Finnish artist The Nightwalker comes to WEATNU Records with his debut release (Nobody Can’t Escape From Karma) Le Clotêt Avec Garcés hails from homeland of Catalonia, originally releasing under a folk-grunge album in 2015 and moving this year to an electro sound. Producing music in the cold north under the land of lights. The Nightwalker brings influences from GusGus and classic electro. His music has been heard worldwide. Hearing the melody that penetrates the heart and soul, you’re soon not to forget this tune.
“If there is anything musicians need more, it’s an audience.“ Some might think that being a musician is a power trip, quite the contrary, it is a way to cope with ones own feelings. It alone helps bring emotions forth, from inside of a person and reveal what is hiding in our soul. We don’t do it to please others, but a simple need, or outlet must occur. People in general need art, and art helps the world feel. Without art, we all die inside, and dying inside is not something we want in a post-2000 world. Musicians need to share their work, it isn’t always for a career, but the side of an artist that most don’t realize, is that they are naturally performers. Something is brewing inside of you when you want to share your most intimate private moments, your music, with strangers, in hope that someone may discover you.
But those days are coming to a close, and while bleak as it may sound, the reality is a hard one to grasp. It’s a bitter pill… You can hope all like, and simply make music and you do it for the love of it, but your audience is nill to nothing. As it becomes more difficult for the artist to be heard, either through pay to play social media and other places, musicians in gross are leaving the internet. They simply pack up and leave, one by one, every day. You can follow this through Twitter, watching certain people toss their bags to the side of the road and say, “see ya, I thought my music was interesting, but I guess that isn’t so.”
This alone is a pandemic, and no one can do anything to stop it. Big tech is not helping, so we have to release music to other places and may never find our audience. A once ‘ray of hope’ is now diminished into a feeling of dread, wondering, “who will listen?” There isn’t much to say, there isn’t much to welcome, I bring you no kind words, but the truth. Musicians in general are their own audience; musicians listening to one another, and the fans of the world, finding the next pop wonder instead of the independent artist, who works even harder to be heard and finds little to no help getting their music discovered.
YouTube at one time would help boost the artist, but that was long ago, and Twitter, the same value, but as filters were put in place, we lost our freedom to be heard. This is a travesty of epic proportions, not to mention unfair. But then you might say, “just pay promo and you’ll find your audience.” This might be fine if the artist had money, but a starving artist is a starving artist for a reason. The days of free for all internet are long over.
Ask anyone in the music scene at this time and they will tell you, from the indie label to the free promoters and bloggers, “it’s hard, and we’re all suffering.” This comes from the world shutting down, and people don’t know where to find music. The tight grip from streaming services and lack of free promo has caused this to happen. Social media and Google have become censorship = socialism. We were warned about the loss of net-neutrality years ago. And we are all kept from seeing each other, in this digital wall all around us. The moguls who loom over us, with their tightly gripped wad of cash in hand, purposely find ways to “milk the system”. So… is there is a way out of this? Pay it forward as much as you can, and help one another in this time of need, as #WEATNU has always done, simply put (artists helping artists.)
You become the fan of your fellow musicians, because, in no time soon are these juggernauts of the industry going to allow us to move forward. They stamp out art without regard, even if your music costs nothing, as they simply don’t understand the magnitude of doing this. Your fans are lost in a sea of digital 1’s and 0’s and it isn’t getting easier. Someone had to speak up about this, someone needed to, it’s up to the artist to find a way to correct it.
A new generation of Industrial, Darkwave, Coldwave and EBM artists – take flight, as we start to build up our artist listfor 2023.Another welcome addition to the already existing list of labels that are provided here.
One of (6) internet radios that #WEATNU had during 2015 has just been born.
Having our 3rd sub-label set for Industrial and dark electro type genres, just seemed like the right timing. As the label continues to create more options for the listener, allowing in the known and unknown artist who poses “great talent.” Synthesis Noir promises to be something new.
While during the beginning of the movement of We are the New Underground, our roots were Industrial, IDM, Ambient, Dark ambient, and from that day forward the digital underground scene continues to morph and evolve and we release what is sent our way. One more label added to the landscape, one more option for the artist. These labels of #WEATNU help to target various scenes of the music landscape.
If you’re into classic Industrial, Electro, and EBM, then Synthesis Noir will be a place to keep an eye on. Our sub-label may include some goth-crossovers from Transmission Nova label as well. A newer audience will find this great music and the #WEATNU machine will continue to grow. Free to join, and great benefits allotted to the artist. Other genres may include Futurepop, witchhouse, and many sub-genres that come to us. If Transmission Nova is to guitar post-punk, then Synthesis Noir is to Coldwave and digital wires.
‘In a music scene that is nearly impossible to be heard, yet alone be noticed, #WEATNU has been fighting for experimental music since the summer of 2014. Starting by forming the group We the New Underground, on Soundcloud that summer, but that was just the beginning of an idea that became a movement and finally a label that artists could stand behind‘
In this world we have formed, the musician is appreciated, not underrated. It is a city all its own, a hub for artists who long to be found, found by anyone they can. The seeker who wishes for something more than top 40 finds it here. Along with the many artists who release to us, with other sub-labels connected, forming a network, a machine for the avant-garde, a world that is so well hidden, few know about it, yet alone care to seek it out, but it’s there, and it’s been building for these 8 years. That machine is a self-running creation, that is helping the indie artist.
In a digital realm that is vast, a small drop of water that is made creates quiet ripples across the digital ocean. The original logo becomes those quiet ripples moving across the music scene.
The mainstream is this imaginary wall that we all fighting. #WEATNU didn’t climb that wall, we tunneled under it, forming our own underground. Using the internet as that underground, an underground that long existed, before this movement was made, even before the internet itself was conceived.
The mainstream is this imaginary wall that we all fighting. #WEATNU didn’t climb that wall, we tunneled under it, forming our own underground. Using the internet as that underground, an underground that long existed, before this movement was made, even before the internet itself was conceived.
We are the New Underground –
The Underground scene
The underground has always been the hidden driving force behind the music. When mainstream was releasing Disco in the 70’s, people in their own world were creating punk and later Joy Division starting the post-punk movement. Then the 80’s, while New wave was jamming and pop radio was pushing synth-pop. Industrial began to surface with groups like Throbbing Gristle, Cabaret Voltaire, Skinny Puppy, NIN, Ministry and Severed Heads then from Belgium, EBM came forth, with Front242 andUK, Nitzer Ebb. When dance was huge, Richie Hawtin in a club in the Detroit scene was spinning techno, then later DnB, Jungle, Electronica in the UK, and Vaperwave, Lo-fi, Synthwave, Retrowave, Dream pop on the internet. And concluding, one scene building off another, connecting them somewhat with each other.
The experimental end of this spectrum began with early hits from Coldcut, Ninja Tune, WARP RecordsAphex Twin, Autechre, Squarepusher thus the IDM scene. Then trickling down to, Underworld, Boards of Canada, Tycho, Tosca, GusGus, and Röyksopp showing us the downtempo and chillout field of things. Each scene is born direct from the underground. A small niche of people find the music, and it drives straight to the heart of what they are longing to hear.
WEATNU encompasses all of these sub-genres in (4) labels.
A free existence to a musician is key to survival in a corp music world, and everything we do is free to the artist.
#WEATNU 2023
WEATNU Records
Housing all forms of electronic music, avant-garde, experimental and ever-evolving underground styles we are the bleeding edge of the DIY scene.
WEATNU Records – Founded 2014
IFMACA Productions
Our cinematic/chillout label and company for royalty free stock media, formed in 2021, and slowly rising to help composers who make film-related music, that you can listen to and enjoy.
IFMACA Productions – founded Summer 2021
Our library of composers continues to build
Transmission Nova
The post-punk/shoegaze of Transmission Nova, alongside goth and alt-rock of the 90’s.
Transmission Nova – Founded Nov 2021, launched 2022.
Synthesis Noir
And this year Synthesis Noir, our latest sub-label will house, EBM/Industrial, Darkwave, and Coldwave music.
Synthesis Noir – Founded 2023 (opens Summer)
Internet radio
WEATNU [OUR] Online Underground Radio, playing 24/7 on rotation all music that is uploaded to us. Freely send music to us.
WEATNU [OUR] playing the best of the underground, 24/7 Electronic, Avant-garde and beyond.
Alongside our sister station, Transmission Nova – WEATNU [OUR], which also plays Indie rock and shoegaze, goth, etc. Transmission Nova radio was the first before its label came years later.
Transmission Nova – WEATNU [OUR] 24/7 | Indie Rock/Post-punk/Shoegaze and Alternative. Internet radio: Playing the best of the Underground 24/7
Our movement hones in on “The Underground” of this modern era, where people are making music directly from their small bedrooms, tiny studio in their apt/flat. That obscure musician on YouTube you’ve never heard of, or the lonely talented musician that wants to be heard.
Along the way #WEATNU has formed Radio | Label | Magazine | and in 2023 formed its net-label to help the artist, who may not wish to sell their work, but instead be appreciated for it, under creative-commons licensing through archive.org.
#WEATNU – Net-label
WEATNU Records – net-label on archive.org – under creative-commons licensing. (opened 2023)
WEATNU continues to influence the indie scene
The image of #WEATNU – becomes invisible radio waves moving across the music scene, beyond web apps, beyond software barriers, and beyond the algorithm of social media, resisting restraint from the corp world. An idea is carried across the ocean, and around the world.
mind map of #WEATNU (c) 2023
Artists from different parts of the world
Artists from many places around the globe join us, we are a world-wide event. It started in the UK and spread to Australia, and now Russia where The Underground still thrives, thanks to the pioneers who keep it going; those early 80’s artists.
Artists and fans are given new options also in 2023, now that we have our network website.
Forum and social gathering
WEATNU Network – social network + forum, opened 2023
A free to join forum / social gathering for people to come together and share music, and to join #WEATNU, where one simply becomes part of the community, sharing each others music on the internet.
We are the New Underground seems to be influencing the music scene, in some way, by the people who hear the music we release to the internet. Those unknown musicians suddenly find a niche audience. There are micro communities across the world and have been for years, and WEATNU is here as the lighthouse for all to see from endless miles on that digital ocean we are traveling over.
Some artists who have come through our doors went on to become semi-famous, even successful and some were already this way before they arrived, only needing a boost for their self-esteem or finding a new audience, even enjoying the community we have here. For every person who can be helped here, they find their niche audience, and this continues to happen, due to the power of the internet.
What we offer is freedom to the artist and fans who alike wish to find music that isn’t mainstream, but has true, raw talent. Both the unknown and the known are welcome to join our movement. We need you all, now more than ever.
May we continue to grow in this hard music industry, but with your help, we will succeed.
“Amsterdam’s Except Elephant’s music is tempting, sensual, and very unique. She will be releasing her first single, Mermaid, from her forthcoming EP on WEATNU Record’s sub-label – Transmission Nova this April. We discuss her music and visual art making process, her inspirations, and Amsterdam’s DIY scene.“
How would you describe your music?
Except Elephant: A mixture of indie rock, dream pop, some synths and post punky bass lines?
How
long have you been playing and recording?
EE: I started singing, as a hobby, about 13 years ago. I was singing in a band, started with covers just for fun and then we were writing our own songs. There was a big break from that for a while and I started making my own music about 3-4 years ago.
What
is your songwriting process and what gear do you use to make it?
EE: Normally I just start writing without anything in mind and see what comes out. I usually get a bass line down first and then the drums. When I have the rest of the parts, I play with the vocal melodies and write my lyrics.
Do
you play everything on the record or do you have a band?
EE: It’s just me and the Logic Pro x drummer plugin 🙂
Do
you record your own music?
EE: Everything is MIDI, so I do it all on my computer and record my vocals at home too.
Photo by Except Elephant
What
is your forthcoming album about?
EE: I am releasing my first single this April, Mermaid, which I believe is a very good introduction to what my forthcoming EP is mainly about. Choosing to make oneself able to see beyond the constructs we’ve been living in and imagine new worlds.
What
inspired you to create it?
EE: The meaninglessness that the constructs we’ve been living in have created 🙂 By that I mean several kinds of behavior that lead to or arise from discrimination, oppression, destruction, dichotomy etc. How we treat each other (and even ourselves) and everything else around us as a consequence of the world that we’ve created. This is something I was working through also in my video art work the last few years and what troubles me the most in this life!
I
love your artwork for your songs and on Instagram. What is the
concept behind it?
EE: I’ve always used the human body (or body parts) in my visual art as a symbol for humanity as a whole. In my artwork for Except Elephant, I use it as a canvas to signify what makes us; a blend of everything around us, the magic of human power and the destruction this same power brings into the world. Sometimes it’s a bit more personal, just reflecting a mood or part of myself.
How
do you create/make your art?
EE: I snap some photos of myself, load them into Photoshop, make cut outs and start playing with images, colors and textures. It’s not much different to making a collage.
Is
Except Elephant an alter ego and if so who is she?
EE: I wouldn’t say she is an alter ego exactly. More of an exaggerated version of me. She feels like an alien in this place we live in, because she believes that life can be much different and nicer for everyone on earth. And that makes her angry and sad but also caring, almost motherly towards all humanity. She wants to embrace and heal the whole world. Quite ambitious…
What
is the music scene like in Amsterdam?
EE: In Amsterdam you can find a little bit of everything, but it is primarily a clubbing/party city. A lot of the most interesting stuff for live music happens within the Alternative/DIY scene. From punk to Experimental Jazz, you can find some gems in the most unexpected places!
Do
you play live?
EE: Not yet.
Your
voice reminds me of Kate Bush, mystical and stunning. Who has had the
most influence on your music?
EE: That’s very flattering as I consider her voice and her whole existence quite whimsical! I would
mention Radiohead, Placebo and PJ Harvey, but I feel it’s all kind
of like an interpretation of everything I have listened to over the
years, with a lot of 90’s alternative and early 2000’s indie
elements that have really seeped into my blood.
I’m
dying to know what else you have in the works, any new projects
coming up?
EE: I had a really nice collaboration recently with indie artist Uncool Paul, where I added a bit of a melodic synth touch to a couple of his songs from his upcoming album. And I’m excited to be working on a video for Mermaid at the moment. This will be a solo venture too, but I’m already planning ideas for my second single release and video which will be made in collaboration with another visual artist.
#WEATNU Digital Magazine – March 2022 – Leslie Keffer
Top photo: Susana Martins https://www.susana-martins.com/ Follow: Except Elephant on Instagram
For years we have been building up new tools to help the independent artist. During 2017 there was a time of silence with WEATNU, where new ideas were bubbling under the surface and at a moment of sudden inspiration IFMACA – Independent Film Makers and Composers Association was born. The group began on Facebook that year. Composers and small filmmakers were the intention at the beginning, to collaborate with one another, but after some time, the group shut down and the idea of IFMACA went dormant.
That was until the year 2021, when the name was exhumed, or brought to the light as a new entity for WEATNU. “If composers and filmmakers could not collaborate and make projects together for fun, why not instead create a new subsidiary for WEATNU?” However, even today composers and filmmakers can be involved in collaboration through our discord chatroom. This thought-process started IFMACA Productions.
A part that includes label/sync for the cinematic composer and small film studios, also including music for YouTube creators. The music that is with IFMACA Productions is a continual growing library of highly professional musicians and composers. Some of which are cinematic-driven and may include video game music as well.
As the library grows, sync will eventually happen. It was time to introduce everyone to this next part that has been progressing behind the scenes. IFMACA Productions gives the composer a chance at a career, and it also gives them the ability to be part of a cinematic label. Music is released to all streaming platforms and licensed for use as sync in the future.
Listen to our artists
Artists are taking interest in IFMACA Productions
As a sync company, we are ensuring that the small producer, video game designer, film class, limited budget director, all have one thing in common. They each need music that sets the mood for their projects. The music we produce is full of that sound that others are seeking. Film-centered music is part of our artists work, as we are electronic/avant-garde and beyond. In the future, this may expand to our 2nd label, Transmission Nova (TNR), which is centered on Indie Rock/Shoegaze/Dream pop/Post-punk and Post-rock. These extra genres might work well in unique and dramatic ways from a film perspective. Artists will be showcased in our WEATNU Records – Spotify playlists, so everyone can hear their music.
The Composer and small film studio benefits
The small studio, YouTube Creator, art gallery, etc, could benefit. IFMACA Productions is finding its way onto the film landscape and starting small.
IFMACA Productions releases music for the indie film director who is looking for something a little different. This includes music that is driven by the passion of the artist, in a way only known to the composer. It is the film producer who will find what they are looking for, in a niche market, instead of being directed toward a massive audience, large-sync, ad-sync, HBO, Netflix, etc. Our artists for a competitive and affordable price will sync instead with small production studios. As this part of the WEATNU machine grows, so will the artists and audience we house, thus allowing more opportunities for everyone involved here and in time our website will be created when sync begins. To add to our library, see the links below.
A strange turn of events bring forth interesting results, and things are in a constant state of flux with WEATNU. During 2016 our radio had 6 running stations, one being our main WEATNU [OUR] and another, returning harder than ever, our indie rock/shoegaze/dream pop/alternative and post-punk radio Transmission Nova. Last year in November, a new sub-label with the same name took flight and became an integral member to our movement. Now both label and radio are as one! This means artists who are with Transmission Nova (TNR) or TransNova Records label can also upload direct to our radio Transmission Nova – WEATNU [OUR] Both artists on and off the label are welcome to upload to our second internet radio. So far, we are playing all the past music sent to us during the year of 2016, but we are eager for even more to add to us. Not only is Transmission Nova – WEATNU [OUR] playing post-punk as a darker edge to the guitar underground but we will have gothic rock, and other heavier guitar-related, grunge, post-grunge in time. The format will find its level, just as our first radio WEATNU [OUR] has with many types of avant-garde and electronic music. Experimental music is what drives us here and our radio hails to the days of college radio during the 90’s and early 2000’s.
“Since 1994, Frontman Jason Martin – Starflyer 59 has been releasing album after album beginning with Tooth & Nail Records. Now on their 16th LP ‘Vanity’, and spanning from a wide array of styles, starting in petal stomping Shoegaze, dreampop, post-punk, post-rock – lo-fi elements, then mid-range radio pop alternative and middle of the road. SF59 has found merit in the cult circle of the music world. The music hails back from the yesteryear, as Martin says, “He’s always felt like an old soul, and he’s only reached mid-age” Special thanks to Jeff Cloud for allowing this interview over at Velvet Blue Music. Growing up with Starflyer 59 as a teen in the 90’s, was a personal fav of mine, and a real honor to speak with him. – This one is for the ages.”
Did you grow up listening to Chet Adkins or surf music playing on the hi-fi during your childhood by chance? Did your parents listen to all kinds of stuff when you were a kid?
Jason Martin: Not really, my dad listened to Frank Sinatra and stuff like that, my mom listened to Christian rock.. Stuff like Larry Norman, Daniel Amos, and Kieth Green. My music pool was not really large until I became a teenager and found bands like the Smiths, New Order and the Pixies…from there I got really into music and started playing drums, guitars etc..
The more I listen to Vanity, the more it grows on me, such as in the past with other albums you’ve done. The synth just melts on ‘Life in Bed’ plus the vocals on this album are very clean, and bring out more of what is hiding on the other albums. Was this an intentional change?
JM: Thanks, glad you like the record. The more upfront vocal sound was a decision by TW Walsh who produced and mixed the record.
What would you say helped form the sound of what SF59 became? Leaving the early noisy sound, to the more sparse clean sounds of Vanity?
JM: Its just been a long time. The shifts in sound through the years was mainly just wanting to do something a little different for each record. Most of the old records were done in my early 20’s, not really sure I could even make music like that any more…but one of these days I would like to try.
The album was lost through time, until brought to light and mastered.
The Morellas Forest record that you played drums on with your brother in 1988, was just recently released to Velvet Blue Music, was that a fun trip of nostalgia for you?
JM: It totally was, I hadn’t heard that record in a long long time. I was 15 when we started recording that record…bittersweet hearing it now after all these years.
I’ve always had an affinity for your 2001 album Leave Here A Stranger, it was a huge transition for me as a listener. How do you feel about it now? What were your influences at that time, and was there a certain sound you were trying to achieve?
JM: Thanks! At the time I wanted something lo fi..it was a hip thing around then listening to records like Pet Sounds and stuff like that, so I thought we would try to make a record in that mode. I’m not sure how much of it we actually pulled it off, but I do like the record.
How did you end up collaborating with Dave Bazan for the Lo Tom records?
JM: I met Dave in 1998 or something like that. We are old friends, I’ve always dug his voice and we thought, It would be fun to collaborate on some tunes. Tw Walsh and Trey are also old friends , so we all got together and made a couple of records.
Lo Tom – Jason Martin
Jason Martin goes back to his roots of heavier rock-related music with Lo Tom, in much the same way with his 2006 album My Island on Tooth & Nail Records.
Circa 1998
Is there any gear that you always hold on to? A fav guitar or pedal or whatever?
JM: I am always buying and selling old guitars and gear, so a lot of stuff I had way back when I no longer have…wish I did. The only gear I have kept from the early days is a 1993 Fender MIJ Jazzmaster, an orange Boss Distortion Pedal and a baby blue Boss chorus pedal. Those things have pretty much showed up on every recordI have made somewhere or another.
Does it feel like a dear friend is leaving when you hear the final song on one of your albums, including Vanity?
JM: Well…it kinda feels more like someone who has stayed too long is finally leaving. The records take a long time to make and it is very hard to hear them clearly for a while after they are done.
What’s next for SF59?
JM: Not sure right now, possibly a new Ep.
As we get older, our tastes change, especially our influences, what has changed in your music influences these days?
JM: I think the older I get I like a lot more music that I didn’t like when I was young..Not saying that is always a good thing, when I was young I knew what chords I liked and so on…Now I like certain lead guitar styles and playing that I thought would have been a bit lame when I was young, what can you do…
I was about 18 when you released ‘Gold’ in 1995, (a friend let me borrow the CD for a year) do you remember how it felt to tour in those days, was it fun? I had the pleasure of once seeing those early bands of Tooth & Nail at The Warehouse in Bartlesville, OK around that year. Do you remember doing that show?
JM: It was fun,..Being a young kid and going on the road playing guitar how could it not be. I do remember playing the Warehouse in Bartlesville, always a cool place to play.
Were you self-taught in both guitar and drums, and you also play the piano, is that right?
JM: Pretty much self taught..My buddy Randy Lamb who was the bass player in Morellas Forest taught me an E minor and a D major chord, I kind of just figured out other stuff from there. I think to this day I don’t do the right finger shapes for some of my chords, but its too late to change:)
Anything in closing?
JM: Thanks for the interview. I appreciate it.
#WEATNU Digital Magazine – Feb 2022
Get the new album ‘Vanity’ over at Velvet Blue Music
‘This month: Leslie Keffer, a native to Ohio, spoke with us from her country setting about her music creation, her career in noise-related sound, and moving from small venues to larger festivals, including being an opener for Sonic Youth. – Now she uses the genre ‘microhouse and insectno‘ to explain what she does musically after her 10 year rest from the music scene. With new insight, she is releasing once more. It was an honor to speak to her.‘
Today I have with me, experimental artist – Leslie Keffer.
Hello Leslie, how are you today?
Leslie Keffer: I’m good. I am just making some AI art on the computer.
It’s interesting what one can do with AI to make art, how is that helping you as an artist?
LK: I really enjoy making AI art. Once you do it enough you know what prompt words do, what styles and you can start to create the images in your head. I will spend hours and days perfecting an image until what is in my mind forms through the AI. I have been making art showing the inside of the body. I am striving to show people how beautiful the inside of the body is. Most people seem to be grossed out or offended by it, which I don’t understand, because inside the body is where the miracle of life happens, the magic and the electricity. I find it so gorgeous and captivating.
How did you get into music first-hand?
LK: My first memory of music is being 3 or 4 and watching MTV for the first time. It was brand new back then and played music all day and night and I was just fascinated by it. I think the music they played on MTV in the 80s really got me into it. I was obsessed with Madonna as long as I can remember!
Many girls were in those days, as I recall, but like yourself, I was just as young during the 80s, and to embrace the 80’s, I had a Michael Jackson zipper jacket at the age of 6.
LK: Hahaha that’s cool!
Yeah imagine a little kid walking around with a Michael Jackson zipper jacket, laughs. Listening now to Inosculation – it moves me, it has a freeness to it, water-like. – What influenced you to write this new album?
LK: I would say nature and our woods. I go there and get moved and come back and write. I am also inspired by the body – by how it looks and feels inside and out. Trees inosculate when they grow together. I wrote the song about when humans inosculate psychically and emotionally with each other. I romanticized it in the song.
A story of nature en electronica, much like something the Orb may have done during their beginning.– You’ve been on hiatus for about 10 years, but you’re coming back into the music scene, how does that feel and where do you hope it takes you?
LK: I had to take a much needed break from all of the touring, booking shows, and writing music when I was living in Nashville. I was worn out and not creating to my fullest potential. I moved back to Ohio where I am from to regroup. I did a lot of healing in my body and soul. I learned Kundalini Yoga and delved deep into mediation. Through all this I found my way back to expressing myself creatively and started working on music and art again.
And is the process of making new music, even possibly more melodic music, serving you well?
LK: I’ve always wanted to be able to create structured songs as well. It’s not that I don’t enjoy playing noise anymore. I just found myself naturally writing these microhouse songs, and I didn’t even know what it was until someone told me. I just love making beats. Currently it’s more of a challenge for me to write songs like this so it’s a lot of fun experimenting with something new and growing into something else.
Since we’ve been discussing your music, what started your music journey?
LK: I started playing acoustic guitar when I was in 6th grade in bell choir at church. Then in college I played in bands. Right after college – I just started playing noise music when I lived out in the country and it just became my way of life. I started meeting other people who played it online and I set up a tour through them and hit the road by myself. After that, I became friends with them and played shows with them for the next 15 years.
In small houses and settings?
LK: A lot of them were house or warehouse shows and dive bars. Then I got to play some cool venues, especially when I was playing in Laundry Room Squelchers based out of Miami, FL. I toured with them for over 10 years.
I understand it brought you some media attention, especially through the indie scene with VICE, and Pitchfork.
LK: I knew some folks who wrote for magazines and I got really lucky and they liked what I was doing and wrote about me. I didn’t know all of them so it was really cool when reviews would come out. I always felt so honored!
That must have been pretty amazing then, and you opened for Sonic Youth?
LK: When I was starting out I got an email from Carlos who booked ‘No Fun Fest’ in New York City which at the time was one of the biggest festivals for noise and avant-garde music. He told me Thurston had heard my tapes and wanted to collaborate with me. I thought it was a joke, but it was real and we became friends so I got to open for Sonic Youth a few times and did live shows with both Kim and Thurston.
Would they do another round with you again these days?
LK: Oh I don’t know about that! I always would do it if they wanted to.
Hearing your album: I really like the beat on ‘Internal’ btw
LK: Thanks!
Since we’re on the subject, you’ve just released a new album, the one with the girl on the front cover with earth-like things, fungus and so forth on her body. Would like to talk about it? Its story is fascinating.
Leslie Keffer – Belong to the Earth (album)
LK: Its about a girl who has to go underground and hibernate because she becomes too overwhelmed with energy from other people and American culture. She goes there to recharge and store up inspirational energy. She emerges from the ground and re-enters the world during a global pandemic. She stays in the woods to survive and in the process becomes one with nature.
For your creative process, you’re using an all hardware setup, is that right?
LK: Yes, I use (2) Korg Kaossilator Pros, a Korg Volca Beats, and a Korg micro synth.
That seems just right for this type of music. Especially for the bug-like sounds.
LK: I am obsessed with bug sounds. I probably over do it. I call my music “Insectno” when people ask what genre I am because I literally don’t know what genre I am anymore.
And you should, since it’s who you are. Identity is very important to an artist. It’s good to share this in common with you, each artist doing their own sound, it’s freeing.
LK: Yes your music doesn’t sound like anything I’ve heard
Thank you, I appreciate that, musicians can put themselves into a bubble sometimes, but I think personally that’s a good thing.
LK: I definitely go into a bubble. I go into my makeshift studio and will spend hours in there and think it’s been 30 minutes.
Time can really take you away when you’re in the zone, as I call it
LK: I call it catching the Spirit
That’s nice, as I believe in a place called the Cone of Silence, it’s a place, I’ve found, it’s mysterious and like a rabbit hole. This of course deals with music creation. – Is there a lay-down process in DAW, EQ’ing, mixing and so forth after the music is done. Do you sequence in recording?
LK: I play it all live as I record it. Its always just one track. I don’t have the patience to multi-track and overdub. Rat Bastard masters a lot of them.
That’s seriously impressive, considering It’s all well mixed first try. Are you using a mixing board, and record it to DAW?
LK: I use a mixer with the EQs straight up. Then I run it into my computer and record it in Audacity. I just try my best to have the levels correct when I go to record.
What artists, would you say, influence your music creation?
LK: I am really into Kate Bush and a lot of pop music, but the last few years I have been listening to a lot of techno like Tommy Four Seven, Adam X, and Drum Cell. I like creepy industrial sounding music.
Would you say it has fueled the type of music you are making now, or are you taking your own route?
LK: I think my intention every time I make a beat is to make a techno beat, but I can’t figure it out and my beats end up being something else entirely.
How did you find your way back to music scene?
LK: I just was ready to be expressive again. I really want to share myself with the world and connect with people even though I sometimes have to hideout from time to time to regroup.
What do you think about the current music scene, its culture, is it different now, or harder to get your music heard?
LK: It may be a little harder for me because I am not on Facebook. I was off social media for 5 years and just got back on Twitter and Instagram to share my music and art with my friends again. I think the music scene that I know is still thriving if not more so!
It appears to be, now with more platforms, but the music will play through the noise and be heard.
LK: I believe that.
Since you’re a new artist with us, what you do think about #WEATNU in general?
LK: I think it is an awesome label with really unique music I had never heard before and didn’t know about. I love that you can get support from a label and still own your music and release what you want when you want. There seems to be a lot of support between the artists as well.
It appears we are running out of questions, do you have more to add?
LK: ummmmmmmmmmmm
It’s coming, I can feel it! Waiting for the next phrase.
LK: I just messaged my friend and asked him what he would ask me about my music if he could ask one question maybe he’ll come up with a good one.
That’s a good idea, you picked a life-line here on “Who Wants To Be A Musician” …
LK: My friend wrote back and asked 3 of the questions you already asked me! The one you didn’t ask was – ‘What did you think about making music while you weren’t creating, did you find other things to do?’
Ah: so – What did you think about making music while you weren’t creating, did you find other things to do?
LK: I missed making music, yet I didn’t make time for it. It was a reminder of the life I left behind in Nashville and I had to sort myself out and recharge so I couldn’t let feelings of longing for the past in. So I hiked all the time. It was my muse. I just saved up all that inspiration from the forest until now and it just flows free right out of me. I don’t get those negative feelings anymore about creating.
PTSD can do that as well, you just don’t want to make anything, but you find something to make you happy for the time, video games are a great help in this case.
LK: I am actually in music therapy for PTSD and the songs I’ve been releasing are part of the way I work things out in my mind. It’s very therapeutic and healing for me. A lot of my music and art is about my experience with trauma and healing.
WEATNU Records is now going to open its label up to even more music, with the sub-label coming Transmission Nova.
LK: That is the word on the street. I think it’s an awesome opportunity for the Indie Rock/Shoegaze and Post-punk bands, including artists who want to be on a label and still be in control of their music.
Do you think Indie rock artists would benefit from it?
LK: I definitely do. It’s hard getting out there, because there is so much more access to music now. You would think it would be the opposite, but personally I get overwhelmed by all the options and probably miss out on a lot of great music.
Where do you see WEATNU Records going in the future and do you think it has helped artists during its 7 year stay?
LK: I hope WEATNU continues to grow and keeps finding unique artists to put out.
Thank you, we hope it continues to serve the community of artists for years to come, in all its options to them. You’ll be bringing to the New Year, new music on WEATNU Records, is that right?
LK: Yes, the plan is to have something in February or March. I hope to make something new and exciting for myself and everyone else.
Very cool, we hope to hear something new and creative from you soon.
Just one more thing: What movie in your mind sparks a memory that you are most fond of?
LK: “The Sound of Music” It reminds me of growing up and my Grandparents and getting to stay up late and eat popcorn. I love most of the songs. And it’s kind of bizarre that it’s my favorite, because I really don’t like musicals at all. But I do love the Sound of Music.
It’s one of my fav films too, and those songs are very memorable.
Thank you Leslie for doing this interview today – I wish you well with your journey and career in music for all time.
