What was it like recording different parts of the song in different places and different times? Did it inhibit or enhance the songwriting experience? RM: It’s all about the romance of the road. She’s really an incredible player, it was just beautiful, and really perfect for what we were aiming for with this song. Josefin Runsteen, who also plays drums on all the songs, is primarily a violinist, so as soon as she’d finished tracking the drums with us she busted out her violin. And the violin is really just the perfect instrument for that. What was the thought process behind adding in the violin sounds?ĮF: From the beginning we were going for something very cinematic for this song overall we really wanted “Waves” to sound like the soundtrack to a film. It’s pop music for people who like dirt.ĮF: I like dirt and Rosa likes dirt, so it works. We love a good pop song, an addictive chorus, synths and all that, but we don’t want it to sound fake or pristine. RM: I come from the folk scene and Eddie’s played a lot of heavy music, so we both prefer things a little rougher around the edges. “Grit pop” seems to be a new style that’s cropping up among artists. And then the idea that you need to go in whichever direction you need to go in. You really have to fight for it, it’s not easy. Then we whittle all those ideas and experiences down in the recording process, and the band becomes a mix of all those impulses.Ĭan you talk a little about the song’s meaning and where the inspiration came from?Įd Fraser: It’s about escaping, getting out, leaving a toxic situation – and how hard that can be. In the middle of our road trip, we haul ourselves up in a motel room and just indulge in the vibe. But when we write the music together it’s a calm thing we do, a kind of down time. We both have this innate need to travel, tour and go on adventures, so the band is kind of an extension of that. I thought: here’s someone I can play music with. Rosa Mercedes: The first song I ever heard Eddie sing was Dolly Parton’s “Jolene”, and he was wearing a blond wig at the time. What was the process like of putting the band and music together? One set of lyrics stand out, about two and a half minutes into the song, as Fraser comes in with his Leonard Cohen-style vocals: They’re elegantly easy, essentially repeating the same verse about three times (I say about, as there’s a couple of changes near the end). The lyrics are a little less up-front, and at times requires intense listening to decipher, but I can’t help but wonder if that was on purpose (or perhaps it’s just me). The tone of the song has a very gritty, dark texture to it, provided by the distorted violin (of course), a nice and slow foot-tapping bass tempo, the mixture of low and gravelly male vocals with gentle but powerful female vocals, and, interestingly enough, a synthetic sound that sounds curiously like a UFO (could this be symbolic?). Honestly, there’s nothing typical about the song, and that’s a great thing! It brings the song up to another level, helps it avoid slipping in amongst the typical kind of rock. KINO MOTEL has chosen to include it with other traditional band instruments, and its inclusion is a wonderful stylistic choice. You hear this unusually distorted instrument from the very beginning. If they’re just as fantastic as “Waves,” then listeners will be in for a treat.įirst, the (good) elephant in the room: the violin. Thanks to the works of Ed Fraser and Rosa Mercedes, KINO MOTEL has been born, and might just pave the way for a new kind of genre, something they label “grit pop.” Fraser and Mercedes plan to release more songs with this style in mind. KINO MOTEL (stylized in all-caps) has broken into the music world with their debut single “Waves,” and its unique, post-modern, other-worldly sound is making a place for itself in that world.
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