Metal meets reggae and fuses

Kora play metal riffs at 90 rather than 200 beats a minute.

We're metallers," smiles Laughton Kora, pulling his big black curly mop of hair away from his face.

"It all started out as metal," he says of his band Kora, the ones behind the righteous and catchy reggae track Politician.

Despite being branded "reggae", the metal influence runs deep in Kora - made up of "one white skinny guy" called Dan McGruer and Laughton's three brothers, Bradley, Stuart, and Francis.

"Look at us. Our appearance is pretty hori," laughs frontman Laughton.

I remember his brothers well. About four years ago I saw them - three Maori boys from Whakatane - playing in a metal band in the final of the Battle of the Bands at the Powerstation.

Even though they were a little stilted, I remember their flailing dreads, aggressive riffs and soulful metal.

Hyet was the band's name, and I voted for them. They were never going to win. Not with that racket.

But back then, who would have thought that that metal band would develop into Kora?

While his brothers were playing in Hyet (which also included Kora's soon-to-be sound guy, Richie Allan, on guitar), Laughton moved to Queenstown where he hooked up with fellow musician McGruer.

The pair started DJing house and dub music and after a while Laughton called his brothers and told them he had some tunes he wanted to play them.

"And we got together. They brought their metal roots with them, and Dan and I had our housey, dub, reggae roots, and it's just fused.

"And we're really lucky in that way because we can go anywhere we want - we can slow it right down to ballads, hip-hop, and straight reggae, which of course we were all brought up on."

But, ever faithful, his brothers still wanted to play metal. "So I said, 'Okay, give me a metal riff, but can we slow it right down from 200 beats a minute to 90'. So all our riffs are metal riffs slowed down, basically."

Alongside reggae greats like Bob Marley and Black Uhuru, the Kora lads' list of favourite bands includes obscure and lethal Swedish death metallers, Meshuggah.

It's an unusual mix but the effect of this metal-reggae fusion is a sound that is based on a solid groove.

"That's what we decided to be originally. If it's a reggae groove, be solid, be phat, and be heavy, and when we sing, give it a hook and give the people something to remember it by, and just have that heart going behind it," says Laughton.

"And that's what most music listeners enjoy, a good solid groove that they can pick up on.

"We've never been a reggae band," he continues with a laugh. "I don't know why everyone has to class us as a reggae band.

"We're just a band. Even though we're metallers, even though we get right into our electronic sounds, you can play all our stuff on acoustic guitar."

Kora live in different parts of the country. Laughton is in Warkworth (" 'Cause it's warmer."); Bradley and Stuart are in hometown Whakatane ("We just had a rehearsal there and you can see why they don't want to leave. The beach was beautiful and the surf was cranking all week."); and Francis is in Wellington (because he's an actor), as is McGruer.

Laughton, who used to live in Wellington, is also an actor, but "when you break it down I'm a muso", he laughs.

Being spread around the country they don't practise much.

"That's just it man, that last practice was our fifth and we've been together for two years."

When they were back in Whakatane they did a gig with their dad on a street in the town, playing everything from Robert Cray to Bon Jovi and Bob Marley.

It was their dad who got them playing music early - Bradley was 7 when he did his first gig - and Laughton confesses his dad was "hard on us when we were young, and still is".

"But we're thankful," he says.

Last year, the band released the excellent four-track Volume EP, featuring Politician and the epic Burning, and they plan to release a radio single, entitled Flow, soon, as a taster to next year's album.

They have played with diverse acts in the past year, highlighting the band's broad appeal.

They toured with Shihad ("At first we said no. We thought we were just not heavy enough. But Tom and Jon said, 'Come on, man'."), played with Salmonella Dub, Shapeshifter, Fat Freddy's Drop and Katchafire, and were on the Dub Conspiracy tour in Australia.

And last weekend Kora were all set to support Black Eyed Peas, but the day before the gig, organisers called to say that Kora needed too many channels on the sound desk - 32 in all - and they would not be able to play.

Never mind, Kora are just looking forward to the Salmonella gigs in Auckland.

"I've always wanted to play at the St James," grins Laughton.

Performance

* Who: Kora

* Where and when: Insidious Fix 10th Birthday Party (with dDub, Open Souls and Recloose Live), the Studio, K Rd, Auckland, tomorrow night; with Salmonella Dub, St James, Auckland, October 28 & 29. Dominant Species Tour

* Releases: Volume EP (2004), Various - Dub Conspiracy (2005)