Photo by Carson (Gigi) Milstead

Here at the Deli we’re admittedly big fans of Venn diagrams and one of our fave VD’s is the one where you have one concentric circle representing rough-hewn indie folk with string-band instrumentation complete with acoustic guitar and viola/violin and banjo, and another circle representing formal jazz-based, conservatory-trained musicianship that balances virtuosic proficiency with tasteful restraint…

…and another circle representing confessional singer-songwriter alt.pop featuring misty-eyed, world-weary romantic yearning á la Sharon Van Etten/Angel Olsen/Weyes Blood/Phoebe Bridgers, and another circle representing confrontational punk singer-shouters known for sharp-tongued, full-throating takedowns of the patriarchy shot through with "nasty woman" wit, including a fair helping of self-lacerating wit as well, á la Lydia Lunch/Lunachicks/Kathleen Hanna/Kat Bjelland…

…cuz any artist who can fit within the not-very-sizable sliver of intersectional space between the above-listed concentric circles is something akin to finding a pearl in a random restaurant oyster and so it’s appropriate that conservatory-trained, no-punches-pulled, singer-songwriter Reggie Pearl fits this bill…

…given her ability to put across lines like "are you going to tie me up / but you won’t even spit in my mouth / in my mouth / spit in my mouth / spit in my mouth / you won’t spit in my mouth" declaimed over homespun banjo ‘n’ viola ‘n’ violin (or "fiddle" if you prefer) in a manner that’s at once humorous and disturbing and wistful and yearning as R. Pearl does on “Paint My Nails,” a single they released earlier today…

…a song self-describedly described as being “about physical dominance in a relationship without any emotional depth…being intimate but only for a performance of gender roles…about how accepting your queerness can liberate you from the imposed roles within your relationships and how you relate to the world” or for another example check out their preceding single "Get Low" released just a month ago (almost to the day and both will subsequently be included on Twilight Zone (Ugly Cave Records), a 7-track EP set for a September release)…

…featuring some of The Deli’s fave lyrics of late which again address toxic masculinity but this time as manifested in an episode of erectile dysfunction (“was it the beer, or the Lord, or the lesbian porn?”) with a catchy-as-hell vocal melody/guitar progression enhanced by pinprick pizzicato strings culminating in eerie microtonal glissandi trills over a creeping bassline, mirroring an emotional tenor that’s unsparing one moment and empathetic the next (“was it guilt, was it shame / maybe you took blame / first be honest with yourself / then honest with me”) that in either case could save the addressee months (if not years!) worth of therapy bills…

…so naturally we wanted to know more–especially with Reggie Pearl set to perform live here in NYC a couple days hence (on 7/20/23) at The Windjammer in Ridgewood as presented by Footlight Presents–and fortunately she was willing to oblige in the form of sharing some insightful insights over the course of an in-depth phone convo spanning a range of topics, excerpts of which can be found below. (Jason Lee)

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REGGIE PEARL — "PAINT MY NAILS"

Recorded by Hot Take Recording Co. 
Mixed by Justin Termotto 
Mastered by 1m0rewinter 

Drums: Ryan Katz 
Bass: Gabriel Lazaro
Viola: Noah Leong 
Violin: Claudius Agrippa

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On geography:

I moved to Boston a few years ago to attend the Berklee College of Music. Since then I’ve moved back to St. Louis, though I’m currently back in Boston for an East Coast tour. It’s been nice to be back in the Midwest to give some love to my family and friends. When I left for school my grandma said, ‘You’ll get famous and never come back” which was sweet for her to be worried about.

I didn’t graduate from Berklee. I knew I wouldn’t. It’s too expensive. My goal was to find the best musicians I could possibly play with, and collaborate with, and that’s what happened.

Later this year I’ll be going to the Philippines for a couple of months with a side trip to Japan. My partner is from there and their family is there. One of my goals has always been to be able to travel and play music. It’s nice to have some people willing to help me out. I’ve also got a show lined up in Japan…could call it a tour if I wanted to be all fancy. 

On early musical development:

My mom always said I started singing before I could talk. I’d be humming melodies and my older sister would say “tell this kid to shut up!” It never felt like I chose to sing. Now it’s a choice. But when I was a kid it’s just what I did. 

I started playing in a band at 10 years old at a music center. Early on I was into soul music, Motown…lmusic people around me weren’t listening to. Holy shit, there’s so much good music out there! I’ve dedicated myself to finding music that I “shouldn’t” have access to. Not to mention music from other countries, music from around the world.

For me making music is in a way of trying to honor this legacy of musical creativity, and those who have come before me. And to add to it. It’s a never ending thing. You can study music your whole life and never come anywhere close to being an expert.

On evolving musically: 

I went to regular high school, and then performing arts high school to study jazz. It felt like a sport in a way…the only sport I’ll ever play. There’s complexity, vocal gymnastics, always something new to try and master. Singing jazz is how I practice and get better. I have a lot of appreciation for it now.

I’ve always written songs, but somewhere along the way realized I can say whatever I want to say in them. On the Twilight Zone EP I’m addressing things I never thought I’d want to put in my music. It feels like singing about some of these things frees me from their reins–using music as a means to release pain and stress, negative emotions but positive emotions too. 

I’ve given myself the freedom to try new things…don’t think I could do this before. Before I was “I’m an indie singer, My songs have to sound a certain way.” It used to worry me, sounding ugly and not pretty, sounding “bad.” When I released [2020 EP] Regicide I realized “oh, I can sing however and whatever I want.” 

It’s been so much fun to release myself from that. But uncomfortable at times too…letting my voice free to exist in these new spaces. I’ve realized I can make screams beautiful, heart-wrenching, an outlet for the stress and some of the BS we all deal with.

The only concern is to do it in a healthy way. I can drink some tea, take a throat lozenge when I need to. Being formally trained there’s this attitude you need to sound like"this." Use your head voice, etc. But I’m going to do what feels good and make each performance different, its own unique in-the-moment thing. It feels good to put all that stuff somewhere.

Collaborating is a big part of it too. Like I said, I found my musical soulmates at Berklee. I can go to them and say, "here’s the bones of the songs. You know how to play your instruments. It’s up to you what to do." They’ve really brought the songs to life. String instruments can express more feelings, more emotion, than a voice and words can. Or at least in a different way. 

On the creative process:

I have to write what I want to write. "Here’s this thing I need to understand things better." It’s a little strange being asked to explain my songs, because I write a song about something so I don’t have to talk about it. My favorite thing about music is where a song explains just how I’m feeling on its own terms. And I love that it may be able to help someone who needs help, helps them to know they’re not alone. 

When I wrote “Get Low” it came from getting into a perfect flow state. I didn’t really *write* that song. It just came to me. Some spiritual being came to me and said, "here’s this song, just write it down." I think it was reacting to things that have just been thrown in my face so much. It just came out. 

On music as a therapeutic form of expression:

I grew up a closeted queer person in Missouri, around a lot of "Republican" guys for lack of a better term, many of whom were homophobic and sexist. The song deals with feeling "Catholic guilt" in that setting. It all circles back on myself. 

The opening lines ("said the preacher, to the priest, to the firearms / One hell of a man, but you can’t get hard") confront this. The fear and insecurity. There’s a tendency for preachers and other male authority figures to pass this shit around. And then someone will take up arms based on what they’ve said about some group of people.

On “Paint My Nails”:

I’ve always been obsessed with hands. There’s so many things you can do with hands. You can cause so much harm. You can literally punch a baby. Or you can do so much good. 

The opening line “Sleep is recommended” is like when you’re thinking about a difficult situation so much… just go to bed, go to sleep. Think about it later. 

The song is about a relationship that was super dominating, but not in a way I was into, not in the fun way. And thinking I need to get out of this, but I’m stuck. Paralyzed by pain and fear and asking “are you going to tie me up.”

It’s also about queerbaiting. About men who will paint their nails but they’re not queer. About people wanting to be a part of queerness. I can’t speak for them, but some people want to come across in a certain way when they’re not really that way behind closed doors. 

We all know a person who had their nails painted but they’re a piece of shit. Using these surface signs to be involved in a certain space where you can actually cause a lot of harm. The one consolation is that maybe, because the straight dudes are wearing nail polish, it makes it safer to be queer in Missouri. 

Final thoughts:

I’m excited for people to hear this music. I’ve been holding on to some of it for 4 years. “Floor Dweller” was written about a year ago. The entire record’s been done for about a year, just waiting to get everything in order. I’m ready for it to be out so I can move on to the next thing. 

Me and my friend, Frances Baker, we were like "we don’t wanna deal with a label." So we started one ourselves. It might turn into a full on production company doing photos, set design, videos and other concepts. It’s great having ADHD, and being creative, and having time on your hands.

Dr. Monika Demmler (photo above by Franz Bauer) is an honest-to-goodness, doctorate-wielding singer-songwriter-multi-instrumentalist who integrates her research interests directly into her music. And btw for anyone who’d prefer to skip this critic’s further musings and get straight to the interview with Dr. M.D. (which includes song-by-song liner notes, generous provided to accompany her latest LP, Princess!) you’re invited to scroll down past the jump.

Without or without the additional context, Princess is a fulfilling listen if you enjoy down ’n’ dirty rock ’n’ roll incorporating elements of Krautrock, shoegaze, psych pop, protopunk, and overall organ-riffing-garage-rock groovitude into the mix accompanied by Patti Smith-meets-Marianne Faithfull style vocalizing. All in the name of re-aligning your chakras and satisfying your soul. And if you wanna get re-aligned in person, simply head to the The Mint this Saturday night (7/15) and you’ll be well taken care of…

About a month ago your loyal musical correspondent was lucky enough to catch German-bred, LA-based Dr. Monika Demmler playing a live set at Brooklyn’s Our Wicked Lady and while the whole set was killer there was a point late in the set that stood out where Monika locked eyes and locked into sync with co-guitarist Jonny Polonsky as they both dropped to their knees in a shared state of rapturous supplication as smiles spread across their faces as they rocked out in tandem…

…improvising a series of escalating riffs that built to an ascending chordal climax anchored by the rock-steady groove of their rhythm section and at the risk of sounding a bit new-agey (hey, this is the LA blog after all!) it felt as if waves of perfectly-tuned-to-the-universe love energy were pouring forth from their instruments…

…which maybe that’s exactly what was happening seeing as Dr. Demmler a.k.a. Stony Sugarskull (explained below!) is an honest-to-goodness doctor and not must tho’ to be clear not a medical doctor but rather a PhD “who channels her research in metaphysics, philosophy, and ecological sound frequencies into her musical artworks” according to her homepage…

…alongside an interest in biophilic healing effects and acoustically transmitted love frequencies and if theoretical physicists like Michio Kaku are right and the universe really is one big symphony of vibrating strings, and if one likewise subscribes to the findings of cymatics…

where geometry, and architecture, are viewed as essentially music frozen in time, to paraphrase Goethe, and where both music and architecture “solidify the intangible emotions and memories of people through time”…

…and whatever skepticism one may or may have about Solfeggio frequencies—a set of 9 electromagnetic tones reputed to have the power to heal and raise consciousness; including the 528 Hz frequency which is said to resonate with the solar plexus chakra and thus to promote love, balance, and harmony—it’s practically inarguable that, for the vast majority of humanity, music is capable of strongly impacting one’s psycho-biochemical state of being (i.e., how you feel) as if attuned to certain aspects of our humanity not to mention the surrounding world…

…which makes sense given how it’s an empirically proven fact that the vibrational frequencies of the human body—brain waves in particular—constantly respond to, and impact upon, the various overlapping frequencies found in the world around us including, of course, sound waves, and what’s more, there’s a natural tendency for the frequencies of these multiple vibrational oscillations to move towards a state of synchronization with one another, all the way from the micro/molecular/cellular level to the macro/cosmic/interstellar level…

…and when it comes to macro level synchronization there’s the well-known Pythagorean concept of “the music of the spheres” that analogizes musical harmony with the ordered, harmonic movements of celestial bodies and also the regular rhythms of biological processes (the perfectly balanced interplays between emission/absorption of oxygen and CO2, respiration and photosynthesis, for instance) whereas climate change and global environmental crisis are the dissonant outcomes of the Anthropocene having reached a point where we’re out-of-sync and unmoored from the natural rhythms of Nature…

…and if only humankind had heeded Nikola Tesla back when he proposed that “If you want to find the secrets of the universe, think in terms of energy, frequency, and vibration” then we’d probably be better off currently but at least we can always turn to music to get us back in tune with the universe, not to mention with each other, or as Dr. Monika Demmler puts it in her dissertation: “restorative life-energies are perceived when a musical text resembles the structures of an ecosystem”…

…a conviction that’s led Monika Demmler to take her theories from the page to the stage, where kickass rock ‘n’ roll is also an exercise in applied ecomusicology seeking to summon “restorative life energies” and if Monika and her band’s Our Wicked Lady performance is anything to go by there must be something to the notion…

…cuz despite only having rehearsed for the first time earlier the day of the show, the band of pick-up musicians seemed to instantly fall into sync with one another, locking into one mesmerizing groove after another, clearly on the same or similar frequencies, sending out healing vibrations to those in attendance… (Jason Lee)

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Princess personnel:

Monika Demmler: vocals, guitar, zither
Kristian Bell: bass, drums
Franz Bargmann: guitar
Alex Tower: synths/keys
Colin Dyer: keys on tracks 1/2/5

Dr. Monika Demmler on her early musical journey up to the near-present:

I always played music from when I was a kid. I wanted to study music, but I couldn’t because my main instrument wasn’t a piano. l played zither. But it’s like piano in that you can see everything you’re doing clearly and understand the theory. At the time I didn’t realize quite how important music was to me.

I became a bank clerk. I wouldn’t say I liked it but it was interesting at times. Then I decided to go to back school, got a Masters in teaching for English and History. I taught high school for years and then received a scholarship to study in US, met a professor who specialized in blues and hip hop philosophy. It fascinated me so much that I ended up writing a master’s thesis on blues and jazz.

After receiving a scholarship to write a PhD I began working with a professor whose specialty was ecology and literature. I combined music philosophy with ecology and African-American music. First I moved to London for a period of time and started playing music again since the music scene there was so greet, and then moved to Berlin which is such an artistic and free place and started writing my own songs. That’s when I released my first album, Lioness, in 2020.

Sometimes I think it would’ve been great if I’d stuck to music when I was younger and not done all these other things. But now I’m glad it all happened like it did. I want to keep bringing together my scientific pursuits with my music.

On moving to Los Angeles…

I moved to LA last year in May, after I finally received my artist visa following the pandemic. Immigration was shut down almost entirely during that time even though I was here before it started. When Covid first hit no one knew what was going to happen so I thought I’d better go back to Germany. But the long-term plan was always to move here to LA because it’s always fascinated me in musical terms. Plus I love being near the ocean, the mountains, and nature in general.

I went to the Cruel World Festival in late May at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena. It was amazing, so fascinating. All the artists were so powerful. Saturday night was supposed to feature Siouxsie and the Banshees and Iggy Pop. Iggy Pop got through a few songs and then suddenly the power was cut. Iggy didn’t know what was happening at first. The entire night was cancelled out of fear of lightning. A storm system was moving through but it didn’t end up being that bad.

Suddenly we were in a sea of thousands of people all trying to call an Uber at the same time. We hadn’t to walk a long distance before even trying to find a way home. The next morning I got a message that the guitarist in my band, Sammy Warren, had died. It was devastating. He’d suffered a massive hemorrhagic stroke a few days earlier on his way into to see The Cure in San Diego.

On experiencing loss and playing New York City…

I couldn’t bear to go to the festival anymore and missed Siouxsie and Iggy playing their rescheduled sets. He was also part of the Gary Wilson and the Blind Dates, backing up the famous experimental musician. Sam helped to save three lives. His heart and both kidneys were donated to ailing recipients.

But still I was very sad. We had a memorial last Sunday and played a gig with the band he put together. He was known and loved in the scene for being so supportive of everyone and was a true believer in the power of music.

I was scheduled to play in New York City and didn’t want to cancel the show. He wouldn’t have wanted me to. I hadn’t been to New York in years and had never played there. I was very nervous but somehow we got some musicians together and, wow, when we were playing it was like it all just happened on its own. As if all the right spirits had been brought together. It was amazing.

I’m still full of positive energy from New York. The people at Our Wicked Lady are amazing. And all the other bands. Everyone was so nice and were so amazing on stage. I’ll never forget it.

On the power of music…

My goal is to music that helps relieve pain, anxiety, and depression. When I came across research on sound frequencies I wanted to apply those theories to my own music. Both Lioness and Princess are based around the idea that every song utilizes one healing technique or another.

It’s all an outgrowth of my dissertation [Biophilia and the Aesthetics of Blues, Jazz, and Hip-Hop Music in African-American Prose Fiction] where the goal was to look for ways to heal society following the breakdown of of capitalistic systems. Building a new way for humanity to survive.

I plan to call the next album Love Bomb and to base each song around universal love frequencies. It’s like Albert Einstein wrote in a letter to his daughter: “If we want our species to survive, if we are to find meaning in life, if we want to save the world and every sentient being that inhabits it, love is the one and only answer. Perhaps we are not yet ready to make a bomb of love, a device powerful enough to entirely destroy the hate, selfishness and greed that devastate the planet.”

The antidote to the atom bomb is the love bomb—recovering the rituals the once linked human beings to nature. It’s necessity if humans every want to be healthy again, as a species, in mind, body, and soul, in the midst of technological advances. Thanks to my research I’ve discovered how Greek used ULF’s to heal people.

During the Dark Ages much of this knowledge was lost but in the past 50 years or so it’s been rediscovered. And it’s been preserved by Buddhists all along. I’m still working on capturing these frequencies on the guitar that are in that certain frequency. You can see the hidden power of music in how it helps people who have Alzheimers for instance—how they can temporarily recover their mental and physical faculties through music. We should make use of all that power.

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Song-by-song liner notes to Monika Demmler’s Princess LP, released in late 2022…

“PRINCESS”
I don’t believe in dirt
Dirt under the carpet
Unless it’s a flying carpet
I am a Princess

Video directed by Jean de Oliveira. The title track was originally released under the name “Stony Sugarskull.”

Stony Sugarskull came into existence in a bar about 10 years ago—an alter-ego that was tongue-in-cheek at first. Later I realized it was also about being aware of your own potential and sharing that mindset, having the courage to reinvent yourself. But I’ve outgrown it now and decided to go back to my given name.

“Princess” for me expresses the idea that human beings can become their own princesses–their own idealized beings–if they heed, and respect, their own emotions and experiences. The Robin Hood imagery is about fighting for social equity.

“TOO GOOD”: https://open.spotify.com/track/4cxbt02jG4ngSgRbfTlNZ0?si=37bd51ce2f3a411e
It was all too good to be true
All the waiting had an end.
When the tiger kissed the mouse.
And the flower smashed the glass.

I collected lyrics for “Too Good” over the course of years. It turned out to be my favorite song because it wasn’t planned out ahead of time. “Too Good’ was recorded in the UK, in the countryside, and we didn’t have time for many takes. Kristian set up his drums in a great big hall. It sounds really big and powerful. Then Franz gets this perfect Krautrock groove going, but balances out the repetition by going crazy on the guitar. 

We’d played together a lot as a two-piece and then moved over here. Having that familiarity, unexpected things happen in all the right places.

“CUTIFUL”: https://open.spotify.com/track/3fO7woJTVx5PFqqgIvRSd4?si=2449d24d3d564423
We could’ve hitched a balloon.
We could’ve flown a kite.
We could’ve saved the turtles.
We could’ve flown like water.

This was written the night a really good friend of mine died, who used to always say “cutiful” to things. He was from LA, a real true artist. We had a special connection. And then I got a phone call telling me he passed away. It was at the height of the first Fentanyl crisis, a whole wave where a lot of people died. I hurt so bad I just started playing guitar and came up with this song. “Cutiful” is dedicated to him.

“LOVECRAFT”
I’m flying high
I’m looking for the flowers 
in the garbage can
surrounded by a coat of magic fabric

This song is about fighting for love, fighting for what’s good in the world. It’s not about H.P. Lovecraft, but about love power and “love craft.” Love is like a craft that you work towards. And in Germany, it also means power. 

You’ve got to learn that when someone does wrong to you, you don’t do wrong back. You send love back. That’s love craft.

“PUNKY TURTLE”: https://open.spotify.com/track/53eUr137TgsBPNbyf9oqGN?si=bfd408d33fc74537
Come on
I love talking to you
Come on
I love talking to you
In my memories

My favorite animals are turtles. This was the last song I wrote for the album, days after my friend passed away. His last words to me were “punky turtle.” I have an old turtle that I had posted a photo of on an Instagram story. He left a comment: “punky turtle.” 

There’s also some lines in Sanskrit. Taken from a prayer to save the world.

I love the drums on this one. They’re really heavy, inspired by Led Zeppelin’s “When the Levee Breaks.” Kristian, who produced the album, also plays drums. It’s so magical when things fit perfectly together. Lock into sync. You don’t have to talk about it or explain it. We spent 14 days together recording the album. The songs weren’t even finished going in, not all of them. You have to be open to change. New ideas constantly came up when we recorded.

Franz Bargmann is on guitar here. He came over from Berlin. Alex Tower plays synths, and Colin Dyer is also from Berlin. He did the piano parts on three songs.

“MAGNET”: https://open.spotify.com/track/2W3VTRqfflVVoOlbalcExk?si=9721ec5d29ad423e
She walked in the house of darkness
She was looking for something special

This one is tied into how I ended up in Los Angeles. I was in a serious car accident in 2015 on my way from Berlin to Munich for my doctoral defence. We were on the Autobahn and got hit by a truck with my in the front right seat. I was laid up for months, close to a year. After that, I really started to become a musician. It made me realize that life is so short.

I received money from the insurance and decided I wanted to use it to go to the States. The first place I visited was Austin, and the Levitation festival. It was there I met a band from Los Angeles who said you’ve got to come here. I had no idea what to expect. I’d been to New York City but never to LA. They invited me and I accepted. It was first time I’d been in a car again since the accident. The drive took 24 hours.

I felt free with some money in my bank account and no job waiting on me back in Berlin. When we got to LA it was night. We walked into my new friends’ house which was dark. The lyrics “walked into the house of darkness / seeking for something special” are based on this. I entered with my friend Domino. The house was dark and just about empty. We lit a candle, that’s all awe had for light. I walked from the darkness into a room and the first thing I saw was his brother’s ashes in an urn. 

This is all what the song’s about. The line “she couldn’t find it” is based on how we’re all constantly searching for something, instead of valuing what we already have. In other words, focusing on what’s missing instead of appreciating the good things we already have in life.

“LUXURY MADNESS”: https://open.spotify.com/track/2C7TKpMGcbQ4CFyNBOMNAK?si=caed3e82282f4520
I want to send you to paradise
but I’m currently out of order!

Compared to past eras we live in a luxurious time. Any place where I’ve lived, most people have food and a roof over their head. But even for those who are so lucky, there’s a kind of madness happening now. Humanity has become so “advanced” yet we’re still dealing with wars, pandemics.

We’re living in a time of extremes. At the same time there’s lots of great things happening, there’s more awareness than ever of all the bad things. We need to make this planet a better place for humankind. “There’s a mock in my democracy” was a lyric that just fell into my head. But it gets at how there’s always bad lurking in the good, and vice-versa.

“The future of separation / the past of alienation / distraction without reflection / distraction without resurrection / unblock the future” refers to all the craziness around the pandemic. “I want to send you to paradise / but I’m currently out of order.” This is a fun one to play live with all the back and forth in the vocals.

“BOOK OF DREAMS”: https://open.spotify.com/track/5A4uRT130um7uk8ytr67mI?si=d2e92af94ec34b22
I have a book of 1,000 dreams
I’m gonna live them
I’m gonna catch them
I’m gonna keep them in my jewelry

A dreamy song.

“TIME FLOW”: https://open.spotify.com/track/1ZAWifFTPfRCkNNb5l8aqb?si=e30a7c93cbed4f0e
Like a coward running so fast
Like a spiral in unstoppable creation
Time flows

A song about time itself, about time always moving forward with no means of reversal or return. Time becomes my currency ‘cause time is short on earth. I wrote all the guitar parts first. But this was one where a lot of new parts were added in the studio.

“TRANSIT”: https://open.spotify.com/track/5TmIziluCmfJQIOjex8Yr3?si=44f4fd70b34646da
Empty dust
Can’t keep up
I wish I would be in transit

This is a song about living in a transitional period. We still don’t know what the next 10 years are going to look like at all. In a way, I’m excited to be part of it. This moment in human history. 

My parents’ time, growing up in postwar Europe, was relatively stable. This era is the total opposite. Human beings are traumatized from the pandemic. There’s a lot of anxiety in the air. It hit everybody. We have to tackle the root problem and look at our role in it. It produces this sense of “Can I trust myself, my actions?” You become insecure, but it’s not all negative.

The isolation made people focus inward, bringing up feelings we’d push down otherwise. A lot of us were trapped at home, alone. It opens you up to a new dimension. Spirituality becomes more important. You realize your deep connection to nature, even when it’s traumatic–becoming more aware of ourselves, our intuition, and how people used to survive in the distant past. It’s a form of bodily learning.

“KAFKA DOLL”: https://open.spotify.com/track/4h1rHLXast5EsqfA2nf3bM?si=5317f685b23849ee
A thousand dreams
have been deferred
Cure my heart
Cure my soul

This one sounds like a love song at first. It’s based on a story involving Franz Kafka, where he helps a girl who’s sad because she lost her favorite doll. He ends up teaching her a lesson about letting go when it’s time to let go. Life is giving and receiving. As human beings, we’re a part of nature too. And nothing can last forever. Everything is in motion. In relationships, sometimes you have to let go.

“ZITHER”: https://open.spotify.com/track/1rrjkpjIbDltnH4Nrema0X?si=98331c0d90144fc4

I learned to play the zither before the piano. Took loads of lessons when I was a little kid, playing jazz and classical music. That’s what you learn in Europe. The latter mostly. Bach and Mozart. My mom loved the zither. She wanted to learn herself but didn’t have time. So her dream was for me to learn it.

 

 

Photo of Emmett Kai by Erica Harris DeValve

I walked into Baby’s All Right in Williamsburg on a dewy Saturday night in July, late on account of the trains. It was hot as hell outside but they really keep the AC pumping in there! Upon entering the back room, the first thing I heard was some muy tasty 70’s funk, a kind of Al Green soul vibe mixed with rock n’ roll. I saw three guys on stage, all wearing ties and collared shirts, each styled differently.

I realized it was Smith Taylor and band. The second song they played after I arrived was introduced as "If I See Satan, It’s Hands on Sight." It had a stanky groove with a long buildup to its climax, but the next song was sweet and soulful. Falsetto, yes, I thought to myself. “I almost told you I loved you,” Taylor sang, pausing on his guitar. I thought of Raphael Sadiq. They finished their set with “If it’s not Vegan, it’s Murder.” This one had crashy, thrashy drums, and an almost rap rhythm to the words, but in, like, a punk way, like classic Funkadelic.

Next was Emmett Kai. Six guys got on stage and set up their various instruments with focus. Keys, two guitars, drums, bass, and last, but certainly not least, tambourine! The first song, “Monsters at the Roxy,” started them off funky and tight. There was a British punk sound there, like the Clash, but with oozing guitar licks, poppy breakdowns (Emmett also does some pretty cool remixes on the side), crisp drums, and great harmonies from the keyboardist.

It was their first show in over a year and a half! They killed. Emmett’s songs have the sweetest melodies, very summery, and very California (in a Bay kinda way). Sometimes nothing beats when there are 6+ people on stage. Everyone was smiling and dancing and I really mean everyone! Three songs into the set was “Nature’s Voice Is A Cry.” This song just really gets me! “Walk down lover’s lane / Nothing but this gravel road / Nice night for an escapade / Promise me you’ll take it slow…” 

Finally, Pink Skies took the stage. Arieh Berl, the frontman, was so present. Yet his presence was almost soft and gentle. The sound of their band swarms and swirls. It was synthy too, full of reverb and echo. They played a new song called “Reality/Nostalgia” that reminded me of Beach House, but they still really got their own thing going. Pink Skies kind of encircles you and fills you up, maybe like a sunset would. There are elements of Frank Ocean and Tame Impala in their psychedelic-pop music as well. 

As their set drew to a close, I realized the bill that evening was exactly what the doctor had prescribed. Each band put such a big smile on my face. The through line throughout was ethereum ("etherial" plus "delirium"!) and funk, swelling instrumentation with boundary-pushing experimentation. Each set was genre-bending and enveloped us like the humid summer air. (Willa Rudolph)

The following piece was written by the Deli’s newest staff member and first new addition to the Deli NYC blog in over 3 years (!) Willa Rudolph. Willa is also known, to those in the know, as November Girl and fronts a band of the same name in addition to producing some pretty damn cool live events. And speaking of damn cool live events, be sure to peep the interview with MTAMB festival co-producer Minty Boi that closes out the report below not to mention the exclusive "Indie Sleaze Nation" Deli Delivers playlist that closes out the closing out…

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As I walked through a large opening in a massive chain link fence in Brooklyn, and into the parking lot that is the front of the Knockdown Center, I truly didn’t know what to expect from the MTA Music Festival & Minty Boi-presented MTAMB Festival– I’d never been to this particular venue. Obviously, I’d heard of Knockdown Center, but what drew me to the massive warehouse was the lineup of this festival that seemed to pop out of nowhere.

I come from a time before Instagram, before TikTok, when tumblr ruled my mind and Sky Ferreira was queen. So, Sky Ferreira being the headliner meant I absolutely needed to go. On top of that, I was beyond excited that Uffie, ABRA, and Clams Casino were on the bill, not to mention the mysterious electronic music duo Snow Strippers, set to play on the outdoor stage.

The overall theme I got from the lineup, which also included EvilGiane, Elita (another tumblr-famous gem), Current Joys, Damon R., and Nicole Dollanganger was a kind of indie-sleaze-era-inspired group of artists, though only some of them actually hail from that time period (approx. 2006-2012).

The lineup was also somehow so New York, with the iconic American-French Uffie having a distinctly NYC idgiaf attitude, ABRA being so from Queens (she dropped out of the lineup last minute, fml), EvilGiane (BK-born head producer of NY rap collective Surf Gang), Clams Casino being from NJ but, again, having such a New York sensibility, and Snow Strippers being the current epitome of what’s cool in the city, at least downtown (n.b. Clams Casino and EvilGiane produced the Earl Sweatshirt track below).

Before watching Elita (a.k.a. Yungelita) twist and croon in a bedazzled jumpsuit on the outdoor stage of the venue, surrounded by palm fronds, tropical foliage, and flanked by a blond guitarist and a bassist with a particularly neon orange mo-hawk, I was inside watching EvilGiane. 

EvilGiane’s crowd pulsed in beat with his mix, standing below him in a cloud of fog. His set was on the chiller side (it never went crazy) but he steadily played banger after banger, remixing and cutting up R&B, alternative rock, drill, and rap. Attendees wore leather, fur, neutrals, hats, sunglasses inside (and at night), skin exposed between the straps of their outfits, baggy pants, thick-ass shoes… The attire wasn’t particularly summery, despite the July 2nd date of the festival, but that’s New York for you. Looking good comes way, way, wayyy before comfort.

After Elita came Detroit-based Snow Strippers on the outdoor stage. They’re pretty new, but have really claimed a spot on the scene and in everyone’s minds, and encapsulate a growing harkening-back to the indie-sleaze times in which Crystal Castles and Purity Ring ruled the dark-electronic/electro-pop space. The duo known as Snow Strippers is EDM–they’re trashy, they’re ravey, they’re poppy, and they’re witchy. They remind me of LCD Soundsystem, Bjork, Grimes, Crystal Castles, Justice, and Purity Ring all at once.

Coming on the heels of the Club Eat craze that has taken over New York (the downtown nightlife music scene, in particular), Snow Strippers seems to be born out of the move away from hyper-pop, with a dark and ethereal vibe rather than the bubble-gum moods we’ve been receiving from a lot of electronic music for the past couple of years. The duo is made up of Tatiana Schwaninger and Graham Perez (a.k.a. deliverthecrush, a member of Surf Gang).

Their set was by far the littest of the entire festival. The crowd was going truly insane. By this time it was totally dark outside. Tatiana looked like a little forest fairy with her very long straight hair, jean shorts, and oddly cumbersome fur shoulder pads. She jumped around the stage so intensely and so fervently, I was actually thinking how she could have enough energy.

When my favorite song by them played, “Under Your Spell,” which references the song “Under Your Spell” by Desire, she had ditched the fur shoulder pads to reveal a plain white tee. Perez was wearing a t-shirt of Bob Marley’s face morphed with the face of a lion, a DYAD snap back, and jumped around doing soulja boy-esque dance moves. The energy they were able to get from the crowd was truly wild.

I had a spiritual experience during Clams Casino. I was second row, so close. I didn’t even know what he looked like, but when a normie looking guy with a backpack came up to the table in the middle of the stage and started setting up computers, mixers, and other DJ accessories, I realized it had to be him! So many of his songs were the soundtrack to my middle school and early high school years. He’s literally a genius. He produced Lil B in 2009, when Based God was everything. A$AP Rocky’s “Palace” and “Wassup”, Mac Miller, The Weeknd, A$AP Rocky’s “LVL” and “Hell” (feat. Santigold) in 2013, “4 Gold Chains” feat. Clams Casino by Lil Peep, my four favorite serpentwithfeet songs, and soooooooo much more.

For this one, the crowd was lulled into a body roll, nodding heads. The sound was unbelievable, and the muggy, hot summer day that brought on not one but two rain storms had turned into a peaceful, cool night. Vince Staples’ "Norf Norf" had everyone up n’ jumping, screaming, “BITCH YOU THIRSTY, PLEASE GRAB A SPRITE,” but when Clams played the Lil Peep song, we all wanted to cry. It started drizzling, but not hard enough for it to be anything more than a cleansing sprinkle, the kind where you look up into the rain and smile. He was so calm, but effortlessly controlled the crowd. He finished with “I’m God” feat. Imogen Heap, and 15-year-old-me was so insanely happy. But 15-year-old-me wasn’t finished freaking out.

After we waited thirty minutes past the original set time, finally, Sky Ferreira walked onstage, while everyone in the venue SCREAMED for her. She hadn’t played New York in eight years, she told the crowd, giggling. She seemed nervous, and I think the crowd was a little nervous, as well, not quite sure what to expect. But she absolutely killed. Her voice sounded incredible, and was so loud and resonant throughout the cavernous warehouse space. She walked back and forth across the stage, occasionally completely consumed by the “paid-actor” that was the fog machine. She kept her sunglasses on for most of the songs, but took them off for “Lost in My Bedroom.”

The energy was so contagious, it really felt like everyone in the crowd was equally a huge fan and equally wanted her to do well. Everyone seemed so happy to be hearing her play her music, but also so happy for her. She really, really did that. Her set featured all the faves, “Boys,” “Don’t Forget” (released in 2022 from her long awaited upcoming album Masochism), “You’re Not the One,” “I Blame Myself,” and she finished with the ~iconic~ “Everything is Embarrassing!” as the light rain outside began to POUR.

Sky’s cult following isn’t even that cult, but there are many of us who have been there since her 2010 EP One. Does anyone even remember her song “Obsession,” who’s video features actor Michael Madsen?! She was 18 when she made that video, and I was 14. It changed my GD life!

Overall, MTAMB Fest was super f*$king fun, and would be fun if it happened annually! The resurgence of this era of music makes me super happy, and I love the emphasis and veneration of being dirty, not caring too much, not trying too hard, having fun-yes, the term “Indie Sleaze” references a messy, yet glam fashion aesthetic, but the sensibility is kind of a larger cultural phenomenon that includes music, art, and attitude. I like the way New York is taking this renaissance and subverting it in a very special and very New York way, per usual.

Finally, I spoke with the mind behind Minty Boi Presents, a.k.a. Yiwei Meng, or Y, who created and planned the festival:

Where are you from?

Y: I’m from China / lived in Los Angeles for 7 yrs. LA is like a second home to me. I hope we brought the LA to NYC and represented it.

How did you end up conceiving of this lineup, and what inspired it?

Y: I didn’t speak English when I came. I was in high school. Didn’t have many friends. The Internet was my friend. I found myself gravitating toward music and art at the time, Tumblr was the special place I discovered all these amazing things. And soundcloud, obviously.

Discovered music from ABRA, Nicole Dollangagnger, Current Joys (Surf Curse) on Soundcloud. Discovered music from Clams Casino, Elita, obviously Sky on Tumblr. Their fashion, music, art, and just everything these people do shaped my adolescence.

I started going to Surf Curse shows at The Smell in Los Angeles. Then I started making friends by going to these DIY shows. It changed my life, Smell and Surf Curse saved my life.

Jacob from Surf Curse played my 2nd ever show, Surf Curse’s other half, Nick (Current Joys) played a lot of our really early shows as well. They have been supporting, teaching, and inspiring me like an old brother since day 1. They are my favorite band and they are the most special band.

Our buddy Alex GK, who is now the bass player for Sky’s live band, played our 1st ever show. Even played in my backyard before. I am really proud of him. It’s a full circle moment for us.

The special guest was our close friend Cormac Roth. Cormac was a brilliant musician and one of the most charming people I ever met. Played in my backyard, played in my college, slept on the floor of my dorm… He unfortunately passed away last year. He believed in us like very few others did, and supported us all the way. Cormac Roth is his music page name on Spotify, and you can find them on bandcamp. Everytime I do a bigger event, I think about him… Rest in peace.

It’s our 5 yrs anniversary officially, since I decided to do this as a career.

The 2010s was an era. I am grateful for Soundcloud, Tumblr, the internet, and those dazed and confused teenage years we lived through. I wouldn’t be who I am without it. This lineup is a report I want to present for myself and for my people. 

Did it take a lot of work getting Sky Ferreira to play NY?

Y: It takes a lot of work to do any concerts. Sky’s team was great. I am beyond grateful that Sky said yes to this. Thank you, Sky!

What goals did you have for the event?

Yr: Present something that means something to people like us. Be true to ourselves.

Did you feel it was a success?

Y: Haha. There are things I think we could have done better. But overall, I am happy with how it went down. I hope people are happy. We are gonna keep coming.

Upcoming MintyBoi Events:

07.06.23 Sky Ferreira @ The Vermont Hollywood [sold out]
07.07.23 Tommy Midnight @ El Cid
07.07.23 Sky Ferreira @ The Observatory North Park
07.08.23 Sky Ferreira @ The Regency Ballroom
07.09.23 Sky Ferreira @ The Vermont Hollywood [2nd date added]
07.12.23 Glare @ Moroccan Lounge
07.26.23 They Are Gutting A Body of Water, Waveform, Teethe @ Lodge Room
07.28.23 Wanna Dance? w/ Seb Wildblood & Hidden Spheres
08.16.23 Computerwife @ Baby’s All Right
08.24.23 BOYO @ El Cid
08.24.23 Have A Nice Life @ HOB, Chicago
08.07.23 House of Harm @ El Cid
08.25.23 Short Paris @ Lodge Room
09.13.23 Roar @ The Echo
09.15.23 Omar Souleyman @ The Vermont
09.19.23 Tangerine Dream @ The Vermont Hollywood
09.22.23 Sorry Girls @ Moroccan Lounge
10.06.23 This Paranormal Life @ The Vermont
10.08.23 Teenage Wrist @ Lodge Room
10.19.23 Born Without Bones @ El Cid
12.07.23 Sen Morimoto @ El Cid

Oh P.S., if you want some more fun music from this time period, here’s some of my faves:

HEAR THE PLAYLIST BELOW HERE!

Pop The Glock – Uffie
The Fear – Lily Allen
Foundations – Kate Nash
Love Letter to Japan – the bird and the bee
Hotel Song – Regina Spektor
I Like You So Much Better When You’re Naked – Ida Maria
Back in Your Head – Tegan and Sara
White Nights – Oh Land
Be the One – The Ting Tings
Armour Love – La Roux
Painted By Numbers – The Sounds
My Girls – Animal Collective
When I’m Small – Phantogram
Crave You – Adventure Club Remix – Flight Facilities
Midnight City – M83
Daylight – Matt & Kim
Stillness is the Move – Dirty Projectors
Go Outside – Cults
Sour Cherry – The Kills
Courtship Dating – Crystal Castles
A Better Son/Daughter – Rilo Kiley
Losing My Edge – LCD Soundsystem
The Girl – City and Color
Tears for Affairs – Camera Obscura
Comfy in Nautica – Panda Bear
Consoler of the Lonely – The Raconteurs
Bhang, Bhang, I’m a Burnout – Dum Dum Girls

–Willa Rudolph

Kahiem Rivera’s brand new two-sided single “Grown Man Hours”/”Slow Moves” opens with a sandpaper-smooth beat and yeah ok ok sandpaper’s not actually smooth that’s true but it has a way of smoothing out whatever it comes in contact with which is a perfect analogy for Kahiem’s latest music I’d say…

…which is all about “shaking the walls like it’s our form of healing,” a line from “Grown Man Hours,” or in other words, making things rough for a minute (or millennium?) as a way of smoothing things out in the long term which also very much applies to the cinematically-inclined production work on the track by Roarke Menzies—the "Atticus Ross" to Kahiem’s "Trent Reznor" in their collaborative work and yes the Deli got a sneak preview of some upcoming tracks!—a master of hazy/lazy beats and ethereal textures that’re at the same time shot through with a sense of tension bubbling under and occasionally bursting through to the surface…

…like check out for instance how “Grown Man Hours” starts off with a full couple minutes of languid, mellowed-out feels lulling the listener into a blissed-out sense of security but then subtly building up layer-by-layer with orchestrated drones and skittering syncopations, the track morphing in parallel with how Kahiem moves from one passing mental state to the next like shapeshifting clouds drifting overhead something like if cloud rap took into account all different types of clouds from the big puffy cumulous ones to turbulent storm clouds…

…which likewise works perfectly in tandem with how K.R. is prone to constantly changing up his flow but in a way that flows seamlessly, almost imperceptibly, from one state to the next moving from laid-back, behind-the-beat inner monologues to rapid-fire, double-time eruptive fulminations with the latter referenced directly in “Grown Man Hours” with lines like “I been on some bullshit / treat a rooftop hang like a bully pulpit / treat an old friend like a free therapist / talk with my hands like damn I’m playing theremin”…

…and we just gotta pause here for a second to point out how unlikely it is that anyone’s ever though to rhyme “therapist” with “theremin” before and what’s more we’re not talking simple “Moon/June” type rhyme schemas either cuz it’s the first two syllables of the two words that not only rhyme (rhyming more than one syllable in a row is known as a “multi” in MC lingo) but also act as straight up homophones (the exact same sounds but spelled differently) wheres the last syllable is a slant rhyme at best, which applies even more to “bullshit” and “pulpit” from the preceding two lines and nevermind the internal slant rhyme of “hands” and “damn”…

…so in other words this cat is a serious lyricist which is not to be taken lightly in these mumble-rap prevailing times and I could easily spent about 20 more paragraphs unpacking line after line but I’ll spare you the overkill suffice to say if you ever happen to wonder to yourself “why do Kahiem’s lines hit the way they do?” it’s got at least something to do with their meticulous construction not to mention how all that playful wordplay and complex rhythmic interplay helps some of the heavier sentiments go down smoothly (or “smooth-lay," getting in the spirit here…) just remember what we said about sandpaper above…

…and speaking of “pulpits” by the time “Grown Man Hours” moves across it’s chilled out opening section and its more orchestrated middle section it culminates in the final section with a burst of signifying ’n’ testifying more akin to a gospel song (with a second mention of a “pulpit” in the lyrics, no less!) if your church’s preacher was a skilled speed rapper that is and that’s one cool thing among others about the tracks that Rivera and Menzies have been working on together…

T

…combining the fast-paced chopper-style flows most associated with hardcore hip-hop lyricists like Twista and Tech N9ne with much-less-hardcore associated musical styles like Eno-meets-Clams-Casino ambient vaporware beats or Dilla-esque angular R&B woozily chopped-up beats and hey I bet you thought us music crits only ever used the word “angular” in association with post-punk but hey just like Kahiem I’m trying to mix it up here…

…but back to that gospelesque outro you may wanna have a hankie handy to dab away the sweat formed on your brow from all the hand-waving gesticulating and moved-by-the-spirit dancing you’re likely to do even if it’s only a minute or less with Kaheim’s sermon ending on a typically nuanced note where the on-the-surface-of-things aspirational final aphorism—we all wanna be heard / we all wanna be seen and lastly just we all wanna be / we all wanna be—should maybe be taken with a grain of sacramental salt seeing as the lines leading up the refrain mention being on a “high horse [with] low self esteem” not to mention “mirrors and smoke” and “quotes for captions on your post” so in other words it’s complicated…

…which after all is exactly what Signifyin’ is all about, or at least it is in the Henry Louis Gates, Jr. sense of the word as discussed in this space before with Signifyin’ being an African-American created oral art form based around virtuosic verbal dexterity with a preference for double-edged utterances that deliberately and strategically play with the inherent ambiguity of language and speaking of literary forms it’s also notable that both “Grown Man Hours” and “Slow Moves” have a tripartite structure and while I don’t have space to get too far into “Slow Moves” here (see the interview below for more!) suffice to say the track comes off something like if Barry White and Lil B had a baby…

…with “Slow Moves” having actually started off as three separate ideas/fragments only later fused together and is it any wonder that K.R. is in fact a trained thespian so he knows plenty about three-act structure having just recently returned to his roots in the theater—as Kahiem puts it on his Insta profile he’s a “Rapper + Newly Non-Retired Actor”—and not taking any half measures either in taking on the title role in Being Chaka (written by Tara Amber, Chuk Obasi, and Nalini Sharma) a play that just had a sold-out three-week run at the New Ohio Theater in the heart of the West Village described as “a genre-bending ensemble piece where worlds collide at an elite private school in NYC”…

…or as described by Kahiem himself “one of the most fulfilling things I have done in my adult life” and guess what K.R. had some other things to tell us about too seeing as we were fortunate enough to have a sit down with the man himself outside the highly stylish yet still chill The Ten Bells Bushwick drinking organic wine—or as he puts it at the end of the super-vibey middle section of “Slow Moves” (prod. Vesa Beats) “we drinking natural wine and we faded plenty”—having a lovely, wide-ranging conversation as the clouds thickened overhead from a mostly sunny sky to a smear of grey clouds threatening rain, excerpts of which are appended below for your interest and edification, and for background music (after you listen to the single!) you may wanna put on Kahiem’s recent EP Rap Music To Take A Bath To which is even more vibey and settle in for the ride… (Jason Lee)

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OFFICIAL BIO: Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, Kahiem Rivera manages to weave a bluesy, world-weary perspective into rap songs about love, sex, race and disappointment. In a constant effort to unpack dealings with mental health and past trauma, he points to a lyric from his song “Woo!” as the mission statement: “I make ‘em dance and depressed at the same time.” Mission accomplished.

Kahiem treats songs as time stamps, with stream of consciousness storytelling that manages to capture his current state of being without sounding like a journal entry. Peppering in clever wordplay over a quilt-like stitch of sonic influences, the music is both highly collaborative and disarmingly intimate. In these tracks, Kahiem gets indie rock vocalists to play footsie with boom bap producers and jazz saxophonists, enforcing his philosophy that community is key and collaboration is everything. His ever expanding live band consists of players from various local NYC projects who share that same vision. 

Ever the multi-hyphenate, Kahiem is also an actor, writer, and Operating Manager at The Sultan Room — a music venue with some of the most diverse programming in New York City. The thread that ties this all together is an ethos that makes sure no interaction feels purely transactional, and that artists feel their work is valuable and important.

“Grown Man Hours” marks a new chapter for Kahiem. A new single, a music video and a b-side that has no business being a b-side, it’s a strong release from an artist showing no signs of stopping. Coming out of a pandemic induced hibernation, Kahiem hinted at things to come with a surprise release of unreleased oldies over the winter. It was an attempt at shedding skin. Sitting on a trove of new material, Kahiem will spend the second half of 2023 dumping out a steady stream of new songs and videos that push the boundaries of what he’s made prior, with all the trademark lyrical honesty and unusual beats he has become known for.

Perhaps Kahiem’s second mission statement can be found in the closing lyric: “We all wanna be heard. We all wanna be seen.” Mission in progress.