Kite In The Air Interview

Here at the Bona Fide Darling, we are not strangers to the greatness of San Francisco's Kite In The Air. Dreamy, languid electronic beats and the angelic voice of Emma Lucia stepping in front of said beats. The more I listen to them, the more I love their music. You can still get their latest EP Magic Marker for free.

We had the opportunity to chat up Emma about Kite In The Air's music, the music scene in San Francisco, I turn them on to other SF bands and we discuss what the deal is with vampire movies for teens.

Bona Fide Darling: Who are your influences?

Emma Lucia: Adult, Gary Numan, You Love Her Cause She's Dead, Ladyhawke, Caribou, Big Black, Ministry, Aphex Twin

BFD: How did you guys get together?

EL: Mark (Reveley) and I have been making music together for about 15 years or something, the last 5 as Jed and Lucia [jedandlucia.com]. We knew Mike aka Mike Genius years ago in LA and got back in touch with him through Purple Crush (mutual friends) out in Brooklyn...Mike and Mark then started WZRDZ which dovetailed with me starting to write songs for beats. The three of us started Kite in the Air last year. Now Mike lives in Berlin and we're working on our third ep.

BFD: There seem to be a lot of really good indie bands coming out of San Francisco, Kite In The Air, Minipop, Collider and Photons. Is there something in the water out there that isn't in other towns?

EL: THC? We didn't know those groups but digging them now. I've been listening to the Collider song "Translator" over and over like 10 times right now, its so good.

BFD: What is the music scene like in San Francisco?

EL: Its awesome. Its kinda new to Mark and I cause we moved up from LA relatively recently and don't go out a whole lot, but we dig it. The venues are really nice. Its fractured in a cool way. There are distinct scenes from punk to metal to electronic to circus wackiness, etc. and they all coexist nicely. San Francisco kinda marches to its own drummer. Some groups we're fans of from up here - Sleepytime Guerilla Museum, 40 Thieves, Faun Fables, Girls, Liars, Beats Antique, Gamelan X, The Dodos, The Fucking Champs, Earthless, High on Fire the Daly City Records and Six Degrees stables.

BFD: Do you guys collaborate with other bands? That's kinda how KITA got together, right?

EL: Not yet but that would be great, we'd love to have tracks remixed and should reach out to some folks soon. In the meantime if anyone reading this wants to remix one of our tracks hit us up at kiteintheairmusic (at) gmail.com.

BFD: Have you gotten the point where music is your life or are you still grindin' at a day job?

EL: We make a little here and there from sales and licenses. This fall season we had a couple Kite in the Air TV licenses, one to "90210" and one to "A Beautiful Life."

But yeah Mark and I have jobs, I tracklist the radion shows for scionav.com each month, and Mark is a mastering engineer, reveleymastering.com (plug). Mike was a computer programmer until recently when he left to bust moves full time on the music front.

BFD: I've always thought that writing lyrics for electronic music would be difficult, searching, tweaking and looking for just the right sound. Do you guys create the music first then head for the lyrics?

EL: I mostly write songs on the guitar, I wrote a couple on a synth, then with each all of us build production around those roughed out versions. I tend to write the lyrics and melody at the same time and tweak them both as I go. Mark's written some too, Magic Marker & Filed Away... another new one too coming out on the next EP called I Would Have Made It Up. He writes melody first and then lyrics.

BFD: Where do you see the future of Kite In The Air heading?

EL: We're shooting to release 3 or 4 eps this year, hopefully some remixes at some point in 2010 too.

BFD: Are there any producers or artists you would like to work with?

EL: Some remixers would be Harvard Bass or Drop the Lime or Designer Drugs... Holy Ghost!... Rusko... Stars of the Lid... Tipper... Fake Blood... Mr. Oizo.

BFD: Lastly, what the deal with all this Twilight mania and are you wrapped up in it?

EL: Someone in Kite in the Air is a secret fan of Twilight but we won't say who. If they want to put one of our songs on the next film it should be at the part where they dig out an ancient vampire god out from an antarctic glacier where he or she has been frozen for a thousand years and then wakes up and shoots giant fireballs at the moon which kill the guy and whatshername. They should also pay us a gazillion dollars.

Bona Fide Interview: Pretty Lights

Today we have an interview with Colorado electronica producer, Pretty Lights. From his beginning as a bass player in rock bands, he turned his teenage rebellion into the beginnings of a successful musical career. Look for him 11/9 at the Granada and check out his song "Cold Feeling" at the bottom of the interview.

Bona Fide Darling: There are a lot of what sound like old soul and blues vocal samples on your album--are you a crate digger?

Pretty Lights: Very much so. Nothing sounds more fun to me than 7 hours in a big ass used vinyl store with a battery powered portable record player.

BFD: I compared Filling Up The Skies With Lights to DJ Shadow's Entroducing..., do you get that a lot? Is he an influence of yours?

PL: That record was in my cd player/alarm clock for most of high school. It's safe to say that it had a major impact on my musical vision.

BFD: Is that a Big Boi vocal sample on "Hot Like Sauce?"

PL: No it's not a Big Boi sample.

BFD: How did you get your start?

PL: Well my mom forced me into a religious private school in 7th grade, which pushed me to be a very upset young teenager. I then rebelled and eventually found a connection in punk and grunge, then later hiphop and electronica. It was a foolish adolescent dream at first... even selfish. I just wanted to be the guy on stage, or on the radio... so all the people that wouldn’t sit with me at lunch could see... that I really was something special.

Lucky for me, that urge was enough to get me to buy a bass guitar..... and that was the catalyst that sent me on a journey through musical styles and bands until I discovered the music that I wanted to make. After that point, all it took was not giving up.

BFD: What made you want to use a live drummer in your live shows?

PL: I just think it's a little more exciting for some of the audience with a drummer. It was something that I thought would be cool at the beginning and its sort of just stuck. I am looking into expanding into having a lot of other instruments in the live setting. I play flute, bass, and keys... so when I have the ability to bring that sort of thing on the road with me, I will.

BFD: The sound of your newest album is pretty broad: soul, electro, a little rock, hip-hop--what, or who, are your influences stylistically?

PL: Influences, I would say are pretty broad. I appreciate electronic artists who push the envelope of sound design and production techniques. I appreciate any artist that can make me really feel something the first time I hear their music. I've been influenced by certain lyricists in the sense that their styles have shaped my taste when searching for and choosing vocal phrases & samples to use in my production.

BFD: How did you settle on the moniker Pretty Lights?

PL: In a phase of really loving Dark Side of The Moon I came across an old Pink Floyd poster that said "Come and see the pretty lights," It almost sounded like the name of the opening band, which I would have loved to be a part of. It got me thinking. To me, that name represented a lot more than its literal definition. It represents the experiences that we all have in our lives, mostly unexpected and random, when we come across something beautiful...or inspirational... or even disturbing... something that makes us think, or reflect, or imagine.

From the way a red traffic light reflects off the rain drops dripping down a wind shield, or the way sunshine peeks thru mini blinds and slices the smoke in half as you exhale, or the way the city skyline looks when I take my contacts out... those are all beautiful experiences of the mundane... brief moments in time, that when caught from the right angle can spark a feeling or change a mood....and serve as a microcosm, at least in my mind, for why art is worth creating and even more, why life is worth living.

BFD: Your style is vastly different from what you hear on the radio. How did you get into making the music you are making now? Was there a specific point where you realized this is the sound you were going for?

PL: There was no specific point. The sound and style that I am going for has been developing and evolving since the first time I produced a piece of music and it continues to with every new track as well. That is one thing that really excites me about music, the continual evolution of creativity in individuals and in the collective of all artists.

BFD: With the state of the music industry today, what made you decide to give away your albums for free? Do you see them as just a promotional piece while you make your living on the road?

PL: My intention was to get as many people to hear and hopefully enjoy my music as possible, I had no idea that it would actually create a means for me to make a living off of my music thru touring. I continue to give my albums away for free because I want to make an impact on the transformation of the music industry and hopefully discover a new model for lasting success and longevity as an independent musician.

BFD: You have toured with STS9 and I've seen you listed on Jam Base, do you think of yourself as a type of electronic jam band producer? Or is it just a by product of who you've toured with.

PL: Its definitely just a product of who I've performed with. I started producing as a hip-hop producer.. beats to rhyme on. It evolved into me wanting to use that medium to create sophisticated, interesting, and high energy music that stands alone without a singer or a rapper. Music that has the potential to channel emotion in the listener and also make them want to move.

BFD: What was the first album you ever bought that completely blew your mind?

PL: Nirvana- Nevermind

MP3: Pretty Lights - Cold Feeling

LehtMoJoe Interview

Today, we will leht (get it?) you into the world of LehtMoJoe, a local producer who is slowly creeping his way into the iPods of music fans all across the country. He's remix a wide range of artists, indie and major alike, as well as original work.

If he keeps up the quality of work he's been putting out of late, I wouldn't be at all surprised if he rises to the heights of Chicago's Flosstradamus or producers of that ilk.

Bona Fide Darling: You've remixed a ton of different artists, where do your musical tastes lean?

LehtMoJoe: Front. Back, side to side. I love classic rock mostly, but obviously listen to just about everything. I generally don't listen to music I like, or know, while driving, always trying to find something new to get into. Something buried in between Clear Channel stations. It's a great source of inspiration, and samples.

BFD: A lot of your records have a electro feel to them and I know you produce hip-hop as well. Do you think those two genres are getting closer to merging?

LMJ: For better or worse, yes. Hip Hop is the easiest genre to blend with others because of the open source nature of it's production. While mainstream labels were reluctant to try anything interesting or daring with their rappers, bedroom producers had no reason not to throw a Talib Kweli 'pella over the sound of a dishwasher. Now that it's "cool" to sound "techno" you are seeing more and more rappers want electro style beats, some are homages to the days of Afrika Bambaataa, some are more forward looking. Sounding.

BFD: Is there an artist you would like to remix or just work with?

LMJ: I'd love to take Chris Cornell's album Scream and completely re-work it. Such a terrible, album by the greatest vocalist in rock. As far as actually sitting down in the studio and working with, Jack White would be the most interesting. Such a vicious tone and great songwriting ability. David Bowie, for sure and MJ was always on that short list too.

BFD: What kind of response have you gotten from your remixes?

LMJ: Mostly positive, some threats. It's funny how you can spend several weeks on an original track, release it to the web, and not get too many people to listen to it. But spend two hours on a mix for the latest release of an indie act and quickly get it played on BBC Radio 1. I guess that's not really funny, but ya know, it's a figure of speech. I enjoy remixing, keeps my skills sharp and makes me giggle when something starts to come out cool.

BFD: What was the first record you bought?

LMJ: Is it bad for a musician to not remember? I think it was a toss up between Weird Al Yankovic's "Off the Deep End" and Kriss Kross' seminal masterpiece "Totally Krossed Out". I didn't buy many albums growing up because I would mostly listen to what my older brother and parent's listened to. Alot of Motown from my mom, rock from my dad, and alternative rock from my brother. Conversely, I never really listened to my sister's Mary Kate and Ashley tapes much.

BFD: Do you see, or would like to see yourself working beyond the borders of Dallas?

LMJ: I'm from Dallas but don't consider myself a "Dallas musician". Other than traces of cocaine, there isn't much in my music to label it a Dallasites' work. On my upcoming album " Spaghetti Western ", one of the feature vocalist was actually from Vegas, we would just bounce the files back and forth. The internets is crazy man.

BFD: Is there a specific approach you take to bands you remix?

LMJ: Either match the vocals, or stray completely away from the original composition. I've received acapellas from indie acts who haven't released the actual track yet, so it's a complete shot in the dark in regards to how they envisioned their song to sound. I actually like working like that, gets interesting results.

BFD: Can you give us any details about your album?

LMJ: Spaghetti Western will be available July 31st on iTunes and at the CD Release party, aka "Gimme Da Gold Party" at The Granada Theater on the 31st as well. It will be a free show featuring Free Agent, Anonymous, and Mount Righteous, so come on out and uproot that tree. Album features 12 tracks of brilliance. There's singing, rapping, and technoing all in one.

MP3: LehtMoJoe - Johnny Jazz

MP3: LehtMoJoe - Tom Petty

MP3: Smashing Pumpkins - Cherub Rock (LehtMoJoe Remix)

MP3: Michael Jackson - Beat It (LehtMoJoe Remix)

MP3: Peter, Bjorn & John - Nothing To Worry About (LehtMoJoe Remix)