Episode 1: Kelly Reaves
If you've been around the Alabama heavy music scene for any amount of time, you know the name. Kelly Reaves — former vocalist of Haste and the voice behind Long Cold Stare — is where The Breakdown starts.
In Episode 1, I sat down with Kelly to talk about growing up in the Birmingham punk and hardcore scene, how a chance moment with a Tool song turned into a career behind the mic, and what he's learned after decades of doing this the hard way.
We went back to the beginning — the records that lit the fuse: Metallica, Dead Kennedys, Agnostic Front, Faith No More. Kelly started on drums, not vocals, and the story of how that changed involves singing along to "Sober" at the right moment in front of the right people. From there we traced how Grimlock became Haste and what that transition actually looked like from the inside.
We also got into what touring was before GPS and streaming — booking DIY runs through Napster and navigating with MapQuest printouts — and why getting too caught up in the business side of music nearly took the joy out of it entirely.
Kelly talked about Long Cold Stare, where that project stands now, and what's coming next. And he didn't hold back on what he'd say to younger bands who are just starting to come up in the scene right now.
The quick hitters round covered Birmingham bands more people should be paying attention to, one song he wishes he'd written, and a show where he lost his clothes mid-set.
A fitting place to start.
Find Kelly Reaves: