"Take but degree away, untune that string, and hark, what discord follows!"
- William Shakespeare, Troilus and Cressida (1602).
KBD is a trio of musicians who perform long form improvisational sound pieces using electroacoustic instrumentation. This approach is experimental by both nature and design, and serves as a way for audiences to engage with deep and active listening. Its principal members are Michael Kimaid, Gabriel Beam, and Ryan Dohm.
2026 marks their twentieth year of collaboration; two decades of exploring sound, ideas, method, and theory while both expanding and refining their collective capacities. Along the way, KBD has released music on the Eh? Aural Repository music label, along with independent releases that chart the group’s evolution in sonic and experiential terms.
The one true constant among the many variables over the course of their time together is endurance. While much has changed since their inception, KBD remains. Their latest release, an LP entitled XX, documents two distinct configurations: live and studio performance, both with radically different characteristics. As above, so below; as below, so above.