Category Archives: Introducing…

Introducing… BAILEN

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Originally published at kemptation.com on 03 January 2016. Words by Joana Quintino 

Our Introducing… series digs out new, undiscovered musical talents that deserve to be heard, delivering them directly into your ears. This round, we speak with brothers Daniel, David and Julia from BAILEN about early music memories, siblings harmonies and being born in New York.

Name: BAILEN

Hailing from: NYC, USA

Genre: Indie-Folk

Contact: Website | Facebook | Twitter | SoundCloud | YouTube | Instagram

Upcoming shows:

Jan 5 – Ronnie Scotts, London (9.30pm)

Jan 6 – Phoenix Artist Club, London (10pm)

Jan 8 – Monarch Bar, London (9.45pm)

Jan 10 – Old Queens Head, London (9pm)

Jan 12 – Bedroom Bar, London (10pm)

Mar 4 – Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 2), New York (10pm)

Mar 10 – Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 1), New York (9pm)

Mar 17 – Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 1), New York (9pm)

Mar 24 – Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 1), New York (9pm)

Mar 31 – Rockwood Music Hall (Stage 1), New York (9pm)

What is your first musical memory?

Singing our Dad’s original song “The Crocodile Song” as a family! Or singing our first pre-BAILEN original “Fire in the Kitchen!” circa the 90s.

There are 3 siblings in BAILEN. How important is this when you are playing with vocal harmonies?

There is something about the sound of siblings harmonizing together that is really unique. We hear it with all the sibling bands that we listen to, and I think it is the same for us. It’s got this blend that sounds… genetic… for lack of a better word. We’ve been harmonizing with each other for as long as we can remember, so just the amount of time we’ve spent singing together makes it second nature for us. We basically talk in triads. Three part harmonies are a big part of our sound. Because we are two brothers and a sister, it makes for a really interesting texture. Each of us has a really distinct voice individually, but when we sing together they blend really well; they’re complimentary.

How has your music been changing now that you play with your sister Julia?

Daniel and I have been in bands together in the past, but BAILEN was born once Julia joined the band. Julia’s acoustic guitar playing really enabled us to let the vocals shine, and obviously the three part harmonies is something that has been a big thing for us. But we’ve always played music together, now we are just bringing our living room to the stage!

Who are you influenced by?

We are really influenced by all types of music. Our parents are both professional classical musicians, so we love classical music. We all sang in the Metropolitan Opera’s children’s chorus, so opera. But really our love of rock and roll comes from our father, who is also a songwriter and a guitarist. We grew up on The Band, James Taylor, Paul Simon and we love the Beatles. Julia is the one who introduces us to new stuff. She always has her ears open. We love The Staves, another sibling band. We love the Fleet Foxes, Michael Kiwanuka, Emily King and Amy Winehouse. We also play and tour with this amazing jazz guitarist Raul Midón’s as his band. He’s been a big influence on us.

You are born and raised in NYC. How does this affect your music?

Being born and raised in New York has really shaped us. It has made us more aware culturally, opened us up to all kinds of music and fostered collaborations that have helped us grow as songwriters and musicians. You grow up fast in New York! In NYC you’re surrounded by people operating at an incredibly high level, so we learned how to work hard pretty early on. It also gave us the opportunity to sing at places like the Met Opera as kids and Julia got to attend LaGuardia High School for the Performing Arts. We would play at a Baptist church in Brooklyn and in an orchestra in Manhattan; then we would run over to Morningside Heights for band rehearsal… that’s what we did growing up.

What do you sing about?

We write from experience. Sometimes we get inspired by something that someone says, or something we hear, or read, and we’ll just start riffing on it. Sometimes we sing about what we had for breakfast 🙂

What can we expect from your live shows?

We have a lot of fun at our live shows. It’s very intimate, and we try to make you feel like you’re a part of the family. Our ideal performance space is our living room, so we really want to invite you into our home for the evening and have a good time, which includes tearing up some vocal chords. We like to make everyone feel like a part of the Bailen family for the night.

Can you describe your typical fan?

We attract all different kinds of people. Anyone and everyone is welcome! We appeal to anyone who likes sounds made by humans! We like to think of it as that kind of Pete Seeger ideal where different people gather around with guitars and sing together (without auto-tune).

Where can we find you when you are not playing music?

When we are not playing music, we are most likely thinking of playing music. David is a filmmaker and a talented chef. He is usually in the studio producing other artists. Julia is an actress and along with many of her friends is a part of the theater production company called G45. She is also a student at Barnard College consistently pulling all nighters. Daniel is always playing music; it’s nearly impossible to find him without a guitar or bass. Daniel is currently starring in the West End production of Close to You: Bacharach Reimagined. But…if you have to tear him away from an instrument, he could definitely be found in Riverside Park playing major league baseball… in his dreams. Pierre, our pianist, has learned to deal with our crazy sibling antics. He’s a part of the family. We’re working on the paperwork. (We’ve been playing with him since Daniel and I were 14).

If you have to choose between NYC and any European capital, which one would you go for?

If we had to choose somewhere other than New York, we would definitely choose LONDON! NYC is the spot though… so Imma stay.

Introducing… Amason

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Originally published at kemptation.com on 30 October 2014. Words by Richard Kemp

Our Introducing… series digs out new, undiscovered musical talent that deserves to be heard and delivers them directly into your ears. This round, we speak with Amanda Bergman of highly lauded Swedish quintet Amason about borrowed languages, feeding the monkeys and the band’s forthcoming debut album, Sky City.

Name: Amason

Hailing from: Stockholm, Sweden

Genre: Indie Pop

Contact: Twitter | Soundcloud | Youtube | Facebook

Upcoming shows:

31st October – UPSTAIRS, Ace Hotle, Los Angeles, USA

1st November – Origami Vinyl, Los Angeles, USA

3rd November – The Echo, Los Angeles, USA

 

You’ve been championed by the likes of KEXP and NPR Music as ones to watch. Has this rise in popularity been gradual? When did things really get going for you?

I do know about these radio stations and I’m sure it is a good thing if you want to spread your music around to have them play your song, so I’m very happy they did – and thankful. But as far as making assumptions about rising popularity or sinking down the drain, I have no clue. I guess it’s hard to see that kind of stuff from the inside as well for that matter. I’m sure Google has a way of measuring stuff like this nowadays, but I’m just not that interested in keeping track of numbers. I’m no good with numbers. I like making records and playing shows with people I love and I guess the ultimate sign of success would be to do shows for which people show up! To me, that’s when it gets going.

 

The name ‘Amason’ is taken from the Swedish spelling of the mythological female warriors. Do these warriors feature in your music at all?

Actually, I think it’s taken from a Volvo car model that everybody drove around the country in the 60s… I think it was a loose way of referring to our common wish to make some music made for car driving, or biking or fast walking.

 

You sing in both Swedish and English. How do you decide which language to use for each song?

I guess it comes around naturally. I couldn’t tell you exactly why one song is in English and one is not, it’s all part of the confusion. I guess some sounds seem better in Swedish and some in English. It’s all just different frequencies. And, of course, it is easier to lovingly mistreat and stretch the Swedish language since I know it so well and it’s a deeper part of one’s personality. In English, you’re always the shy guest, standing in the corner with a plate full of buffet food.

 

Can you tell us anything about your upcoming record, Sky City? What can we expect to hear?

It’s a bunch of songs that are all made in a very vivid process; finding the idea, mostly through a drum beat, arranging it, recording it at once and then adding the singing and the lyrics wherever it’s needed. Lots of laughter and stupid ideas, not so much thinking. Very intuitive, I guess. Therefore, the songs are quite different from one another, and I think that people will like some of them and not necessarily like others. Or they hate or love everything. I have no idea about that. I love it because I loved the process, and I like the feeling of just giving it away, almost like feeding birds or animals at the zoo. Here’s a bucket of semi-old fruit; take whatever you want and leave the rest for another hungry monkey or bird.

How would you describe your songwriting process? Do you all write together or is it more a personal thing?

It’s a very co-creative thing in our band – although, it’s mostly me or Gustav who writes the lyrics and the vocals so that’s probably where the more personal approach is added.

 

The fact that you all come from other great bands has led many to call you a ‘Swedish supergroup’. How is the reception for your music in your native Sweden?

To my measures it’s already all we can ask for. I think that more and more people are becoming familiar with the band, and hopefully after releasing the album next year we may have a decent chance to play some more shows in Sweden. We’re not intentionally looking to become a big act in Sweden, it’s just that you need some numbers of listeners here to be able to make a living from doing live performances, which is of course what we humbly wish for.

 

Each member of Amason brings his/her own influence to the band. There’s jazz in there, some surf rock, pop, synth and plenty more. Where did your sound start and where do you think it’s heading?

It all started with us five being different people, with different backgrounds both musically and personally. And then we just put it all in the blender. As I mentioned before, our debut album was put together very much with the intention of just ‘trying things out’ and ‘doing something’. I suppose a natural transformation would be to spend more time writing songs together after doing lots of live shows where we can develop our sound as a band in a natural way. I think we all agree that we want more time for the next one, and then just see what it does to the music. We don’t know more than anyone else on this matter. And that’s what I like about it.