Please introduce yourselves; what has your history been in music?
Ash: Ashley Windsor or Ash
P. Ori: Phillip Ori or P. Ori is the stage name I go by. How to summarize my musical path? My music history started when I was eight. I didn’t start taking music seriously until I was fifteen. I played bass for a lot of neighboring bands. I eventually had a pretty successful run with my band, Bremen. After three years, we decided to call it quits. I started making songs that were incredibly special to me. I formed KinZie with Ash in 2011.
Ash: My history in music has been brief. Of course, everyone wants to be a rock star when they’re twelve, but I thought it wasn’t practical until Phil and I were riding around Birmingham one day listening to “Vampire Weekend” and he asked me to play music with him. I’m a modest person and I’ve never thought of myself as a talented singer. Phil saw something in me that no one had encouraged or cultivated. Now I have a friend who gives me the backbone (and the musical backbone, ha) to sing about, well, whatever we want I guess. So I’ve been involved with KinZie for about two years.
What is your favorite song that you have written as a band? How have the compositions on “We were limited, but we’ll make do” differ from the rest of your corpus of music?
Ash: We jokingly refer to Guillotine as our baby. For me, it’s still my favorite song. We’re in the process of recording a fun new song “I Hate You, Ashley Windsor” which is currently my new favorite song, but that’s probably how it will go. Guillotine is my first love, but I definitely fall for the rest of the songs too.
P. Ori: My personal favorite off that EP is “Scavenger’s Daughter”. I like the noisy rocking tunes we do. I can definitely say the first EP(“We were limited, but we’ll make do”) is our blueprint of what we wanted in a band. Loud, noisy, but fun pop songs. We have tinkered around with experimental music with our second EP. It helped us grow as a band and we’re currently making a third EP titled “Brute”. I’d say it’s the best stuff we’ve come up with yet.
What unique qualities does Les (engineer, formerly of Verbena) bring to the overall spirit of your latest recording?
P. Ori: Les brings out the weird creativity in us. When I pass along demos, he always messages back stuff like “You play it safe! Make it weird!”. I’ve known him for a long time and he’s always wanted me to embrace weird nuances. Plus he knows how to make noise sound bearable!
How do your influences sculpt your music? What sorts of music are on your MP3 players / car stereos lately?
Ash: My music library has been getting interesting. My top five most played artists currently are Arctic Monkeys, Beck, Etta James, Jay-Z, and Kid Cudi. Keepin’ it fresh I suppose.
P. Ori: I’ve been digging on some Deerhoof lately. I currently got Unknown Mortal Orchestra and some Flaming Lips that’s been playing in rotation a lot.
What is the craziest story that you have experienced as Kinzie?
Ash: P.Ori and I have been friends for a while. We’ve had some awesomely bizarre and sometimes dangerous times as friends. Some folks in Birmingham probably remember the glorious last night at Sipsey’s Pub. I know I don’t remember too much, but there’s pictures to prove it happened. I seem to remember P and I having to run, literally run away from several situations throughout our years.
P. Ori: My craziest story was going to the local bar and ordering a burger at 4 am. You see some cool and strange people at that time.
How can listeners check out your music? Are there any live dates that you will be playing in the near future?
Ash: Our lovely followers, fans, and people of the internet can find our music at Bandcamp (http://kinzie.bandcamp.com), ReverbNation (http://www.reverbnation.com/kinzie), and we’re on Facebook, Twitter, and ugh… what else. P?
P. Ori: https://www.facebook.com/KinZiemusic https://twitter.com/kinzie_music. WE like posting fun stuff on our soundcloud https://soundcloud.com/kinzie_music
What steps would you suggest that up and coming bands take to achieve their goals (be they success, fun, overall experience, or the like)?
Ash: We personally got into music because we were two friends who genuinely enjoy each other’s company and we love making music together. P and I just work well together. Our personalities are a good blend, and we make some pretty decent rock n’ roll I think. The only words of wisdom I have: know what you want, have your priorities organized, and don’t stray far from your path. You can accomplish anything in this world, only you stand in your way.
P. Ori: Never stop playing. No matter how bad or monotonous it may seem. If you feel limited, then make do. We had no studio, borrowed equipment, and no real training on how to record. Now, we have two recording masters helping us out. Always strive for the best and take each victory as seriously as possible.
Do you have any final words for our readers?
Ash: There will never be any final words from KinZie
Just to thank all of the folks who listen to our music and like what they hear. Stay tuned for more info on our 3rd EP coming out in Summer 2013.
P. Ori: Stay with us. We got good things in store.
