- Words Cal McIntyre
Devin Guisande, better known as Kyd the Band, curates a 10Trax playlist filled with anthems that continuously inspire his works.
Previously a duo of the Guisande brothers, Devin, maintained Kyd the Band as his solo brand after the two parted in 2017. If you’re not in the know, Kyd crafts a sonic landscape filled with prolific lyricism and personal escapism.
The Nashville-based artist is cementing his status as one of the most honest writers to break through the mould. With an array of references and inspirations trickling into his production, it’s Kyd’s songwriting that transcends the listener through the airwaves as he paints pictures from his life in all of their glory, highlighting the good, the bad and ugly of life. Putting it all into his work has separated Kyd from his peers as his latest EP release, Season 2: Character Development, is a mature and seminal body of work from the artist.
Speaking on the latest release, Kyd revealed, “So, ‘Heartbreak Anthem’ is a part of my upcoming EP Season 2: Character Development. I’m excited because this EP is my life following up from my first EP Season 1: The Intro; it goes deeper in showing who I am as an artist and who I am as a person. I think people will realise I’m starting to get to a place where I feel comfortable enough to let them in. Stay tuned, and I’ll have a lot more to add about this soon.”
We got Kyd The Band to curate a playlist of 10Trax that continue to inspire him or hold a place in his heart. Dive in below!
"White Ferrari" by Frank Ocean
"I heard this and listened to it probably 30 times in a row. The vocal journey on this song is wild, and the acoustic guitar sound is so rich and vintage. It made me want to have an acoustic moment on my song "Human" (which happens during the bridge)."
"a lot" by 21 Savage feat. J Cole
"I have a song called "This Time Last Year" on Character Development, and when I started writing it I had this 21 song in the back of my brain. I love how repetitive he is in this song, and also how real his lyrics are in it."
"10 Feet Down" by NF
"So I actually helped write this song, and it came from the song that would end up becoming "Easy" for me. NF put this out first so it was definitely something I took note of when I went to finish "Easy"."
"Love Lockdown" by Kanye West
"Right before writing Character Development I was listening to 808s & Heartbreak a lot and this song specifically. The 808's hit so hard, but so does the Juno synth. I used both those production elements a lot throughout my EP."
"Cupid's Chokehold" by Gym Class Heroes feat. Patrick Stump
"I've always wanted to write something as sticky and quirky as this Gym Class Heroes song. My song "Heartbreak Anthem" is that for me, the chorus is pretty quirky in my opinion. Much like how the chorus of this song is."
"Pursuit of Happiness" by Kid Cudi feat. MGMT
"Cudi will always be one of my favorite artists ever. This song sums up the feeling I've had for a lot of my career, and is a place I wrote from a lot for Character Development."
"Not Afraid" by Eminem
"Recovery was one of the first non-Christian albums I listened to, and it's songs like this one and "Love The Way You Lie" that made me realize that if I was going to do music I'd only want to write stuff that's real and raw."
"Apologize" by One Republic
"In terms of songwriters Ryan Tedder will go down as one of the greatest to ever do it. This song hits melodically, but is super conversational. On my song "Human" I wanted to make sure I challenged my range melodically (Season 1 doesn't do that a whole lot), while still keeping the story and message very easy to digest."
"Clint Eastwood" by Gorillaz
"I haven't ever really stopped listening to this song ever since I heard it a few years ago. Maybe my fondness for 90's breakbeats comes from it. You hear that in a lot of my stuff."
"Hard Feelings" by Kyd the Band
"Character Development starts with "Human" and is bookended with this. Again, wanted to channel early 2010's pop/rap radio songs."