biography

The music of Nashville-based artist Kyd the Band is an ideal soundtrack to finding your place in an often-chaotic world. With his warm yet powerful vocal presence, the Northern California-bred musician otherwise known as Devin Guisande elevates every song with his unpredictable sonic palette and fearlessly honest storytelling—a factor informed by his journey in following his passion and forging his own unique path through life. Along with showcasing his incredible songwriting skills—a gift he’s revealed in penning tracks for artists as eclectic as hip-hop legends Bone Thugs-N-Harmony and German DJ Robin Schulz—Kyd the Band’s music radiates a hard-won positivity that inspires anyone to live more boldly.

Born into a family closely involved with the Pentecostal Church, Guisande got his start playing drums at the age of ten and later took up piano and guitar. At age 16 he co-founded a band with his guitar-playing brother Kyle and began writing songs of his own, relying almost entirely on instinct rather than mining influence from other artists (“I didn’t even know who Kanye West was till I was 18,” notes Guisande, who was forbidden to watch movies or listen to secular music). Over the next few years, Guisande experienced a life-changing transformation as he left the church he was raised in and moved away from home. “I’d thought I was going to be a preacher when I got older, but I wanting to figure who I was and that completely changed the whole trajectory of my life,” he says.

With a batch of self-recorded songs under his belt, Guisande headed to Los Angeles at age 19 and fully devoted himself to pushing forward with his music career. But while his nonstop hustle scored him meetings with a number of industry heavyweights, he felt increasingly disillusioned by the L.A. scene and decamped to Nashville.. When his brother followed him to Tennessee a year later, the two resumed the musical partnership they’d formed as teenagers. Too broke to afford beds, the siblings shared an apartment and slept on the floor, working full-time jobs all day and spending every night writing songs. After suffering a series of false starts, the duo linked up with DJ/producer and frequent Scott Storch collaborator Avedon, who enlisted their songwriting talents for the 2017 comeback album from Bone Thugs-N-Harmony. Soon enough, Devin and Kyle landed a management deal and began putting out music under the name Kyd the Band, magnifying their momentum by embarking on their first-ever tour. Although Kyle exited the band in late 2017, Devin continued on and eventually signed with Sony Music Germany/Sony Insanity Records (UK).

Touring with artists like Lennon Stella and NF in 2020, Kyd the Band hopes that his music might create a similarly intimate connection with his audience. “Everything I write just comes directly from my life” says Guisande. “I’d love for my music to reach all the kids who are like I was, who maybe feel like they haven’t found where they belong just yet. I hope those kinds of people hear what I have to say, and see a bit of their own story in my mine.”