hopefully Summer 2010.

What is your biggest achievement as a band to date?
Our tour with Cut Copy and The Presets in 2008 was a monumental experience. More recently, opening for The Mary Onettes last November and finishing our full-length album have been crucial milestones. As we move forward, with the the vibrant fans that come to our shows and those all over the world, recent interest from key record labels and booking agencies, and tour plans later this year, our biggest achievements maybe lie ahead of us, rather than in the past.