This past month I worked on a special project for one of my favorite bands: Cage The Elephant. I got to work with fans all over the world of all ages who wanted to make a piece of art, write a short story or poem or make anything they considered to be creative, and they also included a written reason why they liked CTE. I then organized and designed a 40 paged book that I had the pleasure of giving to CTE this past weekend at KTCL Channel 933's Big Gig 2016. I had a wonderful time hanging with the band, along with their friends and families backstage. Thanks to everyone who participated in the project and made this idea come to life, I'm really proud of how it turned out!
A couple of day ago I had the pleasure of speaking with Kyle Morris from The Unlikely Candidates, an alternative rock band from Fort Worth, Texas. The band will be playing Channel 933's Big Gig 2016 along with Young the Giant, X Ambassadors, Misterwives, Vinyl Theatre and headliners Cage The Elephant on July 9th, 2016. With hits such as Follow My Feet, Howl, Trampoline and their latest single Your Love Could Start a War the band is definitely on the rise across the country. Read the full interview below:
Please introduce yourself and what you do in The Unlikely Candidates? My name is Kyle. I sing and occasionally dance in The Unlikely Candidates. What’s the one thing you want people/fans to know about your band and yourselves as musicians? That we really enjoy hanging out with the fans. We also enjoy being sweaty, dirty, and playing shows like the world is about to fall to pieces. Describe your creative process in three words. Spaghetti, Hamster, Mount Olympus Have you always been a musician/ vocalist? Or have you had different jobs up to now? We've all had jobs. Currently we all work at a bar. Do you guys remember when you heard one of your songs on the radio for the first time? What was it like? I don't really remember, but it's always surreal. Proud mostly. I kind of replay all the shit we've gone through to get that song there. Always feels worth it.
You’re teaming up with Music Saves lives, Channel 933, Bonfils Blood center and iHeartRadio to help encourage people to donate blood here in Colorado. How did this project get started? (if you're reading this after the show has happened) how did it go? Was it any different than other shows you've played? Our bassist Jared's father runs this great organization called Music Saves Lives. They work with festivals and radio stations to set up blood drives in exchange for VIP tickets and meet and greets with artists. So Jared hit up all the parties and organized it. Everyone was extremely helpful and committed to making it happen. It was a success, a lot of people came in and donated. And I know that everyone coming to the show has an altruistic streak. We've done stuff with MSL, but I think this is the first blood donation incentivized show.
What are you most excited for this upcoming year? Musically or just in general? Tour off the single, meet new fans, and enjoy the ride. We want to get this single climbing so we can release and album.
What was the first concert you went to? First album you bought? I think it was Green Day, first date of the America Idiot tour with Chris Hibbing. First album would be, The Clash Greatests Hits or Outkast Big Boi and Dre Present... These may not be the true firsts, but they are the earliest that mattered and that I remember.
If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could only bring one item what would you bring? A boat! I suppose, I would bring a giant book. A really good one, with lots of layers. Like Joyce's Ulysses. Or a guitar with strings that never broke.
You guys are going to be playing channel 933’s Big Gig 2016 with Cage the Elephant, Young the Giant, X Ambassadors, Misterwives and Vinyl Theatre. Who are you most excited to see/ hang with? Cage, probably. They seem fun.
When you were coming up with a name for your band what were some names that didn't quite make the cut? Dark Horse. Terrible name.
If you could only listen to one genre of music for the rest of your life what would it be and why? A tough one. Maybe classical. I feel like that wouldn't get as old as other things. Sort of mood music anyways. Maybe very lyrical indie or classic rock.
What are you listening to now? Song wise, band wise? Max Frost. He's super underrated. Let me down easy is a great song. Jay Fresh. He's a rapper we tour with. He's got some dope stuff. Courtney Barnett is always good. Fidlar. White Reaper. Unknown Mortal Orchestra.
What kind of advice do you have for aspiring musicians and bands? Outlast everyone and write a song a day.
If you could trade places with any musician for a day and gain all their skills, who would you pick and why? Julian Casablancas. I love the Strokes and it would be fun to sing all those songs. Plus I love his melodies.
Where can your fans go to see you next? Big Gig! Hitting the road this month too. What’s next for The Unlikely Candidates? Tour and writing new songs.
I volunteer at the Denver Zoo, and I’m studying to become a biologist. So what are your favorite animals? Bengal Tiger, Black Mamba, Timber Wolf, Red Fox, Red Panda, and the Indian Elephant.
The Unlikely Candidates by Jimmy Fontaine
"Your Love Could Start a War"
Check out the band's website at theunlikelycandidates.com
"Like" Their Facebook page here
Follow them on Twitter here
Instagram here Download their latest single Your Love Could Start a War on itunes here
The website creativeallies.com, an online community of artists, designers, and creative people in general which connects artists to opportunities to design posters, t-shirts and other merchandise for people in the music industry and other big companies is holding a contest to design a poster for one of my favorite bands, Twenty One Pilots. You can get all the details on their website, so you can make your own entry.
On February 22nd I had the pleasure of speaking with the one and only Robert DeLong while he visited Florida on his US Tour promoting his new album In The Cards. Robert performed at the State Theatre in down town Saint Petersburg, Florida on Wednesday the 24th. I had a such a great time at the show on Wednesday that I decided to make the two hour drive to Orlando on Friday the 26th to see Robert perform again at The Social.
Robert was supported by Colours, a couple of local Sarasota, Florida guys who really set the bar high for opening bands in the future. The combination of lead singer Kyle Tamo's impeccable vocals and drummer Morgan Alley's thunderous beats was surely a hit, and I'm guessing they gained a great deal of new listeners and fans while on the road this year. You can go check out their brand new album Ivory that was just released on Friday the 26th, here on Spotify, and download it here on itunes. Both shows had great crowds decked out in Robert's signature face paint jumping and dancing around to his hypnotic beats and stunning visuals, and after each show the fans, including myself, had the opportunity to meet, take pictures and gather signatures from Robert. It was a great experience for me being so far from the Colorado music scene I've grown up with and love to be connected with so many loving fans and awesome performers at each show. If you ever have the chance to see Robert DeLong live, do not miss it, you'll be sorry you didn't get to see one of the most unique, brilliantly talented and gracious performers in music today.
Here's the full interview with Robert:
What is one thing you want fans to know about yourself as a musician?
RD: One thing that I guess I want my fans to know about myself and my music, would I guess mostly just be,that its a unique live performance and it is really a kind of special thing. I don't know, I want fans just to know everything haha.
Could you describe your creative process in three words.
RD: OK; really, complicated, fun.
Have you always been a musician? Or have you had different jobs up to now?
RD: You know, I've pretty much always been a musician. I went to school to play music. I mean my first job was working at a music store in receiving, so that's not a very musical aspect, but I think the only non-music related job I ever had was working at a sea plane airline, which was pretty cool. They would land and I'd fuel them and cart them around on a fork lift. Other than that its always been you know just teaching piano lessons, gigging with different bands or recording people up until I started doing my own thing and I was able to support myself performing.
You recently released your new single “Jealousy” has there been good reactions to it so far?
RD: Yeah, I mean so far. It just came out pretty recently and I've yet to here it on the radio. My last couple singles, Long Way Down and Don't Wait Up I've heard a million times all over on alternative radio, which is cool. So we'll see, hopefully we'll start playing the "Jealousy."
What are you most excited for this upcoming year? Musically or just in general?
RD: I think obviously a kind of exciting milestone is Coachella in about a month and a half. So that's gonna be were all the focus is right now, getting pumped and ready for Coachella. I'm also really just looking forward to hitting the road and I've been doing some headlining shows with my new material for the last few months, so I'm excited to get back into festival season and keep going and playing around all the festivals in America.
I saw that you just recently moved to Colorado, I'm also from there and I hope you guys enjoy it.
RD: Oh I love it there! You know, we travel a lot and so I kind of like the idea of having a getaway for the week or less that I'm home a month, and to be able to isolate myself and go outside, do some hiking and then just jam in my basement working on some tunes.
At your shows both you and your audience are decked out with face paint, is there any significance behind that, or is it just for fun?
RD: It's kind of a cool unifying agent that started pretty early on, I mean almost immediately. I guess the significance is it's just a result of my girlfriend and her art school friends that would do that for electronic shows they would go to, raves and whatnot, and so when I started playing, naturally they did it and the other audience members, as my audience grew were like "hey I want that too" and so it just kind of became synonymous with what I do. Now it's pretty formalized, we have crews all around America that come out, and they have face painting fanny packs and they'll do all the audience members face paint. I find it just a cool way for audience members to feel connected with the music and with each other. You know, you give somebody a mask and suddenly they're more willing to have a good time and open themselves up to experience things in a different way. I went to your show at 97X's Next Big Thing back in December and I ended up missing the actual face paint crew, but some girls next to me had brought some nail polish and we ended up putting some of that on our faces to fit in with the rest of the crowd. RD: Haha, that's funny. Well we'll hopefully have some proper face paint out at the Saint Pete show on Wednesday for you.
I'm looking forward to it.
If you can remember, what was the first concert you went to?
RD: It was Pat Matheny, and my dad took me on what I think must have been my eleventh birthday. Pat Matheny is kind of like a jazz fusion, borderline smooth jazz guitarist. He was one of my idols as a kid. I think it was at the Key Arena in Seattle.
If you could only listen to one genre of music for the rest of your life what would it be and why?
RD: I could only listen to one genre of music, oh that's tough, I feel like I would just pick the easy out and say something like pop music, which covers a lot haha, it picks up rock, electronica, whatever. If I had to chose something a little more narrow, I'd probably say ambient music, because I love music that relaxes me and kind of puts me in the zone. I find that's the kind of music I end up listening to more often than not. Ambient or drone or any other techno based stuff; and again I think its just because I'm playing music all the time and I like having some kind of release that's outside of the thing I do.
What are you listening to now? Song wise or band wise?
RD: I've been listening to a lot of Perfume Genius which is very cool. I've been going through the Pink Floyd discography kind of always. What was I listening to yesterday? Something really cool, I don't know. I'm always into things like Donato Dozzy and Lucy which are techno and kind of more experimental stuff. I kind of keep a blank pallet of different things I listen to. I still cant stop listening to that new Tame Impala record from last year, it's kind of a genius combination of psychedelic pop and really cool production stuff.
If you could trade places with any musician for a day and gain all their skills, who would you pick and why?
RD: Ooo that is a good question. Gain their skills? Oh sorry hold on one second (police sirens) we've got a police chase going on haha, maybe its just an ambulance. Alright, I think maybe, hmm so many possibilities. Maybe somebody like, I mean I would love to say Art Blakey, but he's dead. Can I say Art Blakey? He's dead, I wouldn't want to be dead haha, but I'd love to gain his skills, I think he was just one of the most musical drummers and had this really cool sense of texture, but also while maintaining that really groovy atmosphere. He was a jazz drummer, so that's obviously very different from what I do now, but I grew up on jazz and love that whole thing. So yeah that's my answer, Art Blakey.
If you were stranded on a deserted island and you could only bring one item what would you bring?
RD: Only bring one item, and I'm on a deserted island? How big of an item though, that's really... Whatever, it doesn't really matter if you could carry it, just theoretically, anything. RD: OK, well if I could fashion a way to survive beyond this item, I would say I'd probably want to bring, as boring as it sounds, my laptop. I mean I record music, that's what I love to do and I'd have a library of music there already and I'd always have something to listen to haha.
What kind of advice do you have for aspiring musicians and bands?
RD: My real advise is that make sure that whatever your're doing, you're passionate about it and that you just don't do anything else with your time, spend all your time working on it. In my experience it's really the artists that are the most prolific and the most committed, but also the smartest that tend to make things work, but really I think beyond that its just about honing your craft and figuring out what you like and then working hard. I think really that's the biggest advice, and you know, really working hard. I think a lot of people get caught up in just thinking about how to be cool when they're working on music, which I think there is an element of that that's really helpful and important, but I think the most important thing is to really care about the music. Cause you know that's the thing in the end that ends up carrying you forward, and also thinking long term, I've had a lot of friends that have been in a kind of genre that is maybe fleeting or something, so I guess what I'm doing is kind of more on the producer side where I can do a lot of different genres. I think that can be something for people to think about, you know figure out what kind of genre it is they want to be doing and what genre they want to be doing in ten years.
Where do you see yourself as a musician in five years?
RD: In five years, I really hope that I'm still performing and touring and recording music. I really imagine that from here on out my releases are going to span a lot of different genre types. Most of the music I'm making right now is somewhere between weird dark psychedelic pop and the heavily electronic stuff, but it isn't necessarily full on the floor dance music across the board. So I imagine that it will be some flavor of that. Hopefully in five years I'll have some sort of band that I perform with, they wouldn't necessarily be a traditional band in any sense. I still like the idea of being a solo performer and doing all my things on my own, but also be able to have people I could interact with on stage and jam with and that kind of thing. Hopefully I'm able to maintain the whole festival thing and playing theaters and all that kind of stuff, or maybe I'll be totally sick of it by then and I'll just want to be alone in my room working on music, but I hope not haha.
What would be a dream venue for you for perform at?
RD: Well I've never played Red Rocks, so I think right now that's on my bucket list. That would be super cool, I'd definitely go see that.
I volunteered at the Denver Zoo for four years working in the reptile house with things like snakes, lizards and even bats, so I'm wondering what your favorite animal is?
RD: I think the emperor tamarin is a cool looking animal, I love the mustache and supposedly they're pretty nice too as far as monkeys go. So yeah that's my answer for today, the emperor tamarin.
Good choice.
Thanks so much for the interview, this was super awesome. I'll be at your show on Wednesday in a Colorado flag T-Shirt, so if you see me around say hi.
RD: Cool cool, its going to be awesome. Lets do it! I'll see you there.
A piece of art I made for Robert based off of his favorite animal, the emperor tamarin, complete with face paint.
Robert and I after his show at The State Theatre in Saint Petersburg, Florida.
These pieces were inspired by a photo by Pooneh Ghana from the Cage The Elephant website of Matt Shultz standing in front of a grey wall wearing a black trench coat and X-Ray glasses. I decided to start with a black and white linedrawing of Matt and experiment with different backgrounds and colors. The First drawing is my personal favorite, but I included all of them below.
Both of these art pieces were inspired by Cage The Elephant's new album Tell Me I'm Pretty. The first is for the song Too Late Too Say Goodbye and the second is for Sweetie Little Jean.
