In an era of unrefined and monotonous garage rock, Madison has a local band with ambition and skill that puts those acts to shame. With their new album, Letters from Earth, Kingfinger has put together a rare effort. They make ambitious sonic explorations but do it unpretentiously and show restraint in song length. They can rock hard on one song and go sensitive and acoustic on the next, and they never sound contrived or fake in either style.
With varying and intricate arrangements that may include strings, horns or carefully layered guitars, Kingfinger marks itself as a tremendously daring band with the talent to back up their ambition. The Daily Cardinal caught up with Alex Fieiras, Nili Salem and Bones, the band's frontman, backing vocalist and guitarist, respectively, to talk about the album, their past and their forthcoming move.
The Daily Cardinal: How did you all get together?
Alex Fieiras: I formed Kingfinger with two other people as a recording project a few years ago and the three of us all went separate ways. We did an album called The Vegas Years. We called it The Vegas Years because we figured that most artists end up in Vegas, so we thought we'd start there.
There've been member changes, but right now, I'm really happy with the group. We're like a family; so much so that we're all moving to Los Angeles. We want to start touring nationally. We got a van, we got a trailer and we want to start basing ourselves out of the coast. There are actually nine of us moving out there. We love Madison, we love the university and we hope we'll always come back for shows.
DC: With all those members and such an intricate sound, how do you guys keep from killing each other during the creative process?
AF: Well, I sort of lead the band in the different directions we go. And I know I don't have all the answers, but I try to understand the need for everybody's input. I rely on everyone to be an expert in their area. And they rely on me to be an expert in my area.
There are a lot of different songs on our album, and we worked really hard to bring it together in the studio. We approached every song as, \How can it grow? How can it get better?""
DC: The result reflects a lot of different influences. Who inspires you guys?
AF: Well, there are a lot of different favorites. When I listen to music, I try to find the creative, interesting part of each thing, whether it's Britney Spears or Zen Guerrilla or Queens of the Stone Age. I know Bones is a big Radiohead fan and I'm a fan of the Velvet Underground. We've got lots of influences.
DC: How scary is the move to L.A.?
Nili Salem: Considering it's my hometown, I'm thrilled. I'm excited to be going back and we know so many wonderful people in the music industry there and so many bands that we know, that hopefully we can play with. It's a big risk, but we all think it's going to be a lot of fun, plus we'll be missing out on the Wisconsin winter, so that's not too bad.
DC: Any promising leads on getting signed?
AF: Getting signed isn't the big challenge; it's what you do when you get signed.
DC: Bones, I gotta ask: Going with the one name thing-that's a lot of pressure, isn't it?
Bones: Yeah, but I'm used to it. I've been called that for a while. It comes from my last name, actually.
DC: What's it like to be in a band that's not as guitar centered as other bands?
B: It allows me to do more esoteric things. Maybe while the DJ is spinning, I can do more sound effects than really playing chords.
DC: Does it bother or worry you that more stripped-down rock is more popular right now?
B: Not at all. We get the best of both worlds. When we're on stage, things get more stripped-down and we turn up the guitars, while we get to experiment more in studio.
-Interview conducted by Amos Posner
