Konrad Kinard, the Texas-born composer, performance artist, and multi-instrumentalist known for his collaborations across avant-garde, Americana, and experimental soundscapes, releases his new album War Is Family (Surviving the Cold War and the Unraveling of an Imagined America) through Incinerate Media and The Orchard.
A haunting blend of spoken word, sound collage, and music, War Is Family unfolds as what Kinard calls “a radio drama without the drama or the radio.” Drawing on his childhood in Cold War-era Texas, the work blurs memoir, myth, and sonic memory — an elegy for an America that never quite existed.
“I was born a Texan. I was born into the Cold War,” Kinard says. “Sputnik circled the earth and shattered the peace in my home. This album is a letter from that time — from a child raised under the eternal threat of annihilation — to the Now.”
The album features an impressive ensemble of collaborators bridging continents and generations:
- Konrad Kinard — Vocals, piano, guitar, bass, programming, carrugahorn
- BJ Cole — Pedal steel guitar
- Eleonora Rosca, Emily Burridge, and Matthias Hejlik — Cellos
- Chris Farr — Drums
- Fredrik Kinbom — Harmonium, bass
- Fergus Quill — Contrabass
- Taro Kinard — Vocals, bass drum, bells, meditation bowl
- Lola Kinard — Vocals
- Junior Laniyan — Tap dancing
Produced, mixed, and mastered by Fredrik Kinbom at Madame Vega’s Boudoir (Berlin). Additional production and engineering credits include Boris Wilsdorf at AndereBaustelle Studio (Einstürzende Neubauten), Berlin; Bryce Goggin at Trout Studio (Anthony and the Johnsons, Royston Langdon), Brooklyn, NY; spoken word and overdubs recorded by David Whitaker at Old Chapel Recording Studio, Leeds.
Spanning twenty tracks — from the ominous “Born A Texan” to the cathartic “A Texas Summer Night” — the album reconstructs the psychological terrain of a generation raised under nuclear threat and cultural fragmentation. It weaves field recordings, spoken monologue, live performance, and traditional instrumentation into a deeply personal historical soundscape.
Kinard’s narrative performance recalls the intimacy of radio theatre and the existential weight of performance art — a hybrid form he has honed across decades of work in New York, London, Berlin, and beyond.
TRACKLIST
- Born A Texan
- Better Red Than Dead
- Siddhartha Goes To Alabama
- Three Sisters
- Red Ant Hill
- Daddy Bought A Gun
- Assassination Postcard
- The Bomb Shelter
- Rockets
- Berlin Preamble
- Surrounded Berlin
- Gaslight
- War Is Family
- The Rat Hole
- Dog Tags
- Russian Bombers
- Love Orgy Hot
- Nuke The Russians
- Sun Rises
- A Texas Summer Night
About Konrad
Konrad Kinard is a Texas-born composer, musician, and interdisciplinary performer. A graduate of the University of North Texas, he emerged from New York’s downtown scene, performing with Bettina Köster (Malaria), Rhys Chatham, Glenn Branca, La La La Human Steps, The Woodentops, and others. His projects — from Slash Orchestra to Zero Ping — have crossed the borders of performance, sound installation, and dance.
Kinard’s work has been presented at The Kitchen (NYC), Whitechapel Gallery (London), Tacheles (Berlin), Bradford Cathedral (UK), and Kremer Gallery (Berlin). His earlier compositions have appeared on Sub Rosa Europa, Bean Creek Recordings, and within major dance and performance works, including Human Sex by La La La Human Steps.
After years split between Berlin and Leeds — and raising a young family — Kinard returns to recording and performance with War Is Family, his most personal and expansive work to date.
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