Page 9 - BiTS_06_JUNE_2021

BiTS INTERVIEW: K. K. Hammond

KK (Kris) Hammond is a bit of a mystery. A self-labelled hermit, she lives, using her own words,
“…on a remote farm off the beaten track that backs onto hundreds of acres of woodland. I live
with my other half and to be fair we are both hermits! We prefer to hide away here venturing

out and seeing people as rarely as possible!” Her growing output—so far a cover of ‘In The
Pines’ and two Hammond originals—is attached firmly to the outer, ethereal end of end of the
musical spectrum. Self recorded, with a stunning, multi-layered, almost occult vibe, she has so
far released only three tracks, which I for one find stunningly good, showing a vocal and slide
talent channeling the work of her old time blues favourites. A phenomenon long kept hidden,
KK Hammond—who presents herself as “The Curse of KK Hammond”—is an emerging talent to
be reckoned with. Properly managed—and if she wants it, which may be a big if—she could

become a top-flight, award winning, UK blues person. Unable to contact her by telephone or
on the internet, Ian McKenzie sent her a list of questions. These are her responses.

BiTS: Tell me something about yourself that
most people don't know.

I used to sing, or more so scream, in a hardcore
metal band as a teen. It was a great deal of fun but
my tastes have mellowed a bit since!

BiTS: How did you get into music in the first

place?

I was surrounded by musical instruments from an
early age. We had a little piano and a guitar in our
home growing up and my siblings and I spent a lot
of time playing with them. I felt drawn to the
guitar and Americana in general from a very early
age and I think that early fascination grabbed me
by the hand and led me down an inevitable path!

BiTS: What sort of music was in your household

when you were young?

My Dad had a passion for flamenco guitar growing
KK Hammond up and taught us all to strum a few chords on his
guitar as soon as we could hold it. I was exposed to
a huge array of music including jazz, blues,
Caribbean, reggae, punk and even techno which my brother is very much into making!

BiTS: When did you start playing the guitar? Did you have lessons?

I got a guitar of my own at age 13. I scraped together £30 from chores and bought a beat up, second

hand red Squire Strat from a buy, sell and exchange shop in West London. I then bought a mini
Marshall amp to make loads of terrible noise with! I never had any lessons and, to this day, am
pretty ignorant when it comes to music theory. I play solely via feel and ear but would love to
increase my knowledge.