Les Cousins Dangereux

You can't pick your family, but you can pick your bandmates. For cousins Kieran and Kishore Ryan - aka folk duo Kid Sam - the distinction is irrelevant.

Frontman Kieran and drummer Kishore's lives have changed dramatically since the release of their self-titled debut LP last year. From the off-beat drums, gritty guitars and subversive catchiness of 'Down To The Cemetery' to the haunting, beautiful and scientifically accurate 'We Are Mostly Made Of Water', the Melbourne duo crafted an album's worth of gems worthy of recognition.

Voters for the J Awards and Australian Music Prize were happy to comply.

“We just hoped (the record) might get played on community radio,” laughs the softly spoken Kieran, “so the way it's spread, just by word of mouth, has been amazing. To be nominated for an Australian Music Prize … we like all the albums that have won it previously, so that's an award that really means something to us.”

Despite their blood bond, it was never a fait accompli that Kieran and Kishore - about to embark on their first national headlining tour - would go into the business of creating alternative folk tunes together.

“We weren't that close when we were growing up,” Kieran remembers. “I mean, we got on well, and we both lived in New South Wales, but we lived nine hours apart. We'd see each other maybe once or twice a year.”

Until fate saw fit to bring them together, Kieran and his younger relative forged their own musical destinies.

“I've been playing guitar since I was seven,” Kieran says. “My dad was a musician, so I grew up surrounded by guitars. Music has always been part of my life, in one way or another … I remember staying up to watch 'Rage' in the '80s. Music's just always been there.

“I'm influenced by artists in the folk tradition, guys like Woody Guthrie, Bob Dylan and Leonard Cohen. In terms of constructing a song, and turning an idea into something that can be communicated, there's a lot to draw on from those guys. But my influences aren't restricted to music; they come from all over the place. I'm inspired by books and good films and poetry … I tend to write a lot of my lyrics down in notebooks, like poems. But I like to set them to music and bring them to life that way.”

The timeless nature of the band's songs has been noted by fans and critics alike, but surprisingly, it's not something Kieran has given a lot of thought to.

“That's definitely not a conscious effort on our behalf,” he insists. “I guess it's just because we listen to a lot of music that was released more than two years ago. We're never going to make music that's just trying to cash in on what's popular, because, you know, we don't really know what that is.”

Of course, Kieran and Kishore don't need to keep up with the latest production techniques. That's a job for Nick Huggins, an experimental troubadour in his own right, whom the boys trusted to tweak knobs and push buttons.

“We already knew Nick, and he seemed like a really obvious choice,” Kieran explains. “Kishore played with Hazel Brown, and they'd recorded with Nick before. He seemed like a guy who really knew what he was doing, but would also be really respectful of what you wanted to do. Someone who'd get involved and help you shape an album, but not push you to do things you didn't want to do. That turned out to be the case, too.

“He put a huge amount of work into it, and got really passionate about it. He stayed up late, and he went way above the call of duty. I remember once we were listening to a mix back, and at one point the sound pretty much cut out completely. We were like, 'what's going on?' Then we realised that Nick had been working on it at four in the morning, and had fallen asleep on the keyboard. His head had hit the keyboard! So, you know, we worked it out somehow and we forgave him for the funny mix.”

Kid Sam play The Troubadour on Saturday March 20 and Bon Amici's on Sunday March 21 with Seagull and Deep Sea Arcade. 'Kid Sam' is out now through Two Bright Lakes.