The KBCS

The KBCS represent the coming together of four very uniquely gifted, but very complementary, musicians from Hamburg, Germany. Drummer Lucas Kochbeck spends much of his time obsessing about vintage recording equipment, tape machines and the like, whilst adding his talents to the recordings of retro-loving contemporaries such the Bacao Rhythm And Steel Band and the Colemine Records family. Keyboard wiz Nicolas Börger is very much an in-demand, sound-centric master of the blacks and whites, in the same way that guitarist Lars Coelln lends his skills to a myriad of works across the sonic spectrum. Completing the quartet, bottom end provider Daniel Stritzke adds a little freeform jazz and hip-hop attitude to the mix, but even then you can find his bass holding things down on crossover hits galore.
Given their background, this project allows all four musicians a sense of creative freedom they perhaps don’t find elsewhere in their musical 9 to 5. It’s a natural evolution from being sidemen and session musicians to taking centre stage together and allowing themselves to be more experimental with their output. Mistakes are embraced, musical rabbit holes are explored, allowing emotion and spontaneity to shine through. This is music from the heart; a document of their coming together; and music that needs to be heard live!
Their debut album, released on Légère Recordings in 2019, was recorded almost by accident. The nature of their freestyle jam sessions meant that the foursome had recorded an LP without even realising it. The album, Pho Sessions Vol.1, soon caught the ear of German hip hop legend Thomas D of Die Fantastischen Vier (The Fantastic Four) having been recommended it by his son’s piano teacher, and consequently a collaborative album will be released this summer.
2021 has indeed been a watershed year for the band. As well as the release with Thomas D, the quartet have signed to iconic Berlin based record label Sonar Kollektiv, with whom they’ll be unleashing their sophomore album later in the year. The imprint gave the band not only ample enthusiasm, understanding and trust, but the inspiration and contacts required to add some exciting vocal talent to the mix. Sonar Kollektiv brought both J.Lamotta and Olivier St. Louis to the table, to add to Lui Hill, Nneka and Vivie Ann who had been sourced by the band themselves.
After almost two years of intense jams and many remotely recorded vocal sessions, due to the pandemic, the new album is finally here - entitled Color Box, it will was released in November 2021.