Residual Kid

Austin garage/grunge trio Residual Kid achieved recognition while its members were still children, already experienced performers long before most groups begin. The band originated in 2009 during band camp, when vocalist/guitarist Deven Ivy and drummer Ben Redman were ten and bassist Max Redman, Ben’s brother, was eight. They began with covers before composing original songs shaped by the ’90s grunge era, especially Nirvana and Sonic Youth. Their teacher and mentor Jonas Wilson urged them to perform locally in Austin, where their adult-oriented material initially met doubt yet earned attention through evident skill. They soon met eleven-year-old vocalist/keyboardist Grace London, who added her voice to the 2011 debut EP Box, which Wilson produced. She departed shortly afterward, returning the group to a trio and later pursuing a separate career. Momentum continued with the 2012 EP Faces, tracked at Austin’s Bubble studio under Grammy-winning producer Chris “Frenchie” Smith. Festival appearances at SXSW and opening slots for Dinosaur Jr. followed the resulting attention. In 2015 Sire Records founder Seymour Stein, who had previously signed Madonna, the Ramones, and Talking Heads, brought Residual Kid to the label. Their first release there, the 2016 EP Salsa, was again engineered by Smith, with a full-length album slated for the next year.