Gotta Start Somewhere Breathe Carolina’s Kyle Even

No matter how successful entertainers become, they’ll inevitably always remember the first gig—whether it was disastrous, wonderful, or absurdly strange. Gotta Start Somewhere embraces these nostalgic moments by asking established entertainers to retell the story of the first time they ever graced a stage. In this edition, The A.V. Club caught up with Breathe Carolina’s Kyle Even before the band’s show tomorrow, Dec. 23, at Summit Music Hall .

Kyle Even: The first show I ever played that I actually remember, I was in choir in elementary school. My teacher’s name was Mr. McKibben and I used to do solo stuff and after-school choir. I was really into it. So, anyway, Mr. McKibben said there was a choir concert coming up and he had this part that he wanted me to do. It was called the “Beethoven Rap” and I was the kid who was rapping. This other kid, Justin Kelleher, who was my next door neighbor and was a couple of years older, was Beethoven in the whole thing.

So, we went out, did this performance a couple of times, and I remember one time I did the same verse twice but no one even noticed. It was my first experience with that idea of messing up but no one notices because you’re the only one paying attention.

The A.V. Club: How old were you in “Beethoven Rap”?

KE: I was in fourth grade and it was at Ute Meadows Elementary in Littleton, Colorado. This would have been in 1994 or 1995. I was 8 or 9.

AVC: Do you remember any of the rap?  

KE: I can’t remember any of it. I remember it was a song about Beethoven, but I just don’t remember how it went. I know Justin was dressed up as Beethoven, though, and I had sunglasses on with a backwards hat and a big jacket. I remember being on stage and being nervous. I had a good time, though.

AVC: What about your first performance with a band?

KE: The first band I joined, we never really recorded. We just hung out in a basement and wrote tracks. I’m still friends with some of the guys in that band, though. I’m really good friends with one of them, Kyle, who lives in New York and does documentary film stuff.

Anyway, I was 16 and I first started getting into bands. I was singing, and we did this try-out to play at the assembly at our school. We got it, and we played two songs, which was crazy. It was a good time, and I was running around like crazy.

AVC: Did you think, “This is what I want to do for the rest of my life”? 

KE: No. I wish I would have known, because I would have had the confidence I have now back then. I feel like I would have been that much better, but being in a band, it takes time to get into your comfort zone and understand yourself as a musician. I was a shy guy back then, and I’ve just started coming out of my shell in recent years being a part of this band. It was definitely good for me to do those shows, though, because they pushed me into the spotlight for a minute. It’s kind of funny now that I do that every day.