Interview with Makeout!

Makeout is back with a new singer and bassist and the band is better than ever! -An Interview with Kyle Dee done by Brittany Beers-

If you do the typical google, twitter or Instagram search of Makeout you will see things such as who they've worked with and things they've accomplished. They played the last ever cross county run of Warped Tour and have worked with legends like John Feldman and Travis Barker. Makeout have had their fair share of problems arise, however, with the new line-up of members, we are giving them a second chance. The band now consists of drummer Scott Eckel, Guitarist Tyler Young, brand new members, bassist, Aj Khah and Vocalist, Kyle Dee. I sat down via phone with new front man Kyle Dee to get to know him and talk a little about the band and how they will be moving forward. About an hour later, I hung up from our call and found myself with not only some new insight but a new friend as well.

We exchanged our hellos and talked for a couple minutes before diving in on all things Kyle and Makeout.

Brittany: With you and AJ in Chicago, Tyler in LA, and Scott in Australia and LA, does it get difficult at times?

Kyle: Its nice, AJ (formerly of Sleep On It) and I being the two newest members, were both in Chicago. So it's like, it was really cool, like going through the whole process of joining the band. AJ and I were able to both get together and go through that together. As they were letting us know we were in the band we were able to like meet up talk about things and learn the songs together.

Brittany: I’m sure joining a new band there are those feelings of nervousness and “are we going to connect?”

Kyle: Exactly. Because in a lot of circumstances when people start bands, ya know you’re starting bands with your friends and you’re not already in the ‘limelight”, I guess you could say. You get together in a basement and you write songs together, you come up with a name together. But this is super different where the band is already established. They have their own way of dealing with things and you don’t want to step on any toes.

Brittany: Besides childish, what songs are you excited to play live?

Kyle: Initially, I loved Childish, that’s the one I was most excited about. But after actually rehearsing together, there was something really exciting when we were all in the room together playing Lisa. There was just a really good vibe about it.

Brittany: So what’s the current plan?

Kyle: Our current focus is to probably put out- I’m not sure how many songs it’ll be an EP. That and we will probably be out on the road sometime in early 2020.

Brittany: Who’d be some bands you want in that tour?

Kyle: I don’t know about necessarily openers but some bands that’d be great for us to get out of the road would be- Point North is awesome, and With Confidence . We wrote a song recently with Jayden (From With Confidence) so I think that’d be a really cool tour.

Brittany: I read somewhere once you auditioned for American idol. Did you make it on TV?

Kyle: Actually yeah I made it on American Idol. It’s been a few years, yeah. It’s crazy. I don’t have any of the footage because American idol owns all of it. It’s hard to find a lot of it because it’s been a few years, but yeah it was a great experience.

Brittany: What got you into music?

Kyle: I’ve been playing music since I was super little. For as long as I can remember, my dad was very into music. He never played but he would always take me to the record store and was always playing music and I would just jam along. I remember they got me a guitar for Christmas and I was super little and my fingers weren’t able to play yet but I always tried. It’s been a long time but Green Day Was the first band I ever really got into and inspired me to want to start a band.

Brittany: Where do you see the band in 1 to 2 years?

Kyle: I’d love for us to have a want to record out and maybe touring most of the year. I think we’re just really excited to develop this new sound. Obviously having two new members of the band it’s going to have a new flair to it. We hope the fans will come along for the ride. And we are very grateful the fans have continued to support the band through all they’ve been through. I guess a year from now that we’ll be out on the road and continuing to create new music.

I then reached out to the fans via twitter to see if they had any questions for Kyle.

Fan Question: Do you have any siblings?

Kyle: I am an only child, I grew up very close to my family.

Fan Question: Describe yourself in 3-5 words.

Kyle: I would say that I’m very focused, very compassionate, very understanding, very- I feel like these are all generic adjectives. Umm.. I would say I’m optimistic, compassionate, focused and understanding.

Fan Question: When ordering a pizza, what’s on it?

Kyle: I’m so basic with that. I just like sausage but I also like Parmesan cheese on there too.

Throughout my interview I learned a good amount not only Makeout but Kyle too. 2020 should be an exciting year for Makeout. Between being in the studio, preparing for the New Year, and the band’s booming TikTok career, I would say the guys are going to have a great year ahead of them.

Make sure to check out the band as they make their debut with the new lineup. They’ll be in Chicago, IL on December 12th at Reggies and in Providence, RI on December 14th at Alchemy. Both shows are all ages, so be sure to check them out if you’re in the area.