Occasionally there are bands that aside from being good musicians, also give the innate feeling that they are awesome people. I would say that I speculate MKNG FRNDZ to be one of those bands, but I have to confess that I know Daniel pretty well and he’s one of the most spectacularly wonderful people I know. Seriously, this guy is so great I had to preface his visit to the bay area last winter with the words ‘You’ll all like Daniel… but really, everybody likes Daniel.’ Daniel is the ball of energy with contagious laughter that you notice across the room and wish would come entertain you. Daniel is the cool kid who sat at your lunch table one day and invited you to a party that your parents wouldn’t let you go to.
With a name like MKNG FRNDZ, I can only assume Tami is equally as amazing. Having spent time releasing music on the San Francisco based queer label Mr. Lady (RIP), Tami Hart as toured with such notable acts as Le Tigre and The Butchies. I look forward to meeting her when she is on the West Coast in spring. So far all I really know is that she has a great smile and a stellar voice. Seriously, this girl can saaaang.
Daniel too comes from a similar background and joy of the Riot Grrl scene in the 90s (wasn’t the 90s great?), he has also spent a lot of time in various artist collectives around the US.
Currently they boldly don’t want any other members. Like most bands of their peers, they try to get away from the typical pop radio tripe and just do what they want to do the way they want to do it. And what’s that?
“We wanna tour the world and dance till death!” They told me in our email interview. “It’s all about being in the moment together rather than creating a fucking boundary of performer vs. audience. It doesn’t matter to us where we play or what city – just who we’re playing for & with.”
Can’t you just tell they are the raddest kids? They apparently are much more focused on the intimacy of the space and providing joy to the people they are around. Personally, I scratch my head and wonder what it would possibly be like not to really have any agenda besides fun, but then again I’m the one merely blogging about this; they’re living it.
Both Tami and Daniel (the sole members of this ‘boy/girl revolution’ project) have lived in various cities around the US. They say they particularly like playing house shows and independent venues in such cities as Portland, Chicago and Anchorage. But more than that, they have expressed a great current love for the South.
“We played this show in Charleston where it felt like the whole town showed up and we all just went ape shit! The whole house was shaking and everyone was dancing and screaming, making out and were totally supportive and just happy to be alive.” Don’t you wish you could have seen that? I’ve heard things about the South being pretty lively these days, yet I have yet to ever make a visit. Perhaps other Bay Area, Northwest and New York people should consider making a pilgrimage to the land of grits?
The summer they are planning a tour that will include the West Coast and Daniel’s hometown in Alaska. They also hope homo-a-gogo happens this year, and look forward to attending Ida in Tennessee.
Their songwriting is simple and to the point. I asked them if they have any political, spiritual or ethical beliefs that they try to get across, but they basically shrugged it off. I can only imagine them giggling together behind a computer as they read such a square question.
“It’s purely sexual! We write songs about love, sexual tension, affirmation or anything that gets our minds off how stressed out we are or how shitty the world can feel sometimes.”
However, this doesn’t mean that they are just another Peaches, writing ironic songs about fucking on my titty while blowing a strap on… or whatever. They write songs ‘from the heart’ so to speak.
“The more layers you add, the perspective naturally changes. It just depends on the subject matter. Since we are a dance band we don’t wanna take the energy away from that. Any emotional footprint or serious nature is more of a side effect. There have definitely been humorous aspects. Lately our music has started to push towards the next level. Realness In the daytime. At all times. No Matter what time it is. It’s kinda like therapy and scares the shit out of us.”
Finally, I feel obligated to come up with a comparison to their music, but it has been pretty difficult for me. Their low-fi and often melodic, rockin’ electro is hard to put a finger on. However, it is slightly reminiscent to some of the stuff off of the electro-punk label Ersatz Audio, the song ‘Hotel‘ by Broken Social Scene… and perhaps Tracy + the Plastics mixed with the Gossip at times? I have no idea… I think I just failed that part. Listen for yourselves.
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