By CLAIRE SANT
BGSU Student Contributor
Music pulses through the lives of 28-year-old twin brothers Kyle and Kane Benner, driving them to create their own blend of infectious beats and melancholy lyrics as The KB.
Native to the Fostoria area, the brothers kindled their love for music at a young age, and in 6th grade, began playing in a band that rotated members throughout the years.
While Kyle still lives near Fostoria, Kane moved to Bowling Green about five years ago.
The KB was born in 2017 from dedication and the brothers’ love for music, wanting to kindle something together. They started by playing garage band gigs as kids, and are moving onto bigger and better opportunities, playing larger venues in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana.
Their next performance is Friday, July 19 at 7 p.m. at Arlyn’s Good Beer 520 Hankey Ave., Bowling Green.
“I’ve been playing guitar for twenty years,” Kane said. “I saw my sister trying to play guitar, and I thought it was cool.”
Kane brings the guitar and some vocals, while Kyle rocks the electric keyboard and lead vocals. Kyle said he had an interest in learning guitar but could not pay attention long enough to learn.
Instead, his parents gifted him an electric keyboard, and it became the start of their musical journey together.
“I could not pay attention to save my life,” he said. “But they already bought me the keyboard.”
Kyle said he quit his boring piano lessons and resorted to a self-teaching method, where he stayed up into the early morning watching YouTube tutorials. “That’s how I learned how to play piano, and how we started to write songs together,” he said. “We communicate really easily when we’re making music.”
He explained that it can get difficult to communicate with too many voices. With just the two of them, they create a mix of genres.
“Normally, we just say alternative pop,” Kyle said. “But I once heard it described as a mix between Hall & Oates and Daft Punk, so I’m never going to stop saying that.”
He joked that it would be written on his tombstone as the best compliment he had ever received.
Kane added that their music has been called pop music for depressed people, pointing to the combo of fun, upbeat tempo, and unsuspecting introspective lyrics.
Writing music takes inspiration and thinking outside the box. Kyle expressed a love for movies and said they became a source of inspiration.
“One of my favorite movies is ‘Interstellar,’ and it has inspired a lot of songs over the years,” he said. “It’s a cool way to write about something that isn’t your life.”
When COVID-19 forced the closure of businesses and social events, performing live music became obsolete for years, slowly returning after the pandemic. “We’ve done it through the pandemic,” Kyle said. “It’s been long enough to where we see a drop-off, and now there’s new bands. It’s different now.”
Although the pandemic posed a rough time for musicians, among many other professions, the brothers saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Bands that didn’t perform after the pandemic still made their impact by setting the stage (literally) for other bands.
“When you get to play a show with somebody you used to play with, who now owns the venue, it’s reassuring and it feels like home,” Kyle said.
Because of the small-town feeling and camaraderie that Bowling Green offers, it became easier for the brothers to perform in different venues and make new connections.
“There have been times where the show is the first time we’re ever meeting these people,” Kane said. “But because you’re all musicians, you feel this extra connection to them.”
Where conversations fall short, music picks up the slack, Kane said.
“They play songs about topics that you would never talk about in conversation, they’re too deep,” he said. “But when you’re playing music, you’re telling everyone all of your secrets.”
The vulnerability is what can bring musicians together, allowing for friendships and a sense of community.
“You leave feeling like, ‘Oh, these people are my friends,’” Kane said.
Not every performance is glamorous, and some nights end up with only the other bands in the set supporting from the audience, Kane said.
Performing at world-known venues is likely a dream for every musician, but Kyle revealed that their real dream is, “to eventually play all of the venues we used to play to zero people, to a lot of people.”
When the brothers began performing on their own, Kane said he had to ramp up to the challenge. The drastic change from a large band to a duo made for a new adjustment.
In a band with four to six people, he said, “I used to just play my part and keep my head down. I could be a ‘shy-guitar guy,’” he said. “If one is energetic and the other is just standing there… it’s awkward. You both have to be bringing it.”
Kane said he had a month to figure out how to entertaining, despite years of depending on the guitar skills he’s had since he was 8 years old.
The brothers are touring all over Ohio from summer into fall, performing songs from their performing very own album, “It’s a Party, Isn’t It?” As well as covers of other artists’ material.
“It’s a Party, Isn’t It?” Is available on any major streaming platform, including Apple Music, Spotify, YouTube Music, Tidal and Amazon Music.
