QLS Classic: Kimbra

Recording artist Kimbra talks about what it's like being a New Zealander, the rural wildlife of Silver Lake, California and how she makes records.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Of Course Love Supreme is a production of I Heart Radio.
This classic episode was produced by the team at Pandora.
Hey it's up, pay Bill check out this KLS classic
from a Better Second sixteen. We sit down with recording
artist Kimbra. She talks about being from New Zealand, the world, wildlife,
Silver Lake, California, and how she makes records. This episode

(00:21):
originally heard on Pandora. Check it out. Kimbra Johnson lazy.
Now before we even get started, we gotta know, how
did you get such a black last name as Johnson? Wait,

(00:42):
you're full name ker Kimberlee. That's even that's kind of yeah, yeah,
like I feel like you got you come from the
wrong side of the tracks. Ye, I mean, I don't
realize that when I moved over here from New Zealand obviously,
and aren't you from Hamilton's, New Zealand. How did you

(01:03):
know that? Because I have a computer anything just started
bringing back to Hamilton's that Hamilton's not the most well
known place in New Zealand. But I can't say I've
been there and or no I could. Can I ask?
Do you get tired of people kind of lumping? I
feel like New Zealand is the Jersey to New York

(01:26):
or the Baltimore to Washington kind of. I mean, I
know it's cool, but yeah, yeah, yeah yeah, but people
over here just tend to think like it's one big
giant under Australia, there's you know, there's four million people
in New Zealand. It's tiny, you know, So I understand.
And I spent five years in Australia. I moved there
when I was seventeen before I came to the States,

(01:46):
so I understand. It's you know, how long have you
been in the States. How long have you been here? Oh? Um,
over three years now. I did l A for nearly
two years and then um about a year and two
living in New York. Wow. What's been the biggest adjustment
for you so far? Oh? Man, Um, I'm so happy here.
I love walking and getting on the subway and taking
like just simple things like that that change your experience

(02:08):
of a city so much. You know, I was always
in the back of ubers in l A. I didn't
have a car, So I'm just loving I live like
in the East Village, just so much history there as well,
so many amazing people that have lived in that area. So, so, wait,
you drive. You didn't drive in l A. I know, right,
drive in New York City. I don't drive in New York. No,
I have a full driver's license, but I just never

(02:29):
got on the car of here. I mean, we drive
on the other side of the road, so it would
be challenging. You know. Wait, so you don't drive, you
I had no, I don't drive. Wait a minute in America.
The first time we met, I made you like a
fo song driving playlists. Yeah, but that was different. That
was Yeah, you made me a safe playlist for the
road trip. But I did that with a friend. Okay,

(02:50):
I say, did I make for no reason whatsoever? I
was just gonna I see um? Yeah, so I well,
I guess we would all like to know, um about
your humble beginnings. Um. One, You're You're, You're. You have

(03:11):
a wise soul for someone that is four months younger
than a tribe called quest debut album. Every time I
see your birth year, I'm like, perhaps the freshman college
where you were born. Um, but you you, you seem

(03:34):
to acquire a lot more knowledge than most people that
I know that have a nine in the third year
of their birth year. As far as music, is concerned.
Um and without the really the development of the Internet

(03:55):
being in full swing until ten years later, Like what
were your first four of years? Like that really has
you curious about soul music of all things? Yeah, you know,
Stevie Wonder was really big for me. I first started
learning guitar when I was about thirteen fourteen. Guitars my
first instrument. That's what I first started writing on. And

(04:16):
learning a lot of those and versions and stuff on
guitar was super inspiring, you know, for opening my brain harmonically.
And I was singing in a little choir at at
school that we're doing a lot of Beach Boys covers,
you know, and Sinatra, and this is like trippy stuff
for a kid who has been you know. I also
had on my R and B stuff that was listening
to all the radio Disney's Child and all the Timberland
era you know. Um. But then I was learning about

(04:37):
these other styles of music. UM. And I first got
into a boss A track. That's how I started all
my early recordings, all the first album. So then the
kind of producer had started lighting up, you know and
getting excited about listening to records um in the sense
of dimension and It's just it's like the same as
human you know, starting one artist and I mean Prince
for example, and it takes you on such a journey

(04:58):
and you just get super curious. As a it keeps
you from being so dismissive because even I mean, for
whatever nerd degree I have music. I mean I definitely
went through that period where, like, you know, when I
was six or seven, Marvin Gaye comes on, I'm just thinking, like,

(05:18):
that's my aunt's music, right, right, right, That's something that
I'm impressed by. Being young, What kept you from being dismissive?
That's right. We're cynical even, you know, because when you
hit your teens, you start to be like quite niche
with what you like. But I always had quite an openness,
which I see as a gift. I guess. I was
very intrigued by metal music, for example, like bands from
New Jersey like the Dylaner, escape Plane and Sugar, you know,

(05:40):
for the grooves, something about just just from a really
open standpoint of what at the time, like what what
makes me feel so primarily engaged to these rhythms, and
then learning that a lot of it comes from Latin.
You know, it's like you just become so fascinated with stuff,
and it didn't ever come across my mind like oh,
that's that's cool, and that's not cool, and that's what
my friends like, that's what they don't. It was just

(06:01):
all sound, you know, And I don't think we retained
that openness. Sometimes as we get older, we get a
bit more you know, um into aesthetics and into taste
and that's great, all that's really cool. But as a kid,
I really I'm glad I had that openness. So you
started songwriting. I know that you were songwriting by well

(06:22):
you said your first instrument was well, I was writing
just in you know, um, singing into cassette tapes. So
I was like eight or nine, just little silly songs,
but they had structure, you know, versus and courses. I
love pop music as a formula for writing. Did that
come from your family or like their doctor and nurses? So,
I don't know, and it's it was a really who's
your who was your who's that older who was the

(06:45):
older brother figure? That? No? No, I don't know. I
think it was just I really talked about it, almost
more in a spiritual sense, because it's like something needs
to come out you know, when you haven't need to
express And at that time I was asking, just are curious,
you know, and this became a language. Melody was very intriguing.
Lyrics were a way of like, yeah, just expression. And

(07:07):
then learning an instrument, of course, everything changes because you
can start to really, um, get deeper with the art form.
Was there ever a moment where you realize that you
could write songs? Like would you realize like, alright, I
might can pay a bill off of this? Well, tell
you something about New Zealand that's really specialist. We have
this competition's a high school band competition called the Rock Quest,

(07:31):
and it's not televised or anything. It's not like American
Idol or anything like that. It's um kids and bands.
You know, so kids literally stay in high school to
enter this competition. It's super important for for kids at school.
And so I entered this competition as a soloist just
on guitar, you know, playing songs from my bedroom that
I thought was just for me, and I ended up
being like the only girl in the finals and um

(07:53):
coming second in the whole country, which from New Zealand
was a big deal, you know. Yeah, So at that
point It's probably the same for you. You have those
moments you are hey, this is not only something that
makes me really happy in my bedroom, but people seem
to be engaged with it. Um, I'm being acknowledged for it,
and maybe I can develop develop it more. And they
were fully realized, fully arranged songs. Yeah, they were, they were,

(08:14):
they were. I was about fourteen at the time when
that happened, and then later got signed it like seventeen.
So from those ages, I was developing songs in the studio,
learning how to record on an eight track, So the
songs moved from being less guitar based and more recording
the entire arrangement on vocals. Um, and that was really
inspiring to me, you know, fleshing out the drum beat,

(08:35):
just beatboxing or just little silly ideas, but that became
settled down. You know a song I wrote when I
was sixteen, which is probably the song that broke me
first here in America before its Vows your your debut,
that was the debut. Yeah, So how do you how
does your debut album feel in contrast to what you're

(08:57):
working on now? As far as yeah, I always feel
like you're working all your life on your first record.
That's true. That's true, separating themselves from their debut record
once they grow and that sort of thing. Yeah, I mean,
I'm twenty six now. That record came out when I
was twenty one. I started making it when I was
about eighteen, you know, and the songs are those ones

(09:21):
from your bedroom, you know that you've lived with all
your life. And like you said, now it's like it's
third album time for me, so you know, new city,
new experiences. Everything's changed. The second album, The Golden Nickel,
for me, was kind of that was a very um
experimental time for me, you know, moving to l A
and so much. Yeah, you're always drawing from where you're at,
but the first You're right, there's something like listening to

(09:41):
it now, you you kind of look at it like
it's a young child you had or someone and someone
you do. You know, you you you knew, but it's
it's it's a strange connection that you have with your debut. Okay,
it was coming. I was actually trying to let the
whole entire second. Yeah, So I mean, does it feel

(10:04):
like a burden that you know, do you feel as
though that's not a burden, but it's sort of like
an asterisk or you mainly people might only know you.
That's understandable. I mean, yeah, the full spectrum of year.
How did that collaboration come to be like so organic?

(10:25):
It's it's kind of because I was making Vows and Um.
The main producer I worked with on the album was
called Francois Titez, and I knew his work because he
produced the first Gotier record and I was in love
with it, you know. I was like, this is super
prog pop. I was so into it, and I was like,
I want to work with a guy that made that album.
And so he introduced me and Wally, so we just

(10:45):
became friends and we didn't talk for a good year
after we met, and then he just called me up
one day. He's like, I've got this song. You know,
I'm looking for, you know, the other character in the song,
and can I come over this afternoon and show you
it and see if you'd be down to singing And
just came over. I had a little home bedroom studio
and it's just so organic. The whole thing. The video
is like, never any notion that this was going to

(11:07):
be what it was. I was going to say, how
long did it take you guys to shoot that? As
far as that was the longest most grueling video shoot
I've ever done in my life, no question, that was.
It was a full yeah. So we didn't move for
you know, it's like we took toilet breaks. But it
was a good forteen hours in that position. Um yeah, yeah,

(11:29):
with you know, sort of strategic breaks and then back
in and just being fed nuts while we because it's six,
you know, six or seven photographs and then a second
of you know, sorry, six or six or seven seconds
in a photograph, there's six or seven six, then a
photograph then you know what I mean, you see the process? Yeah,
it was. It was a long day. That was amazing.

(11:49):
And of course you had no idea that you know
that would lead to well would you? I mean, the
song is not like what you would hear on the radio,
and it's kind of yeah it is right man. Well
there's no more than me. Man I I did not
see that coming. That's amazing. That's but I'm here. I'm
glad you didn't see that coming. So why why did

(12:11):
you leave? I mean, what was the what was the
community vibe like in Okay? Yes, I'm one of those
people that will's okay, New Zealanders being a bunch of times,
I get it. But the thing is that you need

(12:33):
to understand is what different there's a big difference. Well,
first stop, we do have very different accents. Mine is
all over the place these days. But if you go
to New Zealand and Australia or here, very significant should
we do the obvious one Australian safe fish and chips,
Zealand and safe fish and chips, there's a lot more blunt,
it's a lot more the eyes very different. That's New

(12:56):
Zealand one and one is awesome. Word yeah, okay, that's
a good one. That's a good starting place if you
give a go back again, it's like fish and chips
Jersey New Yorkers in New Jersey is always battle with
their turf. In d C and Maryland battle with their turfs.
Uh front, is there a South North Carolina turf war

(13:19):
going on? South Carolina Carolina kind of sorder? I mean
North Carolina. Well, first off, like when people speak of
the Carolinas in North Carolina, we really just count ourselves.
Like South Carolina is like its own separate thing, you
know what I mean? And so in North Carolina are
leading export other than basketball is racism. So you know,

(13:45):
we we we prod ourselves on that and on the
aged in oak barrels for like, man, come on. So
so yeah, it is kind of like that North Carolina.
South Carolina don't really rock like that. And in North Carolina,

(14:06):
Charlotte is like the capital. Well no, I'm sorry, Charlotte
is the biggest city. That's where all the banks are.
So Charlotte is like kinda they think they're progressive. They're
well they think they are, but they're really not. Yeah,
it kind of cause of positive because it's like they
kind of want to be Atlanta. So they're like in
Atlanta on the cusp, you know what I mean, They're

(14:27):
trying to get there. But it's like, you know, it's
like Atlanta is the Bentley and Charlotte is like like
it looked like a Bentley until a real Bentley, and
is the same with I mean, would who would have
the upper hand between New Zealand and Australia culturally as

(14:51):
the upper hand in terms of now this is what
are we talking. I don't want you to I'm just saying, oh,
look they you know, like the landscape of the two
countries are chalk and cheese. Really yeah, I really have
to go there and experience it because they've both got
so much to offer, and they've both been a huge
part of my journey. You know. I lived in Melbourne
for five years, made vows there. Um and New Zealand's

(15:13):
my home. That's where I grew up. That's where I
go home every Christmas to see my family. So they're
both important places in America is a really important place
now for me. This is New York's a home for
me now, you know, it's amazing here. Was it hard
for you to leave there? Did you have to come
to America just so that your music career could I
think it's It's like, I like the idea of continuing
to move forward and having your experiences and formula, you know,

(15:34):
And I've made a record there. I felt like I
had taken a lot of experience from the place, and
I just signed to Warner Brothers in l A. And
it felt like, yeah, let's do it, you know, a
new experience, a new record. And then same thing with
this one's third album, and I've gotten up and planted
in the New city again. Something about that feels natural
to me. I see so uh in l A you

(15:57):
mentioned I know that you've you've crossed paths with the
what I called the animaniacs of soul. Whenever the cat ors,
just like the way that they run that Tasmine Devil,
like a swirl of wind running in that warner of
this tower. Like that's how I think of that movement.

(16:20):
I mean talking about no no, I was just thinking
of you know, thunder Cat worked a lot on the
last album. Yeah he became Yeah it's again, man. All
of these connections have been so organic. It's even how
I kind of met you. It was just a mutual
like you know that kind of stalked you. I was
stalking you. I don't put it on public, you know,

(16:40):
but look I wasn't. I wasn't in the I kept
it out a little. I kept it out on the open.
I saw her. This is I first saw her on
LENO and usually the music act is the very last

(17:03):
segment before the show changes, and we were this This
is obviously in the early part of UH Late Night
with Jimmy Fallon, because I was still running home to
watch the show after watch well, I mean after like
a year then that we're off then I stopped. But
I'm just saying that. When she was on like, I
was amazed, and you know, then I stalked her on

(17:26):
Twitter and then I'm glad you did. She's here. Hey.
Sometimes the stalker wheels. That is the lesson of today.
I'll never let laws keep you the woman you love important.

(17:53):
I just had to give me. I gotta say, my computer.
I just spent up your computer. I did I sp computer. No,
I don't love you, Kimber. No, I mean a direct
message in the world. No, in all, in all seriousness,

(18:22):
So organic relationships, yeah, just friends, you know, people that
you meet out or at a gem or you know,
the same way we did. And all of a sudden,
I was living at a farm in l A. It
was very weird. Yeah, I'd like eight sheep and eight
sheep in the backyard Angeles. Yeah, this is this lady.
I found it on Craigslist and she had a little

(18:43):
urban city farm at the back of her house in
Silver Lake. Three sheep, dogs, twenty chickens. So thunder Cat
Steve Stephen come over and we would just hang out
with the animals and then he'd be like, play me
what you're working on and he'd be like, oh, I've
got an idea, you know, press recording. That's just how
it started. We're just lying like outside with the animals,
listening to tunes that I was working on. Isn't that crazy?

(19:11):
I lived in Silver Lake for you, there was a
farm in Silver Lake. No one believes me. I moved
out of Silver Lake because skunk used to chase me home. No,
like if you weren't home at a certain hour. You know,
animals check this out. Coyotes, do you say coyotes? Coyotes?

(19:34):
Coyotes came and ate six of the chickens. So we
had to get three sheep dogs. They were like tough,
you know, they dogs kept everyone safe. Yeah, wow, you
really did live on the farm. Yeah. So it just
started out hanging out of the phone, and then all
of a sudden he was tracking ideas and then he
was like the base you know, sound of the last records.
So it's very cool when things happen like that, very

(19:56):
creative individual death under kid. Oh yeah, it's still I'm
still stuck going for me animal. Can we talk about
the sculp chasing you because there's there's I've got a
mental image in my head running away from Yeah, um, okay,

(20:17):
So like I would drive, I would drive up a
hill if you know California streets, and like some of
them are full of hills. Um, and it's really dark there,
and uh, you know, I drive and then you'd see,
you know, their their eyes. There's like three or four
of them, maybe in front of my door. Um, And

(20:40):
I didn't know what to do. So I thought, Okay,
this is a smart idea. Let me get back in
the car and I'm going to approach them at like
fifty miles per hour. Like I was in a zone
of like maybe you should be doing twenty. So I
figured if I do fifty house, you know, they'll run away.
But what I didn't know was that in the face
of fear, they spray you skunk one on one. Yeah

(21:08):
I know that now. And literally, um, I got my
entire like my bill for the car rental. They thought
I had a lot. They're like, wait, we know you. You
You don't smoke weed. And I was like, this is
skunks And I explained and they were like, yeah, you
can't scare a skunk because they will spray you. Um. Yeah,

(21:31):
my car and me never get sprayed by a skunk,
let alone. Three of them. Did you have to bathe
and tomato sauce? Is that a true? Is that a true?
I didn't know about that, like to the so I
tried to dismiss it, but then like thank god for
like we culture because everyone just thought like I had
the good ship on the but you always smelt like

(21:54):
a bakery, the opposite of a bakery. I smelled like
I had that good feel, like somebody that was on
his way to a No, that was the worst. Like
that was mischief night. I don't know if people still
celebrate that. It was like the night before Halloween. Uh,
not to mention, I got egged the next night. I

(22:16):
got egged in silver Lake. It was a bad first
week out there. Yeah, so that's my skunk story it
silver Lake. Okay, so right about now, you're working on
your your third album and what is your your your
vision or your how do you even grow past the

(22:40):
level experiments that you've been Yeah, yeah, well I'm excited
to do new things. You know. Um. The last record
was like a maximalist album. I got to meet all
these amazing people and kind of just invited them all
down to the studio, you know, why not um, which
was super cool. But I'm really enjoying, like trying more
of a directness with some of the beats that I'm

(23:00):
writing and things that I'm you know, doing as demos.
There are a lot more to the point than I've
ever been, which is exciting and probably comes with like
age and maturity, you kind of start to turn more
things off and you don't have to do as many
um flourishes to get emotion across you know, I've had
more experiences. Um. Yeah, I'm inspired by a lot of
records at the moment. I've been spending a lot of
time in Ethiopia, um, the last couple of years. Yeah,

(23:24):
I was just going to say, your Instagram is kind
of off the change. You just came back from Ethiopia.
What was it like? Yeah, Yeah, it's just crazy that
place that's gotten so under my skin. Like I'm hoping
to go back every year if I can. It's just
that powerful. Um, not only the music and the food
and the culture, but the people have really touched me. Um.
And that wasn't really doing gigs or anything. That was

(23:45):
just more doing some kind of work, like more on
a spirit tip, like spending time with the woman over there.
A lot of them, mar each every positive and kind
of um being a part of a team that does
work over this. So that's been really cool and I'm
really into that balance, you know of taking time completely
off music. Have you ever done that? Then projects? But
then it's kind of like you but it is like

(24:08):
the you are amazing at that. Actually you know how
you have your finger and all lot of different projects
that are varied. You know, well, is this your version
of you need to recharge before you start creating, so
you have to take yourself out of music too. Yeah,
I think that's one way of looking at it for sure,
and just fill up with different ideas, experiences and and
and being. There's something very powerful about being completely anonymous

(24:31):
in the place and not there to be a musician
with all of your skill set of that what that brings,
but just to be a human being you know, and
observe and um offer your hard and offer. So that's
been really powerful and I'm excited to now channel you know,
the rawness of some of those experiences into you know,
my next body of work. Do you have well any artists,

(24:52):
especially on artis on a major label, UM, do you
have any thoughts whatsoever about you know how far to
the left you can lean as far as experimentations are concerned,
and how far to the right you should go to
make sure that it's easily adjustable. Like yeah, those ongoing

(25:14):
wards with your current a R right now. I mean,
of course, I think I asked that question to my
other musician friends as well. It's like the ance is
always the same. We're all trying to balance it. Um.
I'm lucky at Warner Brothers. We talked about this when
we did the Prince Pantel, Like Lenny Wannaker likes been
with me from day one. There, he's got amazing music
still there. Yeah, he's my main I've he signed me

(25:37):
to Warner Brothers. Oh my god, that is still there
even when we did that Prince Bantle, Yeah, I talked
him all the time. Yes, yeah, James, Yeah, he putes
Randy Newman Records. He did the vand like Park's first record.
I mean, this guy is incredibly musical. Mind He'll be

(25:58):
I'll be showing him song special story. I mean, just
think of how cool this is. Like I'll be showing him.
You know, you're expecting they and I to tell you
to make the chorus bigger, right, and you know, it's
a classic thing. But he'll be like, well, I think,
you know, I think in the third bar you could
make it a little more harmonically complex. I mean, what
if you put a sound in there, you know, just
and he will really talk to me in that sense

(26:18):
of like, you know, it just needs a different contrast
at that point. And this to me is very inspiring,
you know, to be able to have those kinds of
conversations music in that way, be lucky. I wouldn't trust
that situation. But at the same time, I've had my
battles of course, you know, and and I continue to

(26:39):
and that's kind of I think the tension that's kind
of needs to be there as well in this in
a sense that it pushes me to explore both sides.
And I have a great love of pop music, but
I feel very strongly that what I have to offer
is not is a unique perspective on that. You know.
Um so yeah, I think if you look at it
the right way, it can be fun. Maybe then it's

(27:03):
awful sometimes, you know it is. I mean it is
really hard sometimes, of course, if you're really going for
a vision, and um and and and people are there
too essentially watered that down, you know. Woh, you know
a lot of heated conversations and you have to fight hard,
you do. And I think we you know, we're just
talking about Prince and it's been very um inspiring for

(27:26):
me to go back into him as an artist and
really be so um reminded of how he never backed
down on things, you know, and and fought hard, but
also was super smart and always listened. That's what Lenny
always says. Man, he's like Prince would you know, he
would never he would never not be listening to you.
He would always be taking it in, you know, and
he would always go away and he'd hang up when

(27:48):
he'd be like, I'm not changing the record, you know,
I'm not. You know, they thought they didn't have an
urban song for from Diamonds and Persons. I'm not. You
work it out, you know. For Then that night he
went back to the studio and he he may get off, right.
He just came in with it the next day and
put it on the desk. That's right. When we first
spoke about Prince, you told me your favorite record was

(28:09):
Diamonds and Pearls. I've for You is probably one of
my favorites right up there with it. That was you
really big on vocal arrangements, and that's what I'm saying.
That's when I got the A Trex started making arrangements
with the only voice. So how okay, so you've probably
mastered that. I know a lot of people that are

(28:31):
use that device, the A Trex machine, and yeah, yeah,
but you're probably the one person that I know that
will find ways to push it into Okay. I don't
want to say it like it's the C word. I
don't want to say commercial, but uh, to least make
it more accessible because I know that a lot of

(28:53):
artists uh that used that are far on the left
words experimenting is concerned, right, Um what what drew you
to that as your weapon of choice? And well, I
think it all comes from feeling limitation. So I was
doing gigs with just guitar. When I first started playing
in New Zealand a little bos my dad would take me.

(29:15):
You know, I was like sixteen, and so I didn't
couldn't get in and then um, I felt I needed
to express more color, you know, and get more across
in the performances. So when I learned this little Boss,
it was you know, the boss loop pedals, the classic ones.
I never really really really read the manual, but just
kind of all right, let me break it down just
in case people don't know. Okay, so this device is

(29:36):
it yourself? Okay, yeah, that's right, that's right. Yeah you can.
You can put your instrument down altogether and just guitarist first,
and then people started to sing into the device. Yeah,
that's right. I never used it with guitar though, I
only used it with vocals, and then eventually found that, um,
you know, my voice has a very different texture when

(29:57):
it's layered, and you know, it can sound like a
different instrument. So I started putting down the guitar and
becoming more fascinated with that as a as an instrument
in itself. You know, do you keep every performance fresh
as do you have a go to way for using
those effects? Or here's a funny story for you, when
you saw Jay Lenno. Okay, that was I still refused

(30:20):
to play to a click track at that point. Okay,
So usually when you're doing live television, you probably want
to get the loop like sync so it doesn't completely
fall out of time on the live television. But I
was very stubborn, and we had to do it like
three times, you know, because I was so nervous. My
finger was shaking some much. Because I do, I change
it every time, you know, I start up the intro
just kind of with a and you loop each time

(30:42):
to keep it fresh, because I don't want it to
get to uh yeah, rehearsed, you know, too rehearsed or
feeling like okay, here we go, does this budge that part?
I really thrived on the danger aspect, but of course
live television is different, you know, camera crew, and so
from that point onward, I decided to start involving Lableton
live in the set, and we have aspects now that

(31:03):
are a a little more um yeah, you know, locked in.
But there's something to me that's very important with every
live show that there's room for collapse, you know, or
at least the chance of collapse. But you do know
what I'm talking about, because living on the edge of
that tension is what's so has it ever broken down
on you and concert? Of course? I mean, you know,
and again it's a chance for a very human moment,

(31:25):
you know. Yeah, you know, we always can back it
up if things fall out and you ask the audience.
Can we do it again? And it's cool? I think
I always have to keep that this somehow, Okay, So
I want to know basic things about your your life, um,
musically related, what was what was your first concert? It's
a band called Silver Chair and you guys, yeah, we'll

(31:50):
check it out. They that's right, that's right now. They
were fourteen, they were twelve. Therefore they were a grund
rock band from Australia. But you probably don't know this
about Silver Chair. The after they had their big blow
up with the grunge band, they started making some very
wild pop music and Van Dyke parks themselves says that

(32:11):
he puts Daniel Johns on the same level as Brian
Wilson as a song on it. Yes he does. Now
check this out the song we just played, Daniel Jones
wrote that with me. We did that together on the piano.
He plays the piano on the song on the record
Daniel Johns from Silver Chair. Wow, really you gotta get
on the later record. It reminds me of when I

(32:32):
found out that dude from Spin Doctors worked with BLA
on his demo. Was kid is on the last album? Yeah,
like ten minutes to really make me comprehend. I was like, wait,
who produces no, no no, no, no no, who produced this?

(32:57):
Who produced it? I refused to believe it. That's amazing.
Um so, okay, this is the second time that we
mentioned Van Dyke. Parks like, how did your paths even cross?
Because I mean, yeah, he's the guy. He is just

(33:18):
he's my fairy godfather. He is the sweetest, he really
is like this ethereal magical person in my life. Um So, Lenny,
I mean, Lenny is very close with Van Dyke, and
I had said what a huge fan I was of
the Silver Chair record called Diorama and Van Dyke arrange
the strings for the whole album. Can you imagine this

(33:39):
band that had become a huge, you know success as
a grunge you know, garage rock band, and then they
make a record that I swear these songs modulate like
ten times within each you know, five minutes, and he
gets Van Dyke to arrange all the strings on you know,
he learns piano for the album. I just thought it
was incredible. Okay, what's now now? This is the educational

(33:59):
portion of of our radio show Diorama. Yeah, yeah, so
I love that exactly why I wanted this show and
nerd out. So you're saying that Diorama was their their
left turn, their departure album. Yeah, that's right. Yeah, and
you know it didn't do so well in terms of commercially,

(34:21):
you know. But I have a theory now, as a
person that really doesn't know much about Silver Chair, what
was the album that came out before? Oh, that would
have been Neon Ballroom. Yeah, I mean it was soon
after the big one was I don't know what the
big one was in America, Frog Stamp or oh wow.

(34:41):
They were fourteen or like something like that school or
maybe sixteen y I don't know. So they were massively large,
and you know, these cute kids playing adult music. And
I have a theory about what they called the part
your records, which you know, I mean you'll see it

(35:06):
as like, oh, spiritual maturity and growing into the think
and I guess and it's not coming from a cynical place.
But for every departure album that there is, there's always
the mountain or the shadow of the eclipse of an
album or an image that they can't escape. And they

(35:30):
will do anything, sometimes consciously and and other times subconsciously,
like in the case of the Beastie Boys, Paul's making,
Paul's boutique. Uh, they wanted to wash away the braddy
frat boy image. That fight for your right was um
in the case of there's a ride going on by

(35:54):
sly Um, you know, having just conquered uh Woodstock in
nine and you know, had four top ten hits and finally,
like the dream was realized after like three album attempts
to make them slide the family stone such a you know,
a household name, and then he kind of turns his

(36:15):
back on everything, I mean, making an innovative funk record
while doing it. But still, you know, Prince definitely I'm
reading this, uh this manuscript, this book right now of
him actually planning Purple Rain and then also planning his
exit strategy the day even before the Purple Rain tour,

(36:39):
and it's just going to get trapped into So okay.
So with that said, would you consider phrenology to be
the roots you know what I'm I will probably say
that now, maybe I'll take credit of it being self

(37:04):
sabotage e as in not wanting to follow things fall apart.
But if I'm really truly honest, um tipping point no, no, no, no, no,
no, no no, no, no no no, because it's really like the
departure for me, No, that that was us being normal,
That was us trying to be like ground zero normal,

(37:24):
which I know. My point is that I think with
phrenology with what was happening with Neil Soult, Like I
shot a Neil Soul coke commercial like alf the Calories
of Like only one of those commercials came out, but
it was like we did a five part commercial. It

(37:47):
was like me a male Angie Stone music sold child
like we were all playing like you know, categories like
you know, like it doesn't it never came out. It
never came out like one of them came. It was
like aries all Neil Soul game Night with Coke yea.

(38:07):
It was like that. No. But I mean there was
a point where I felt like maybe okay because because
of us not knowing that we were gonna win the
Grammy and then TERI wanted to shoot a movie and

(38:29):
I wanted to see Voodoo through through the tour, like
we took two thousand off, which should have been mccash
in year, you know, and instead we were like, Okay,
we'll come back January two one and do it all
over again, and then it was just like maybe we
felt like our territorial pissing marks we're getting violated. So

(38:51):
it's sort of like, okay, well we're gonna show you all.
We're gonna do everything but Neil Soul. But then everyone
had that idea, because you know, i'man staying Cohen and
definitely Speaker Box had that that we're going to turn
our back on this thing. Like everybody was going contrary,
including d' angelo, like you know, when we started Black Messiah,

(39:12):
like it was gonna be way more radical, way more
you know, in his mind, he wanted to do like fishbones,
give a monkey, brain give. I can't pronounce title, you know,
so I guess I don't know, I mean, but it's
still worked for us, that's the thing. Though, It's still worked.

(39:35):
So I feel like the Tipping Point wasn't our departure record,
but it was just like it was the album that
I had the least, and I was just like, okay,
what do I do. I'll take instructions. Sometimes I look
at making albums like an itch you need to scratch,
you know. And when you said something about like the
eclipse or the vision, that something that's lingering in the
subconscious that you need to kind of grab for after

(39:58):
you've had a moment with a record or no, no no,
there's there's there's something in the back of your mind
that you're like, I need to get it this, I
need to unveil. This's something that's um there. And whether
that be a highly you know, six you don't know,
Like do you listen to someone and that gets you amped.
Like last week Common played me like five songs from

(40:22):
his new record, and I was feeling some sort of
and I'm working on this record, so I'm feeling some
sort of way like yo, I gotta come with it,
Like I really gotta come with it. Like so, I'll say,
the first time in ten years, I felt like, you know,
I mean when Dilla died. Then I was just like

(40:43):
I don't want to do music no more and only
like one record a year, that sort of thing. So
maybe between two thousand and six and two thousand and sixteen,
I had a this dark law of not really wanting
to put my heart into the record process, like just
put all that pass in one record. One record. Now
I'm just like, I gotta come with it. So like,

(41:03):
is there an artist that you here that get your
juices flowing. And I don't mean like I could do that.
I don't mean that way. Oh man, They're just there's
so many. I will say that as we were talking
about New Zealand before, there's some very special things that
come out of New Zealand. And there's two brothers. And

(41:23):
I listened a lot too well, you know on Non
Mortel Ostro. I'm sure. So that's Ruben Nielsen, who I've
known for years because he had a punk band when
I was a kid and I used to go to
his shows and sneak in underage and be front row.
They were called the mint Chicks. They were so rowed.
They were great. And the singer of the band, huh yeah,

(41:43):
super post punk, kind of super screamy, but but you know,
great kind of melodic guitar lines, very angular rhythms. It was.
It was fantastic. And um, the lead singer of that
band was Cody Nielsen, which is Ruben's brother. Now he
has his own side projects, his own helic you know what.
I can't stop listening to it, and like they just

(42:05):
keep reinventing themselves. You know, I've seen not everyone knows
their stories, but they just keep starting these projects. And
to me, that's really inspiring. And when you say like
I've got to come with it or kind of keep
on that um that new energy, I don't know, it's
it's cool inspires me. What was the first record you

(42:26):
ever purchased? Wow? You know what? One of the very
first albums I ever bought with my own money was
Frank by Amy Onehouse. And we've talked about this before,
and I told you what an important artist she was
for me for those reasons. I listened to lots of
other albums before then, but there was something very special
about picking that up. I didn't know anything about her.

(42:46):
I was like, it looks sick on the front cover.
You just did it based on the album cover. I
didn't know anything. You didn't hear anything. I listened to
it in the record store, but I picked it up
because you know, you know when you I love that.
I missed that. But doing the CD on and I
am listening to and I thought this sounds great because
she was a guitarist too, and she was playing these
jazz and versions that I was learning, but she had beats.

(43:09):
And that's what I always felt, was, you know, I
wanted to explore. I want to get tougher with my son.
I don't want to be a safe song writer, you know,
just keep it all pretty. And I wanted it to have,
you know, like some balls, and she was, man, she
just took me to school, you know, and all of
these singers. And it's so funny, man, how the world
connects people. Isn't that crazy? Yeah? It is. So I'm

(43:30):
just like, how do you know about beats? Though? I mean,
like average, I'm just saying I'm trying not to be
cultural elitist or sexist or any of these things. But
normally there is an older figure, trickled down person Like
I'm the youngest people of people in my brood, so

(43:51):
this was handed down. I mean, what about you guys,
like were you I had an older sister who was
really into music. Um, she's the one that got me
in the hip hop. She's the one that pretty much
triple data prints. Yeah, where did you fall? William? I
was into jazz and I had really great teachers in
high school, and then I went to Africa and when
I was in college, and that's sort of I love

(44:12):
how the white people just acab I'm the only one
in this room that's not that hasn't been. I'm not
been to South Africa, but that doesn't you know, yeah,
that's not real Africa apparently not. Yeah, I mean from
what from you talk to people from the continent, they
say that that's like the most westernized country. Really hard

(44:39):
right now, Africa. I'm just saying no, but it does
bring to mind. Actually, when we're talking about being young
and what was inspired. I love musical theater and I was.
It makes me sound like I was a musical theater
but you know I was really drawing to the well,
there's such a connotation with that. Your heads down. Oh no,
I'm just listening. I'm just listening. Are you weren't in
musical theater? Hey no, why now, that's what I mean.

(45:05):
It wasn't me say he'll like h because I tried.
I tried. Now, okay, so we have three feet kids
in there before. I did a couple of plays before
I knew it. Yo. You know what I did. I did.
I did hair in high school. I did. I did hair,

(45:27):
but I didn't like musical but I was in the music.
I forgot about that. I did. I did like school
Christmas plays and stuff like I was about to say,
everyone in this room needs to stop lying. I know
y'all was involved with music. I did here. I was
black actually really yeah, I didn't have the beard back then.
I was like thirteen at the time, but I was.
I was black Santa in a really white school in Indiana.

(45:48):
So in India was right? They was hanging in Indiana.
Did you think about the hazy shaded criminal? Okay, wait,
we're getting off the so I think some of the
melodic interests might have come from a love of that.

(46:09):
But when you're talking about beats, I know what you mean.
I'm trying to think. I love Jurassic Five. When I
was in high school, I listened to them a lot.
You know. There were certain acts that got me thinking,
why does this make my body moves like this? And
you see, I started to write vocal lines that were percussive,
you know, I wanted to find the bits between to
sing it. So maybe that's I'm now seeing the Jurassic Five.

(46:32):
I'm gonna tell you something funny. I love them too.
They were great. So imagine it being like right and
so okay, I'm in my agent's office and we got
to offer and okay, I I don't mean there's no
sort of way. Just understand the logistics of the situation.

(46:56):
She's saying that, Okay, you guys are gonna open for
or Jurassic five and Black Eyed Peas, and we started laughing,
like what you said, you guys want to open? I
was like, open this before Fergie came. The Peas and
Jurassic five was like the coinsistential underground group groups that
were normally open for the route who at this time

(47:18):
we're in their platinum powers or whatever. But No, the
thing was is that hip hop so rarely came down
Under to Australia, to New Zealand that whoever just went
over there and did five days, if you did big
day out, the big festival, then suddenly you became. So

(47:43):
there was like an inside joke that like, yo, Jurassic
five can play stadiums in Australia probably like probably Black
Eye Peas having artience of ten thousand in Australia, Ben
Harper can play stadiums like so all the acts that

(48:04):
I mean it was used to play like we will
go to places that no one else would go and
then conquered. So I always wondered I was going to
ask what was the Jurassic Five effect on They were
like the Beatles, Yeah, because no one else would go
over there. That's right when New Zealand's interesting. We're talking
about the differences. But R and B and soul is

(48:26):
very important in New Zealand, more important, I say. And
it's funny because of course you have hid As Kyote
and these incredible arm b x coming out of Australia.
But it's more of the rock thing, you know, with
a lot of the music when you're growing up New
Zealand with the Malti people are very amazing rhythmic music,
very melodic, very soulful, you know, to play in churches.
They have the mad eyes. So hip hop is very
big New Zealand. Hip hop is really big and soul

(48:48):
lotists and yeah, I remember these these hid these are
hosts were headlining huge venues. You know, they were big.
And you know, when you live so far away, I
mean from New York's probably takes me twenty two hours
to get home. Something insane. You know, you you're so
curious about music from other parts of the world. It
becomes a now it's becomes a little obsession. You know,

(49:08):
I've found something on I was around at the started
blogs and efverything obviously, and your friends starts telling you
about this thing, you know, and then you take a
little rabbit hole with that and you're so far from
it that it's so exotic and exciting. So have you
coming back to Australia, I mean after your Grammy success

(49:31):
or whatever, like was it the like? Have you had
a homecoming welcome as far as New Zealand? Right? Yeah? Um, yeah,
you know it's it's a big deal. You know, it's
a big deal for a country so small when artists
get recognized and in America, same for Australia, but especially
for New Zealand because yeah, like I said, there's only
formally in people there, you know, so it's a it

(49:53):
is a real trip when we are able to um
connect and on a sort of global level, so you're
able to go home and still like the regular. Can
you go to the grocery store in Hamilton's Yeah, it's
it's different. Yeah, it's definitely different. Um, I lay pretty low,
like I'm all about getting back to nature when I'm there,
you know, to the ocean. And I didn't have a

(50:15):
farm in New Zealan. I didn't grow on the farm.
I only had a farm in l A. I'll still
never understand that, Steve, Steve just moved. Okay, what are

(50:35):
your what are your plans for the future, that old question,
I sound like very yeah. Um, Well, like I said,
I'm writing. I'm writing more than I've ever written, which
is exciting. Um, and I'm excited to start sharing some
of that. So putting your music out maybe even before
the album and then I start the album. Yeah pretty soon, man,

(50:59):
next month, I'm going to start getting into production. Um,
writing more writing New York and doing a lot of
improvised collaborations. The stuff you came to space Jam and
this new improvisation collective called Exo Tech. Yeah, man, it's
kind of the name kind of came from an interest
in like exotica music and kind of Brazilian rhythms and
also technology, you know, using gadgets and crazy loopers and

(51:23):
industrial sounds. You know. It's like fourteen people in the
core ensemble. Well, this is the fascinating thing about it
is when everyone's tuned in and you're kind of aware
of how many people are on stage. Of course, it's um,
it's very easy for it to become Lasagna you know,
it's just layers and later, but some very special things

(51:46):
that have happened when you're conscious of that. So everyone
is listening intently, intently to each other. So everybody just
please after and yeah, that's right. And then we evolve
and developed the ideas we perform on the rounds. Every
one in the audience is quite intimately involved. It's a
bit of conducting, but a head nods, a bit of
hand signals with things, but essentially it's just it's just

(52:08):
going into the unknown, you know, and it's very liberating.
It's very liberating for someone who spends a lot of
time in studio like I do and you know, being
very intentional about my recordings and production. This is a
time for me to just get back in that space
of pure expression improvisation. It's great, that's a good thing.
Oh boy, how's your day to day? Those are those

(52:32):
are questions? Now I'm talking about you, character like, ain't
talking about you? Actually? Okay, okay, my dad was good.
My dad's good. From the major no, no, I just
there's a lot of people in this room. Um yeah,
So with that collective exotech, which is Sofia Bruce who
you just heard, Um, This is our kind of joint

(52:53):
little improvisation group, and we're starting a Red Bull in
artist residency where we're developing these songs um yeah, for
kind of to be kind of releasable or at least
just kind of developing them from the improvised context, which
has always been interesting to me because live music is
such a particular thing. The process from taking live jams.

(53:15):
David Burns very interesting with this, of course, you know,
because so many of the Talking Heads records were kind
of developed and from live with so many records are gosh,
of course. Yeah, but I've just been watching his documentary
Let's Stop Making Sense one, and that's kind of what
we're exploring for this in artist residency a Red Bull
and I've been spending a lot of time preparing lyrics
for this and kind of getting a zone of yeah,

(53:36):
taking them from the stage to the studio. See. I
don't know if you know this by design or if
you're just doing this organically, but you know, I've always felt,
you know, the idea of community, which is something that
record labels kind of discourage. They'd rather deal with an
artist one on one and not deal with groups or

(53:59):
uh mort a pool families of groups that sort of
because they're harder to control. Yeah, I always felt that
the best music movements and the most successful music comes
from a cruise and people. Uh if you look at Motown,

(54:21):
you know, they were a crew and yourself native tongues.
Of course, of course Prince his own crops, So I
mean he's yeah. So is I mean is that your
Is that your in game to gather a community of
people and cultivate them and create this music, and I

(54:44):
encourage it wherever I can. You know, I think I've
been very blessed to kind of magnet magnetize the right
people wherever I move, and by I mean the right
like just the open people that are down to jam.
And it always ends up being something that's sound, you know,
like something that comes to inform the music. And I

(55:04):
work alone, you know, I'm not a band, it's it's um.
I make these songs in my bedroom and then I
bring in people when I hit walls, you know. And
so even the band that you heard when we play Leno, like,
they've become very close collaborators of mine now because I
kind of hit these moments where I reached the limitations
of my own skills, you know, and at that point
I really like to play on that as much as possibly,
Like who can I draw from? Who I can? Um?

(55:26):
It's black being a painter, you know, and you have
this pellet all around you all the time. And I'm
inspired by the same people you said that weren't afraid
to be like, all right, you know, where does this
need to go? Who have I got that I know
can help me take this even further? But you also
seem very nomaddish for gypsy ish, I mean, just constantly moving.

(55:48):
And so how do you like when will you? Will
you leave New York once all your resources and seasons?
You know, the farm time was kind of there was
a period where I was very isolated there and I
didn't leave. I don't leave much, you know. I just
stayed inside and did That's right, That's that's that's right,

(56:12):
thank you, Steve. Because the kitchen was outside as well,
so I cooked like outside. But then it was just
the bedroom and the bed inside, so it was very
it was strange, it was. But then there would be
these seasons where I did like space jam. I started
space Jam in l A, Okay. It was every Sunday
night I put on Twitter, and I called it Space Jam.

(56:33):
I thought it was. I don't think I didn't tell
Warner Brothers. You know, I just wanted to do this
for fun. It's was I had of what was doing
a tour with Janelle maname in Australia and New Zealand
and it got canceled. She got very sick and I
came back to America and I was just restless. You know.

(56:54):
We would just had about to do a tour, and
so I thought, well, I'm here, let's do something. And
you know, oh, Thundercap did it. Most weeks. Miguel came
down to jam with me, and this is like the's
a big guys that you know, don't have to do that,
but they would just, um get up and just go
into the unknown with me. It's very powerful and you're
doing in New York for a while. Bring it back.

(57:16):
I'm kind of focused on the Exit Tech thing for
a bit now, but I like the idea of bringing
space Jam back in cities and on the road if
we're all feeling up for it, going to a little
venue nearby and in the spirit of the people we
mentioned continuing that conversation. Um, so there's seasons are being
very um engaged with community and seasons where I really withdraw. Now,
should you leave New York? Do you have any other

(57:39):
fantasy destinations that you would you know, would you go
to Europe next? See what's up and we'll check this out. No,
I just got back from London. I was there like
a couple of weeks ago. But Japan, I've never been
to Japan, even as a professional artist. Never you like,

(58:07):
I've never been to Japan, oh man, not. Japan has
been kind of tough lately. I think, like for the
past couple of years. Why why other Bill laughing at
the punchline before because it was just like here comes
some old man wisdom about pad here I go. It's

(58:28):
not skiing, because like they had the earth one of
the earthquake, it was the tsunami. They had like a
natural disaster and then you know it was that and
that like like funks it up for real over there
because we were trying to get over there for a minute.
Back and like you have to go to I've been
once in two thousands four. It was not a really
good experience. Would I didn't like it. I didn't like

(58:50):
there's this story there. Man, It's always a story. So man,
so I went to Japan. I never met an African
American male the PC title I like, now I went
we went, Okay, we went over there, and we went

(59:11):
over there. We was over there some some of some
false pretests for one and little brother to this little
brother LB this is two thus four. We went over there,
and I remember the first night we got out there
were just not walking around and we was trying to
go to a strip club. And so, I mean and forever,
I'm not really the strip club dude like that, because

(59:31):
strip clubs are about pageantry and I think just like
a lot of you know, it's a lot of yeah,
it's a lot of that, and I'm not really into that.
I'm not into the seeing the tricks and all that stuff.
I just from North Carolina, I know. But see, but
that's another story. Because it was a strip club we
had called fourteen K. But you I'm sure you know
it was a legendary. But I'm not gonna get into
that right now because that's not the next That was

(59:55):
before I was became watching The Blood of Jews. So
now so listen, so now doc so with Japan, were
trying to go to the joint and so we walk
up to the door and as soon as we get
to the door, little dude comes out no no, no, no,
Japanese only like wouldn't even let us in. We was like,
oh world, so like that right there was just kind

(01:00:17):
I was like fun this place the first day, I
swear to God. First day. So we left and I
think we ended up eating um like McDonald for the
rest of the day and then uh firsut time we
were there. We did get some Kobe beef though. We
went to Kobe and we had some Kobe beef and
like I saw one black guy in uh in the
train each other. Um, we were just so happy. I've

(01:00:42):
never been so happy to see another black man in
my life. I'm dead ass man, ain't making nothing sh up.
But now we it was, it was, it was. It
was a very same code of moment. The crowds are
are very different, so they're not really like a big
like making a lot of noise. They just really watch
very but after the show, I mean they're really they

(01:01:04):
But but now I haven't been since Old four and
I'm really not in a rushpect to go, but I
hope you go, and I'm sure you'll killed it. I'm
actually kind of weirded out. I got to make this right. Man.
You might have like Tokyo despite the fact, despite the
fact that, let's go, their largest shoe size and you

(01:01:30):
know they're gene size is thirty four. I mean I
Tokyo is my third favorite place on Earth. Wow. What's
the first two? Uh? If I had to leave the
Tri State area to live somewhere else, number one is Portland, Oregon?

(01:01:50):
What number two is Austin, Texas? Number three is Tokyo.
Number four is the Bay Area. Hopefully I canna afford
if I can afford it, I can't afford it on
my salary. Uh. Number number camping out? Number five is

(01:02:14):
uh London. But uh, the fact that you've actually thought
about that though, that's very that you've plotted it out.
I base okay. Portland's has uh probably some of the
probably the best used record store shopping, the best quality
of records for cheap. Like when they see me, they

(01:02:35):
won't charge me five hundred dollars for a Galt McDermott record.
Like if I walk into a Connecticut spot, then suddenly
it's nine thousand dollars um, Like they don't know the
true value of like that stuff. I really love. Um,
there's more strip clubs per capita in Portland and I've
never been to one. Every time I go, I'm in

(01:02:56):
and out. Nike Headquarters been there. Uh yeah, So I
mean if you have good record shopping great strip clubs
and don't take much. And the food capital, I mean
the food truck capital of the United States to me
is Portland. Yeah, that's true. Unknown more lochestra in Portland.
Now he's from New Zealand, but he works out of Portland.

(01:03:17):
Man smart man, Well, Kimbra, I really truly appreciate you
for taking your time out of your busy schedule schedule,
it's not as busy as yours. Well, now you know
it's you are insane. Though. No, we're not going to

(01:03:38):
We're not gonna okay, but yeah, we should have thought
go ahead, took Look. I took a four day vacation
last week. Where did you go? Um? I just I
did nothing in Los Angeles for four days. To answer
my text messages, I did, yeah, I said, except to

(01:03:59):
answer my text I did, Okay. Yeah. I stayed in
bed and it was it was the worst feeling ever
me to not do anything. I can't do that. The
only thing I did was I figured out how to
get rid of of ten gigs of music. I didn't
need my DJ computer. Like that was the only work

(01:04:20):
I did. You actually do that for me because I
cannot do that. That's if you got which one is
to kill? You got it? You only need one. Don't
stop to get enough, you'll need seventeen always. I'll have
to have like all the different edits, and not necessarily
like that. I'll keep the individual edits. But I had like,
you know, like four like hard knock life for billion

(01:04:43):
of them that I didn't need. So yeah, I mean
cleaning up my hard drives my favorite pastime. Um, but no,
I took a four day vacation and I hated. I
didn't hate it, but it was just you need to
be doing things that. Yeah, sleep so much that you
get tired from sleeping. Yeah, definitely. I got trapped in

(01:05:04):
that cycle. That's a true thing. And then I was like, oh,
this is what depression feels like, So let me get out. Vacation.
You're supposed to go out because otherwise there it becomes
like social isolated like that can't I mean, that's why
DJ so much like I don't. I'm not a let's
go to the bar. I'm a all DJ in the bar.

(01:05:25):
And then you know that's me going out shopping, you
know that kind of thing. I mean, I now record
shot for other people, like my new ship is now
taking what we're doing. I'm telling you record shopping before
I do. No, no, I'm saying I record shot for you.
Well no, no, no, no no. I like my thing

(01:05:45):
now is whenever the parents, whenever the kids of the pills,
like you know my kids in the pets are like,
then I'll be like, let's go to me. But and
then I'll buy them like a thousand records like I'm
I've started at least thirty record collection now because I mean,
I'm not doing to be all noble. No, I'm just

(01:06:08):
addicted to going to a record shop. In shopping it.
I'm not gonna buy like another led Zeppelin. Three scholarship foundation.
Can we get all of these guys please, yes, answer
your question. I O four day vacations in the future.
I'm gonna take another seven days off. I'm gonna get

(01:06:31):
on a train and in hobo. I'm actually worried because
you keep talking about taking my favorite thing on earth. Literally,
I got a well the best travels in UH Canada.
So I'm gonna you should go to New zealand take
a train through New Zealand. Initially I was going to
go to India, but I can't travel there and then

(01:06:53):
to do the four day trek and then the comeback.
I yeah, I would need three three weeks to really recovered.
But yeah, I'm I plan on going from New York
to San fran then Vancouver back to New York. Vancouver
to New York. You can rent your own car, have
old tiny you know, I can imagine what travel was

(01:07:16):
like in the forties without being discriminated, travel like racism
every time. That hilarious from crying. We covered so much,

(01:07:39):
Yes we did, Okay, Okay. So with that said, Uh,
kimber once again, we thank you very much, uh for
greasing us with your presence and your music and your
artistry and your stories and your journey. Give it up,
Lacey and gentlemen for Kimberly Johnson. Yes, Kimberly, it sounds

(01:07:59):
like you're saying, Kimberly, oh it is. I know it's Kimbra.
Were your parents trying to do Kimberly. I think they're
trying to do Kimberly. Okay, that's its best. Awards celebrates

(01:08:22):
black with Kimberly. Don't it's going to be lit. It's
going to be lit. This just feels like that moment.
This seems like that moment a Zoolander before Wait Me Up,
Before You Go Girl, where he's like, I don't think
you thought that I thought you thought that I was reference. Yes,
I know it's Kimbra Lee Johnson. That's more. It's more

(01:08:44):
authentic that way, not Kimberly. But I think your parents
are trying to name me Kimberly and just didn't know,
you know, it could have been one name. Alright, well
to yes, well, Kimbra Lee Johnson. We thank you very much.

(01:09:09):
M of course. Love Supreme is a production of My
Heart Radio. This classic episode was produced by the team
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