Kristian Montgomery – An Interview by Niki Kaos

I’ve been seeing Kristian Montgomery posting a new song almost every week on the social media sites, and they are all pretty darn good. Hardship and survival, life and love, the visceral emotions of these experiences are heard through songs inspired by storytelling. I figured it would be good to learn more about what is sparking this rush of creativity.

RRX: You have a lot of stuff coming up this summer. You’ve been working on your album. You’ve got some great shows booked. Tell us what’s going on.

KM: June 28th is Rocking on the River opening for Neon Ave. And after that I’ve got a gig at Unihog in July 14th.

Hopefully my album will be done in time for August 5th. We’re playing at Pauly’s Hotel with two Boston bands I’m bringing in. The first one’s called No Detour. And the other band is called The Sleds, and they’re tearing it up in the Boston scene right now.

The singer for No Detour is this kid Jake, and the first thing that kid ever asked me in his entire life is, “Hey mister, can I ask your daughter out?” And he was really small, maybe 12 years old at the time? But I always thought that he was such a funny kid. And I was heartbroken when he married someone else other than my daughter. But I still call him my son-in-law.

He’s just a great kid. He’s going to be opening the show. I’m bringing in traveling blue collar bands to Albany to put on a show. And I’m hoping that some other 518 artists will come out and network with them. They’ll bring them to Boston and we can start doing some gig swapping.

RRX: Gig swapping is great! I love it!

KM: I’m all about making friends. I know you played with Jennifer Tefft, and she’s always been one of my favorite singer-songwriters in Boston. It was great to see her tour out here.

RRX: She’s a favorite of mine too! So talented!

The album that’s coming out in August, where did you record that? Tell us about your experience putting that together.

KM: It was in Manchester, VT. It was night and day in comparison to my previous efforts. I worked with producer Joe Clap in Boston on my first three albums. I got really comfortable and used to the way we worked together. Joe is like a musical father figure with a very warm personality. Really good at going with the flow. Played guitar on my records. He ended up getting nominated for the New England Music Awards after my last record.

I was scared when I worked with Andrew in Manchester. His clients prior to me were Alicia Keys and John Legend and these really big names. When we first started recording, he said, dude, I know you said you can only afford to do six songs, but we’re going to do twelve. He played drums on all of them. He played guitar on a lot. The piano and everything.

RRX: So, he got really excited about your music then? It sounds amazing the preview stuff you sent me.

KM: He just had so many resources at his studio that I never had access to before. I mean, he has a bouzouki in his studio. I was looking at it, and I was like, can we use it on this song? And he says, no, I don’t think it will fit. And I’m like, how about this one? I’m gonna write a damn song with a bouzouki in it. It’s gonna happen!

RRX: That’s so funny!

I have a question for you about your artwork. The imagery tells a story to me. It has a really dark side to it. Are you tipping your hand to the listener that they are going to hear this darker side in your music?

KM: Absolutely. You know, my first album I ever wrote, The Gravel Church. I wrote it without a guitar in front of me. Without any instruments, it was sixteen songs. I wrote it in Cellblock C at Plymouth County Correctional Institute after I went through a nasty divorce. I’d asked for a child support modification so I could afford my insulin because I’m a diabetic, and the judge said no. So I paid my child support, and it’s Massachusetts. I ended up having to be brought back to life at the hospital. And I sent the judge a message on FB begging for my life, and he threw me in jail for six months. It’s a true story.

So a lot of my music comes from a dark place. I’ve had a really rough life. I grew up really poor down south and I struggled to be able to make art my whole life and have had to work construction jobs. Being a 6’2” 200+ pound dude, your body basically already sold you. You’re going to be in construction.

RRX: But you’re a fire fighter now, right?

KM: Well, I’m an engineer for a hospital. But I’m also a volunteer fire fighter in Wallingford, VT.

RRX: How cool.

KM: We do a lot, and it’s physically demanding.

You know, I talk quite a bit in interviews about the music scene coming from Boston. I was nominated for the Boston Music Awards and the New England Music Awards, and everyone there I saw were these children of privilege coming from affluent families, and it was really hard to relate to them and to associate with them. People who had the privilege to make art without having to struggle for it.

And I went to the Capital District Listen Up Music Awards, and I met all sorts of people. It was like, holy shit! I think I’m home. Everyone here has a day job. Everyone here is working their asses off to make art. It was just such a refreshing change of pace. I’ve made a lot of really cool friends already.

RRX: I’m glad to hear that. And I think that post COVID our scene has come back with a renewed appreciation for each other. In general, I’ve been lucky. And there is a lot of support in this scene.
Thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me. Anything you want to tell our readers before we wrap up?

KM: We’re all over the streaming sites and YouTube, so it would be great for people to look up Kristian Montgomery and the Winterkill band, subscribe to our channels and stream our music. Because the reality of our music world today is that we get more recognition with streams and views.

RXX: I think our readers will be very happy with what they hear. I highly encourage everyone to check out your music on their favorite streaming site, go check out your live shows, and get ready for your album release in August! I know it’s going to be filled with the passion and grit that every great rock album is made of.