At a Kittiwake show, mosh pits start to open as the first notes hit, then the rest of the crowd moves with the music as fans close in towards the stage.
Kittiwake is a five-piece screamo band — a genre derivative of hardcore punk and emotive hardcore — based in Columbia, composed of guitarist and vocalist Braylon Baxley, guitarist Angel G. Silva, vocalist Collin Bailey, drummer Parker Morris and bass player Dill Corley.
In the early stages, Baxley, Bailey and Morris lived in the same neighborhood and bonded over their love for skating. Since they were still in high school they spent a lot of time together, and for Morris, this connection evolved into a deeper interest in the music and the idea of starting a project together.
"I got into the music, and I was like, 'Hey, what if we just start a band?'" Morris said. "So, then we just learned our instruments.”
The band’s name is also directly tied to these beginnings. The members often skated near Kittiwake Baptist Church and along Kitti Wake Drive. The trio then decided on Kittiwake, as the location was symbolic of where their connection first formed, Baxley said.
But the lineup started to expand when Corley met Morris.
“We originally met at school, and he saw I had a crooked beanie on,” Corley said. “And so we started talking about skating, and then one day I was like, 'Oh, you play in a band? You need a bass player?'”
From there, Corley joined the band, adding a new layer to their sound, and months later, Bailey said the band took its next step.
Parker suggested they all go to this DIY music venue called "Dizzco," where a bunch of punk bands were playing. The band even connected with bassist of Private Compliment and vocalist of Civil Unrest, Lil' Dizz, about booking future shows, Bailey said.
It was in this DIY show environment that the band met its final member. It was at a Denounce Normalcy show, a local DIY music venue, when Angel Silva connected with the group while they were still searching for a second guitarist.
After connecting with the band at that show, Silva later tried playing guitar for them and it didn't go well. He went on a two month training arch and eventually improved, Silva said.
With the lineup finally completed, the band started to refine and develop its sound, drawing heavy influence from classic screamo bands. Morris said his biggest drumming influences come from the genre.
Bailey said his songwriting is influenced by bands like 'I Hate Myself,' whose work he studies for inspiration, and 'I Wrote Haikus,' which he describes as poetic in its lyric construction. He also said that his vocal style is heavily influenced by 'Love Lost But Not Forgotten' and 'She Died Real Pretty.'
Morris also said that his vocal style takes on a more technical approach during a live performance.
"I use a mix of different techniques, to be honest. At the start of our shows, I use a little bit more of my throat. So, it sounds kind of deeper. And then towards the end, when I need more fry because my voice is starting to go out, I use more diaphragm.” Bailey said.
That same mindset also carries over into their music making process, which includes letting the ideas evolve naturally rather than going by a strict plan. Morris said.
“I’ll be at home at like 3 a.m., writing a riff, and I’ll bring it to Braylon’s house, and we’ll genuinely just cook up a song in 10 minutes," Morris said. “We let everything just kind of flow. We don’t force anything.”
Once the skeleton of the song is established, the rest of the band starts layering their own ideas into it and refining their sound, Corley said.
While Kittiwake remains their primary focus, Morris said several members are involved in other side projects with different creative styles outside of their core sound.
“So, me and Braylon are starting an emo side project with the bassist of Lab Disaster, Memphis,” Morris said. "Like First Day Back and stuff like that. Nineties emo strictly."
Silva said that he was involved in a separate metalcore group that’s preparing to release an EP soon and working out the details on a solo shoegaze project.
Bailey said the band explored various musical directions before settling on their current style, including mathcore, a more chaotic mix of hardcore punk and metalcore.
“This was kind of a while ago, when we first started Kittiwake, we wanted to do a mathcore project. But since then, we haven’t really worked on it.” Bailey said.
Despite all their creative outlets, Silva said the band remained firm in its commitment to Kittiwake as its central project.
“Kittiwake is always the first priority,” Silva said.
Bailey said sounds the band is passionate about what they feel should be more represented within Columbia's DIY music scene. Bailey said that everyone should listen to more emoviolence and powerviolence — both aggressive subgenres that have their origins in punk and hardcore — specifically emphasizing a classic band called Combatwoundedveteran.
Bailey highlights the fact that both Kittiwake and Columbia's DIY music scene as a whole should and will continue to explore different sounds.
“We need more of that in the scene,” Morris said.
Kittiwake is stepping back from performing shows to begin recording their upcoming album. As their sound evolves, their focus is also expanding beyond Columbia, with their first out-of-state shows set for May 2 and May 8.