In the span of their career, these prolific songwriters have produced several albums, appeared on internationally distributed compilations and have been placed in national TV shows and films. This can be attributed to their infectious appeal and years of consistent touring from Hollywood to New York City. Now entering a new phase of their career Black Note Graffiti released a new album, Volume 3. on summer 2020.

Black Note Graffiti musicians have collaborated with three time grammy nominated producer Brad Gilderman. They have also collaborated with vocalist/producer, Vinn-E Dombroski, from the rock band Sponge, Chuck Alkazian at Pearl Studio (BNG Volume 2), and renowned producer, mixer, and engineer, Al Sutton, who has worked with artists such as Tom Petty, Kid Rock, Brian Wilson, Michael Jackson and Detroit Cobras. Black Note Graffiti fuses progressive metal with alternative rock for a sound that is the pulse of today’s music.

Volume 3 is being produced by Grammy Award winning Producer/Engineer Chuck Alkazian (Pop Evil, Soundgarden, Tantric) at legendary Pearl Sound Studios (Asking Alexandria, Eminem, Filter).

Black Note Graffiti musicians have had material air on Spike TV, MTV, On Demand Cable, TLC, charted on CMJ and aired on Sirius radio. Here’s the time to introduce this amazing band – check out our interview below with the guitarist, Kris Keller!

Beginnings:

Myself, Kurt (drums) and Adam (bass) grew up together playing rock music since we were 8 or 9 years old. We make up the rhythm section. Kurt and I are brothers. I had a musician friend of mine tell me that’s cheating… Ha! Also Adam is my best friend.

My favorite local coffee house had a cool kid serving up my coffee every morning. I knew he played bass, so one day I asked him if he knew anyone that could sing. He said yes my best friend can play and sing. I was thinking this guys a cool mo-fro so his best buds probably perfect. And he was and is… Ricardo joined us a few years back bringing guitar and vocals on our first two albums.

One day I showed up at rehearsal and I told the the boys there is a young female that’s going to be stopping by that plays keys and sings. Ricardo, Kurt and Adam were like ya right? I was like I’m dead serious. Right on que Gabrielle walks into the lion den. She already had all the lyrics perfectly memorized – keep in mind, these are all original tunes that I sent her a few days prior and she did the harmonies spot on the entire set. So as you can imagine we were pretty blown away. It was like a spark… It was awesome! Gabrielle joined the band about two years ago. She does lead vocals, keys and guitars on our newest album out in 2020 entitled FALL/RISE.

Behind the name:

I love guitars and I collect guitars! I had an acoustic that was sitting in the corner of my practice space that I didn’t play for several months. When I finally picked it up and strummed it, it had de-tuned into drop C. I was like wow that is killer sound and starting working on songs in the drop open C. This tuning is the Black Note. We write and record all our material in open C tuning. Our latest album was written and recorded in all open C. Graffiti is the magic that Ricardo and Gabby lay down on the rhythm section (vocals, keys , leads…etc.). Hence Black Note Graffiti was born…

Inspiration:

Writing and recording original music with these group of musicians is one of the most satisfying things I have ever done. That is the inspiration for me.

I am going to answer for each member for fun.

Kurt – Electric 6
Gabby – Radio Head
Ricardo – Clash
Adam – Alice In Chains
Kris – Bob Marley

Inspiration behind FALL/RISE:

Love, Hate, Politics and experiences. Yes we are working on new material for another album.

Teamwork:

Gabby, Ricardo and I usually work on an initial song concept. Than bring it to Adam and Kurt to write the rhythm section.

Working with the Grammy Award-winning producer/engineer Chuck Alkazian:

I guess the word Grammy says it all. That’s like having a PhD in the music industry. I have done several albums with Chuck. He is one of the most talented engineers I have ever worked with. Not only is he great he’s effective and quick to make decisions.

COVID-19:

Our tour cancelled has payed it’s toll on all of us. Considering we are releasing two EP’s this year it’s been very difficult. But I am very thankful we were able to record and mix the album through 2020.

Online concert:

We played Hempfest opening for Cheech and Chong which was pretty cool. We also did Arts, Beats and Eats a large festival in Michigan.
At first I was not really excited about doing the virtual shows, but they were both amazing to participate in. Literally thousands of people tuned in and we gained new fans. Also we had to learn to use cameras/mics and stream live which was a challenge but cool.

Fun facts:

When Gabby joined the band we had a photo shoot set up for the next day and a tour in Canada the next week. When these events were booked we did not know she would be in the band. So we were like you want in? She was like ‘hell ya’!