Kyd the Band Questions How To 'Make It In America'

Alt-pop act Kyd the Band (aka Devin Guisande) reveals the official video for lead single "Make It In America" lifted off his newly released EP Season 3: The Realization via Sony Music. Directed by Guisande and Garret Hayes, the video is a stark reminder to keep your family and loved ones close as you chase the American Dream. The track produced by Mark Nilan (Lady Gaga, Zedd) is one of the most personal songs to date in Kyd the Band's collection and story, based on when the singer-songwriter was just 16 years old and his family lost everything they owned due to the 2008 economic crash. He explains, "That pivotal moment opened my eyes to how easily money can come and go and what's actually important, but also made me want to chase success in a way that could give me security."

On October 16th, Kyd the Band released his new genre-bending EP Season 3: The Realization via Sony Music. The body of work is a sincere expression of Kyd the Band's vulnerability, self-reflection, and ultimate realization. "I feel like I'm finally realizing who I am as a person and an artist, and why. I feel like I'm finally starting to accept it." Guisande says. "For a long time I wanted to ignore that I'm the son of a preacher and that faith and all of my personal experiences in the church (whether negative or positive) are all that made me into who I am. I've done a lot of things I'm not proud of and that used to torture me every day, and I've done a lot of things I am proud of, but I'm realizing that's all a part of life. I'm realizing that the people that I love are what matter most in my life."

The new season kicks off with upbeat pop-rock single "Corridors." The song - co-written with Adam Friedman (Allen Stone, Mike Posner) and Kevin Griffin (The Night Game, Moon Taxi) - invites you on a trip into his mind, painting a vivid picture of his ever-evolving self and ongoing struggles. "It's like a prison in my head, some days I can't get out of bed..." croons Guisande on the all too relatable intro of the track. Throughout "Corridors" Guisande tries to break free of his mental prison to finally overcome past relationships. Instead of remaining trapped in old memories and endless brain loops, the song encourages to keep your head up and positively push forward against the odds.

Other tracks in addition to "Make It In America" and "Corridors" include groove-heavy "Love Someone Else" co-written with Jimmy Robbins (Dan + Shay, Kelly Clarkson, Sabrina Carpenter), "The Way The World Is" co-written with Christian Medice (The Aces, Dixie D'Amelio), and slow-burner "I'll Stay" inspired by the unexpected passing of his wife's grandfather, Guisande writes a touching song on being there for your loved ones when you're needed most. Starting with a simple piano progression, "I'll Stay" builds into a cinematic orchestra, resulting in the perfect song made to help anyone feel less alone. Pulsating with pride, "Roots" rounds out the collection and marries all the elements of alt-rock, r&b and soul, and pop found in the Season 1 and 2 EPs. Kyd the Band notes that "'Roots' is a big part of the message of identity and self-acceptance that I'm trying to get across with this entire EP."

The new EP is just another example of Kyd the Band's unabashed honesty in his lyrics and broad range across his collection. With each season, Devin reveals more of himself as he finds the confidence to delve deep into his tumultuous past from a socially isolated childhood, to leaving his home and family; overcoming a drug overdose to then finally finding solace in music and healthy relationships. On the new season, Devin adds "Season 3:The Realization is me taking everything else before this and making sense of it. The Intro was my childhood and upbringing, Character Development was going out on my own and the start of me trying to become me, The Realization is now."

Kyd the Band's music is an ideal soundtrack to finding your place in an often-chaotic world and likewise the artist hopes that his music creates an intimate connection with his audience. "With everything I write, I try to write directly from my life and what's in my heart," says Guisande. "I'd love for my music to reach all the kids like me, who are maybe questioning what they were raised to believe or feel like they haven't found where they belong just yet. I hope those kinds of people hear what I have to say, and see a bit of their own story in my songs." On the video, he elaborates, "My intention with this video was to convey an experience that I had as a teenager, in the church that I was raised in, that has stuck with me ever since. It's stuck with me to the point where I've created a permanent place for it and that person in my mind, and I relive it over and over again."

The Nashville-based and Sacramento-raised singer-songwriter didn't fail to impress with his spellbinding Season 2: Character Development EP (released on May 29, 2020 via Sony Music). The 6-track collection included "Heartbreak Anthem" - his collaboration with gnash which landed on over 15 New Music Friday playlists including Spotify's New Music Friday (US). Season 2: Character Development EP followed on from Kyd the Band's debut EP Season 1: The Intro. At the top of the year, Kyd the Band supported NF as well as Lennon Stella on their huge international tours in addition to his own solo sold out hometown show. With three years on the scene, he's also gained support from MTV's TRL / Fresh Out host Kevan Kenney and press coverage from American Songwriter, Clash, Complex, Culture Collide, Earmilk, Flaunt, Forbes, HollywoodLife, House Of Solo, idobi Radio, Noctis Magazine, Notion, Ones To Watch, Popular TV, UPROXX, and more. A deft songwriter, Devin has penned tracks for artists as eclectic as hip-hop legends Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and German DJ Robin Schulz as well as gnash, NF, and ROZES. Channeling his experiences and lessons learned into his work, Kyd the Band's music radiates a hard-won positivity that inspires anyone to live more boldly.

Born into a Filipino/Spanish family closely involved with the Pentecostal Church, Guisande got his start playing drums at the age of ten and later took up piano and guitar. At age 16 he co-founded a band with his guitar-playing brother Kyle and began writing songs of his own, relying almost entirely on instinct rather than mining influence from other artists ("I didn't even know who Kanye West was till I was 18," notes Guisande, who was forbidden to watch movies or listen to secular music). Over the next few years, Guisande experienced a life-changing transformation as he left the church he was raised in and moved away from home. "I'd thought I was going to be a preacher when I got older, but I started questioning everything and just completely changed the whole trajectory of my life," he says.

With a batch of self-recorded songs under his belt, Guisande headed to Los Angeles at age 19 and fully devoted himself to pushing forward with his music career. But while his non-stop hustle scored him meetings with a number of industry heavyweights, he felt increasingly disillusioned by the L.A. scene and decamped to Nashville in 2013. When his brother followed him to Tennessee a year later, the two resumed the musical partnership they'd formed as teenagers. Too broke to afford beds, the siblings shared an apartment and slept on the floor, working full-time jobs all day and spending every night writing songs. Against the odds, the multi-instrumentalist, producer, and songwriter clocked in +40 hours a week while working on music each hour he had left to spare.

After suffering a series of false starts, the duo linked up with DJ/producer and frequent Scott Storch-collaborator Avedon, who enlisted their songwriting talents for the 2017 comeback album from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. It was his time in the studio as a songwriter that shaped his now solo career and gave way for his first support slot on tour with NF under the Kyd the Band moniker. Fast forward 2 years, Kyd the Band's debut single "American Dreamer" has amassed over 3 million streams independently while his slew of major label releases (sans Kyle who left the band amicably in 2017) landed him on playlists like Apple Music's 'Best of the Week' and 'The A-List: Pop' numerous times. Racking up over 12 million collective streams, the 2019 single "Easy" was one of the most played tracks on German radio that year and landed Kyd the Band on the cover of Spotify's official 'Swag' playlist.

Kyd the Band isn't tied to one genre - the message behind his lyrics is what he hopes fans can learn from or relate to. It's no surprise his collection thus far has fans drawing comparisons to Twenty One Pilots or The Neighborhood. "This next wave of music is definitely less indie leaning, but I'd argue that no matter what Kyd the Band song comes out you're always going to hear a consistent thread in the lyrics and in the grittiness of the music. I think artists should have the right to evolve, and that they shouldn't pass up the opportunity to evolve." Offering a sound that is fresh, unique, and compelling, Kyd the Band is guaranteed to elicit excitement and enthusiasm across a diverse array of audiences.

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