Before we started our band Nümonia, we talked about what we wanted to sound like. The first band we thought of was Rational Youth (especially the first LP Cold War Nigh Life released in 1982 and the early EP’s) Whenever we’re stuck on a song that we’re recording, we’re always saying “What would Rational Youth do?” Their mix of cold new wave and pop melodies was a major inspiration.
Jon first discovered RY on a local Montreal cable TV show called Musi Video (scroll down to watch the show!) in 1982. It was the first that he’d seen a local new wave band on TV and it was a huge inspiration on his first band The Kincaids. He formally met Kevin in the mid 90’s when he became a huge fan of his band Pest (with Patty Schmidt, the last Brave New Waves host). When their guitar player left the band, they asked Jon to join and they’ve been friends ever since.
When Kevin played with us at our record launch last April, he still had fans approaching him trying to find out if he was the real Kevin Komoda in Rational Youth. There were many new wave bands in Montreal at the time but RY were the first ones in Canada to make it big with the song “In Your Eyes”. When Cold War Night Life was released I was too young and obsessed with Culture Club to pay attention to it. I was into whatever was happening on Casey Kasem’s top 40 countdown. “In Your Eyes” was released in 1983 as an EP when they got signed to Capitol. Kevin was still part of the band and you can see him in the music video for in your eyes if you scroll down, but he soon left after that. I remember hearing it on Chom (commercial radio station in Mtl) when the 2nd LP Heredity came out. And that’s when I fell in love with RY. They announced one day on Chom that they needed extras for a film shoot on a movie called Crazy Moon, staring Kiefer Sutherland in his first role! and RY were going to on stage performing in this scene (lip synching!) while the audience of extras goes crazy. Kevin was already gone by then. You can watch the scene on youtube, the entire movie is there with the RY scene, and my first appearance in a movie is a bit brief. Not sure if it’s actually me.
The BluePrints (with Kevin Komoda on synths) his band before RY. This was a music video show in Montreal in the early 80’s and you can see a young Erica Ehm (pre Much Music) at the end. Her sister, leslie Anne was in the Band Dear John with Kevin and that was happening just before RY, and throughout the time he was with RY.
Blue Smoke Baby By Dear John
Kevin Komoda was born in Honolulu, Hawaii. At the age of 5 he and his family moved to Toronto so his father can pursue a PHD in psychiatry. They lived there for 2 years then moved again to Flushing, New York where he lived for 6 years before settling down in Montreal so his dad could teach at Concordia University. In the audio, Kevin talks about how he started working on Brave New Waves (alternative CBC radio show), the club scene in Montreal, working as a DJ, then RY. If you grew up listening to alternative music in the 80’s (like we were), there’s a good chance that you discovered it first on Brave New Waves. Kevin started working at Brave New Wave (from 1985-1994) after he left RY. He was one of the music programmers, he selected the music to play on the show and later started recording bands for live recording sessions for Brave New Waves. The show started at midnight on CBC and went on for 6 hours! I remember staying up late and getting my tape recorder ready to record the new music that I was discovering.
I asked Kevin about his involvement in the band. “ I joined RY about halfway through the recording. The album was already written by Tracy and Bill, and the bulk of the album recorded, so I only played on a handful of songs. I later received a writing credit for Saturdays in Salesia because I wrote (with the encouragement of Pat Deserio) the main synth hook in the chorus. There were also sessions for the 12" City Of Night (the track Power Zone) and Saturdays In Silesia. I remember being in the studio with Pat a lot, with the other guys not being there so much. Because I lived near Pat, he would often give me a lift home because all of the RY sessions were done on the graveyard cheap rates. Technically, I learned a lot from those sessions. Like how to sync the tape machine with a FSK tone and time code, and synthesizers.”
photos from left to right: 2 promo band photos, founding member Bill Vorn, live photo with Tracy Howe, Kevin Komoda and Bill Vorn, RY 80’s flyer, Kevin Komoda live in Stockholm when they reunited for a tour of Sweden (they’re still huge there!) in 2014, Brian Arsenault (synths) and Scott Cameron (bass), original RY member when they briefly reunited in 2012, Kevin and Bill Vorn posing below Bill’s Robotic art at Arsenal gallery in Montreal (2016). Bill is currently a Concordia Univerisity professor teaching in the Electronic Arts department. He’s been active in the filed of robotic art since 1992. He was in RY from 1981-1983.
Cité Phosphore (French version of City of Night) Both released as 7”s in 1982.
Saturdays In Silesia (From the LP Cold War Night Life)
“In Your Eyes” on their first EP released in 1983 and also included in their 2nd LP Heredity released in 1985
Kevin talking about RY tours
Cold War Box Set released on VOD Records. It’s one of the most beautiful box sets that I own.
