"Although I didn't write this song, it spoke to me in a way that made me feel as if it was my own story,” Brandon said. “I found myself playing it over and over again in my bedroom, remembering situations that I've been through.”
Check out the video for yourself below.
Where are you from, and how did living their influence your music?
I’m from Altadena, and the only thing that really influenced my music, by being out there, was [my ability] to play outside and be free. My mom never stopped me from doing that, so it was more who I was growing up with, rather than the setting. I had a really cool backyard—my mom planted a sunflower garden for me when I was 3 or 4, and it was imagination station. I was able to be free, and that is the main thing that influenced what I’m doing right now.
What is your ideal recording environment?
Me and my homies…low lights. Maybe even just me, but I’m still learning how to engineer myself.
When did you decide to pursue music professionally?
I was 19. I lived a whole life knowing for sure that I was not going to pursue music for the rest of my life because I was too afraid of it. I knew that in my world at that time, it wasn’t realistic, but then I grew up, moved away to west Oakland, and in that short amount of time, I was able to meet myself and really uncover what my purpose in life was, because otherwise I would have just gone to school and been a psychologist, which is fine, but that’s not my thing because I have these gifts that I need to share. The token was I [always] knew I could sing, but I could [also] write, so I had words to put with this voice that I was born with. When you’re born with that thing, and you eliminate the distractions, you realize what’s always been there…when I built the confidence to say I’m good at this, that’s what changed everything.
Tell me about the ‘universe’ you’ve created within your music.
I created this whole space for myself, so I didn’t have to worry about anyone else’s [space]. A lot of people [ask] ‘what kind of music do you make?’ And I call it Fantasy Soul music…I created a space in my mind, or maybe this space revealed itself to me, but it’s called Galactica, and I named her myself, but it was kind of a vision that I had, and in that island in space is infinite possibilities of settings. I established the main setting, and now with every project I do, you’ll be able to experience a setting in that setting, so it’s factoring down to infinity. I can do whatever I want [in my universe].
What’s your favorite album of all time?
Woo that’s a hard one. Songs in A Minor was a big one for me. Survivor was my shit—everything my mom played…it changed my life because I knew I could sing when I could sing along with women like that.
What is your most memorable place you’ve traveled to?
I haven’t been to many places yet, so I would say the Virgin Islands because I was able to be inside a Caribbean sea for the first time. I had never done that before. That clear water—warm but not too warm. Puerto Rico is next.
What is the most challenging aspect of being a musician today?
For me, it’s a self-challenge to stay motivated—not that I’m not motivated to do this for forever, but just to constantly be tapped into the creative space where you’re able to work…it’s not the most challenging, but it’s the most exciting challenge.
What are your plans for this year?
I’m trying to travel, put out a new project by May, make that blow up, and travel with it. [The goal is to] have Galactica be siblings [with each music project] because they will all eventually add up to one giant book of music. It’s not about me. I really want to share this music with everyone.
Find music from QUIÑ here.
When and why did you form The Paranoyds?
Staz: I met Laila in ninth grade, and I had already been playing guitar and bass for a few years and she had been playing piano and guitar.
Lexi: They met on Myspace
Staz: We met in high school, but rendezvoused on Myspace before we did. We would learn covers and we wrote a few songs, and then Lexi and Laila had been best friends since pre-school, so Lexi, Laila, and I all started playing music about 3 or 4 years ago. They were in college, and I was in New York, and then we were finally able to come together and start taking it seriously about 2.5 years ago. We met David then as well. We started because it’s fun. We have a lot of fun together. We are best friends in real life.
I read that you are all immigrants, where are you from and how has it affected your relationship with music?
Lexi: My mom is Greek, and I spent a lot of my childhood back and forth between Greece and America. I’m first-generation in America.
Laila: I’m also first-generation, my parents immigrated here from Iran during the revolution, and how it influenced music for me [is] I think they found an escape within Rock ‘n’ Roll at that time in the 70s and that’s all I listened to when I was growing up. I have good taste in music because of my parents.
Staz: My dad was first-generation American-Russian, and his parents also fled during the revolution. My mom is English. They met in England, and had all of us [me and my siblings] there, and I have dual citizenship. Plus, my parents are very big music enthusiasts, my dad being a musician himself, and my mom being an all-time music lover. So music, and having an opinion about music was something pushed on us at a very young age.
David: I was born in Monterrey, Mexico, which is kind of close to Austin, and I came here when I was 11 years old in 2003. Where I’m from in Mexico is very American influenced, so I grew up listening to all kinds of rock music along with Mexican music, and my whole family is into music. I’ve always had it in my life.
How has living in LA impacted The Paranoyds’ sound?
David: This might sound snobby, but all the best bands are in LA, so in order to stand out there, you have to practice a lot. It’s really hard to be able to be out there playing shows if you’re mediocre. So you have to really really push yourself and be a little different. While it’s hard, if you’re motivated, it’s easy because there’s so much to draw in from. It’s amazing, and everybody is so helpful and it’s such a tight community, it’s almost like being in high school.
What’s your favorite meal?
Laila: I can’t turn down a really good cheeseburger. I’m really into burgers.
David: My all-time favorite is pastrami sandwiches.
Staz: I love spaghetti.
David: Lexi loves Caesar Salad…
What’s the most interesting thing to happen on tour?
Laila: This last time on tour, we got stuck in the mud in Arkansas.
David: No…hold on. The most interesting part is that we had a show set up for Oklahoma City, while we were in Tulsa, and we met the band Gym Shorts from the east coast who are fucking amazing, and we just became instant friends. They said ‘Yo come and play in Arkansas with us,’ and we were like ‘okay.’ So we went to Arkansas to play a show and parked in this very muddy lot, and then we got stuck in the mud, but the change of plans was really tight.
Laila:But also, we met Nardwuar last night before we played our SXSW showcase at the Mohawk, and we were like ‘come see our show,’ and he was like ‘oh, I have to see my friend.’ And then we were on stage talking about it before we played, and he just kind of appeared out of nowhere.
Staz:We were like ‘he’s probably not going to come.’
Laila:Ya, and he was there.
David: Word on the street is that he stayed for 3 or 4 songs, which is sick.
What is your dream gig?
David: I think small gigs where everyone is digging the music.
Laila: Burger Boogaloo! That’s our dream!
Who do you guys draw inspiration from?
Staz: A lot of old music, and then our community, we don’t really listen to mainstream music. SadGirl (instagram.com/wearesadgirl/), Prettiest Eyes (instagram.com/prettiesteyesss/) , Wild Wing (instagram.com/wildwingband), Gym Shorts (instagram.com/gymshortsmusic), We have a huge boner for Gym Shorts right now. We love X (twitter.com/xtheband), Violet Femmes (instagram.com/officialviolentfemmes), and Television (facebook.com/televisionband/), and Wand (http://wandband.info/).
What’s next for the Paranoyds?
Laila: We are doing this little thing called Coachella.
Staz: You know, this little independent-run festival…
Listen to more from The Paranoyds here.
Warm Up sustains its twentieth season, one of the longest-running music programs within a museum, continuing it's legacy of supporting emerging artists and providing a platform for experimentation, unique collaborations, and new material. The addition of "Warm Up Radio" on the Know Wave platform activates Imogene's vision to "look back and acknowledge the deep history that has created the Warm Up we know today, while also looking forward to the exciting and innovative direction it is heading." During the radio show, Venus X contemplated how to balance cultivating socio-economic diversity in a museum setting while maintaining economic independence and creative freedom. Eliza shared that "When Warm Up started in the 90s, its founders wanted to take the energy and community that New York's nightlife culture fosters—particularly in bringing artists and musicians together—only in the afternoon at a Queens public-school-turned-museum." Eliza, Imogene, and Venus X, discussed programing the event series by combining underground legends, internet sensations, and artists across genres left behind with the evolution of music. The curators intend to contextualize the internet popularity of new artists among the patrons who facilitated their success.
"Warm Up Radio" will be a continual program on Know Wave coinciding with the Warm Up music series July 1 - September 2. Hosts Imogene Strauss and Eliza Ryan will share the weekly show with other music curators and artists past, future and present as guests. I talked with Know Wave founder, Aaron Bondaroff to learn more about what this collaboration means for music in the NYC cultural landscape.
What are you intending to accomplish with the Know Wave platform?
Its ever changing always. It's an extension of the [Moran Bondaroff] gallery and a platform for artists to use for what they work on. It is also used as a performative space. We use it to archive whats going on in the culture around us.
What is the significance of the physical spaces Know Wave broadcasts from?
In the past we had our own stations in the city we used as headquarters. Right now it's about being supportive and getting support from other establishments, artists, and spaces and making it comfortable for them when we join in.
Tell me about what Know Wave means to Come Together?
I was honored that they invited us for the first one, it's great to see a project unfold. For Printed Matter [NY Art Book Fair], it's incredible to see how its evolved in New York and LA. Come Together is an important staple of NYC music culture. As experiences evolve and it's less about going to record shops, and it's all online, record shops are kind of less of a thing. Come Together [Record Fair] found a way for people to come together and talk about what they are working on. I think this event will really take off.
How did the Know Wave relationship with Venus X come about for Planet X?
Venus, I've known for a long time. She emailed me to come to GHE20GOTH1K and I always kept an eye on her and her brand and what she was creating with her brand for all walks of life to come together. For the inner-city crowd coming Downtown it's mostly an extension of all our friends. Now that she has her Planet X shop, it's a great way to bring exposure to that and a natural way to support each other.
When did you start working with Imogene and Eliza?
It's weird because we are all from New York and we all know each other either on projects we do, events we attend together, or experiences together. When they were rolling out the twentieth season for Warm Up, they approached us. And it really made so much sense to work together so we can all amplify what we are doing. Know Wave also worked on a project with Imogene for Blood Orange's latest project - working on a shirt together. Its New York City relationships.
How will Know Wave continue to work with Summer Warm Up and Warm Up Radio?
We are all figuring that out, we will have a station there to stream and conduct interviews and program radio shows or moments at Warm Up on Know Wave. And we will bring our audience there to the events. You never really know what will happen. Things will change and these moments always do. It's to bring a different arm to what that is. For us it's bringing a global market to them to go further for maybe someone who is performing - so people can experience whats going on with them and learn about the songs they played. It's important for people to experience things first hand. For people who don't live in New York that want to witness and be a part of it, we will create a way for that to happen
How did you come to organize with MoMA PS1 for Come Together?
We've done a radio component for every Printed Matter Book Fair for the last four years and some of my deejays played Warm Up years ago. When Venus came on, they hit me up to do Warm Up to bring Know Wave into the fold.
You have done a great job of cultivating multiple points of entry for people to access Know Wave. Why is this important?
It's important for people to have a soundtrack while they are creating. Something in their environment that paints a picture for their brain if they can't be there. Know Wave archives things that are happening that are important and preserves it for the future. With technology, it's easier and cheaper to digitally archive and capture what's happening right now in culture in 2017. Know Wave is an art project for us to figure out another environment for things to happen - whether on your computer, in your ears or at a physical space.
How has the programming you support changed the way people talked about music culture in the past year?
The way radio worked or music videos worked when we were younger gave us information about what was happening musically. Then downloading and YouTube provided a new medium. I learn and discover new music through what happens on Know Wave - I'm interested in what people are discovering on the spot and talking about. It's more about discovering music through mediums like this, and not necessarily the outlets we grew up with.
Which shows do you connect with most right now on Know Wave? Why?
Thats a hard one! There are so many shows and things happening. Right off the bat, I respect the fact people put their self out there and volunteer their time to show people what they are interested in. A few I just listened too are "Eddie Peake Hymn Show." Hymn is a record label and Eddie brings on different artists. There's "Gully Type Radio," from young kids in London playing Grime music I get to experience. "Chillin Island" is playing rap music I get to discover that I'm not even looking for. Sometimes I will vibe to music or learn about what artists are working with at that moment, especially with events like NADA or MoMA we get good information from conversations that are happening informally.
What advice do you have for an emerging generation of curators?
Just enjoy what you do. Bring your personal opinion and style to it. It doesn't always have to be academic to experience it. Identify with how it connects to you in the present moment. Even when things are not right, take a chance and allow things to take shape. It's always changing; the way we get to bring different people to the table and find experiences to enjoy together. It's just an honor that we get to be the people that select things
Catch Eliza and Imogene hosting the "Warm Up Radio" live internet broadcast on Know Wave and in person at MoMA PS1 during Warm Up's opening weekend, Saturday July 1st. You can listen to their inaugural "Warm Up Radio" show with guest deejays Venus X, LSDXOXO and Aaron Bondaroff here.
