Today we’d like to introduce you to Robert Avila.
The Khost is an alt rock/post rock group based in Austin, Texas.
The band originated as a 3-piece band in late 2012, a 5-piece from 2013-2015, and is currently a 4-piece after a five years hiatus.
‘The original concept of the music consisted of intertwined guitar parts with piano and vocals holding the songs together. The original three members are Robert Avila (guitar), Rudy Rivera (guitar), and Jonny Murthy (piano). The band was part of a local record label named Posters on Walls owned by Carter Francis. Through this record label, we were given amazing opportunities and networked with many local musicians. These networking opportunities lead to Brad Grosvold (guitar) joining the band and Aron Fernandez (bass) shortly after. Rudy started playing drums for the band once Brad and Aron joined the group to create a bigger sound.
The Khost played frequently around Texas between 2013-2015. A majority of the shows were based in Austin. We were always a fan of playing weekend warrior shows as much as we could so we would play San Antonio, Corpus Christi, and the Rio Grande Valley whenever we could.
We were putting in the work playing local shows in Austin and making a lot of friends in the music scene at the time. Even though the main focus was music, Johnny and I (Rob) would go to shows and film local bands for practice with cameras and to meet new people in the scene. It was a really great experience and we met a lot of great bands and promoters along the way.
All of us were artists and didn’t have much so our band embraced the DIY style within our brand. We screen printed our own t-shirts, recorded our own music, and did all the booking/managing on our own. This mentality really helped us think outside the box and cut down on costs to make a better profit at shows. We didn’t want to depend on door and band split payouts so we really focused on selling our merchandise. DIY also forced us to grow our skills in all these fields. We wanted to put out clean, polished work so we mastered our crafts the best we could. I remember we were one of the few local bands that would provide a light show + projections to the small and medium-sized venues. Our goal was to create an experience with our shows and transform the space we were in as much as we could.
The ultimate turning point for the band was in 2015 when everything we were striving to be took a nosedive due to situations out of our control.
We eventually recovered from these challenges and started playing music with each other again in January 2020. The current lineup is Robert Avila (guitar, vocals), Brad Grosvold (guitar, vocals), Quinn Finney (bass, vocals) and Rudy Rivera (drums, vocals).
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
2015 was the downfall.
Rudy Rivera (drums) was confronted by an immigration officer one early morning in 2015, after applying for a passport about two years prior.
He was given the news that he was not legally an American Citizen. Rudy had grown up his entire life thinking he was American but soon discovered that his American birth certificate was faked shortly after he was born.
Even though this was not his fault, he paid the full price for this violation. He had to put his life altogether on hold and move back to Brownsville, Texas to figure this out with his family. This situation was a priority so the band’s momentum came to a halt.
Rudy explained the severity of the consequences he could possibly encounter. With the heavy political climate at the time, he feared something as simple as a traffic stop could have him deported to Mexico. Even though he has some family in Mexico, his whole life was in the US. He would have to start from scratch if he was deported. This severe punishment was isolating and produced constant anxiety weighing on his mind from 2015 to 2019. He was basically on house arrest in fear of deportation.
This whole situation unfolded a month before a 2-week Texas tour the band had planned. We had to find a replacement drummer very quickly. We were lucky to meet a guy named Nestor Vazquez. He picked the songs up quickly and was a team player on the tour.
After the end of the tour, the reality of continuing as a band was difficult. Rudy was the glue that held everyone together. We did not want to continue if Rudy couldn’t be there. We had to turn down a lot of shows and only played a handful more that we were able to play. Eventually, Jonny moved away for Grad School in Amsterdam and Aron moved back to Houston to be closer to family. Brad and I remained in Austin and continued to be great friends but didn’t write music together.
Rudy began his path to legal immigration in 2015 and was able to return to Austin in late 2019.
Once Rudy was able to move back, we all decided that we wanted to give the band another shot. We loved what we did in 2015 and wanted to see if the love was still there. We knew we would have to start from scratch again when it came to the Austin music scene. We introduced Quinn Finney (bass, vocals) into the band and decided we wanted to continue where we left off.
Our first show back was at Spider House Ballroom in late January. It was a blast and we were glad to be back on stage. We played one more show after that at Independence Brewery and then the pandemic started. We have only played a couple of outdoor, socially distant shows during the pandemic.
The Khost is currently in the writing phase for a new album.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
Waking Indigo (EP) (2015)
Stella Maris (2016)
Contact Info:
- Email: wearekhost@gmail.com
- Instagram: @thekhost
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/wearethekhost
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCGtYEO7L41YTsNVNrmE0SSA
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/thekhost
- Other: thekhost.bandcamp.com
Image Credits
Photo of Rob and Rudy by Ismael Quintanilla III from his new photography book “I’M HERE ALL DAY”
