Artist Spotlight is a segment that we started to introduce our listeners to some deserving up and coming artists/bands. They have made an impact on us for all of the right reasons. We think they kick ass and we hope you do too! Today we’d like to shine the spotlight on Niagara, Canada rockers Lonely Little Kitsch!
Lonely Little Kitsch is a two-piece alt-rock band from Niagara, Canada. Kristen Goetz and Nolan Jodes formed the band as a project without boundaries or expectations. As lifelong music fans and self-described “music nerds,” they wanted to create their own brand of alternative music that wasn’t defined by current trends or labels. The result is 100% unabashed, authentic LLK – no trying to fit into a specific genre or sound.
The release of their debut single, “The New Scene” caught an unexpected buzz for the duo, finding placement on CBC Radio across Canada, FM radio including 102.1 The Edge, and even a video feature for NHL games on Sportsnet. Their follow-up, “Monster” saw much of the same press, landing on FM radio and CBC radio all over the country and beyond. Similar to “The New Scene”, this single was also used on Sportsnet to kickoff a Halloween NHL game.
Aside from Lonely Little Kitsch, Kris and Nolan run the music site From the Strait, as well as music PR and marketing through FTS PR. They also run their own indie record label, Swear Word Records.
“On the surface, “Stuck In Place” seems like a song about hating your hometown. But it’s actually about waking up one day and realizing that everyone else has moved on without you. They left to pursue their dreams and passions, while you don’t seem to have any. You’re stuck where you’ve always been, feeling left behind without a purpose or drive.
Musically, I wanted my vocals to have lots of layers and harmonies to fit with Nolan’s guitar riffs. It’s one of our mellower songs, and we aimed for a sort of ethereal, fuzzy feel to it. We started with a 90s-style wall of sound, and Ryan (McDonald) did a wonderful job editing it down to let the song shine through.”
– Kristen, Lonely Little Kitsch
““Stuck In Place” is a tune that underwent many transformations – it started as a moody, dark kind of distortion-soaked Jar of Flies – Alice in Chains-era kind of jam… and over time in the studio we changed the key, the tempo, and length to find a sound we felt was authentic Lonely Little Kitsch. Ryan McDonald (The Honest Heart Collective) really helped clean up the song with an incredible mix. When we heard the first playback we knew we were onto something we wanted to share with people – it’s a song that fits somewhere between 90s grunge and 70s Fleetwood Mac… I call it Fleetwood Grunge”
– Nolan, Lonely Little Kitsch
We had the chance to sit down with Kristen and Nolan from Lonely Little Kitsch for a short, but fun Q&A session!?
Every superhero or villain has an origin and a band is no different minus the radioactive spiders and secret government experiments. What is the origin of Lonely Little Kitsch?
Kristen – Nolan has been a musician for a long time, in multiple bands and a solo project. While I’ve technically been writing songs since I was small (and started an alt-pop girl group at 13 that I was far too serious about), no one really knew any of thatabout me. But I was always singing around the house and making up weird songs, and so it just naturally happened that he and I started playing together.
lan – Ya I think we’ll keep chipping away at a record. We have a whole litany of songs we’ve worked and reworked and I think they’ll make themselves onto a full album eventually. For us it’s been more fun to release singles – I think because each has its own feel and its own story to tell…
Band names can have a meaning or it can be a name pulled out of a hat. What’s the story behind Lonely Little Kitsch?
Kristen – Well, I do music PR for a living – Nolan and I own From The Strait, and the music PR and marketing agency associated with it, called FTS PR. So I knew we needed a name that was unique enough that you could Google it and easily find us, as well as a name that we’d be able to utilize the social media handles. But on top of that, it should have some meaning. Nolan is a huge David Bowie fan (I am as well, but he trumps me on this one), so I scoured some lyrics for words that would jump out at me. And in his song, “Diamond Dogs,” the lyric is “just another future song, Lonely Little Kitsch”. And it just kind of fit. We know it’s a bit off, and can be confusing to some people. But that’s us!
What are you currently working on?
Kristen – we’re putting the finishing touches on our summer single, and then we’ll continue recording the rest of our songs. Eventually there will be an album, but we’re not rushing it.
If music was over today and you had to go into professional wrestling, what would your wrestling name be?
Kristen – I’m not going to answer this properly, as I don’t know what would be a good name for me. BUT – I have long said that my walk-in song would be “New Noise” by Refused.
Nolan – Ohh a pro-wrestler name? Special shoutout to NEO Wrestling in Niagara – who has been supportive of our band and often uses our first single “The New Scene” as it hype music for its indie events!
I’m going to dedicate this one to a long time friend of the band Milson (Milhouse). In high school everyone seemingly worked at grocery stores – and it was a wrestling faction he created – I wanna say there was something akin to The NWO but in this case the Grocery World Order – he was its leader and his finishing move he called “The Price-Checker”. Theme music would have to be something by House of Pain!
What’s your most useless talent?
Kristen – All of my talents are pretty useless. I can cross my eyes independently of each other. I can quote almost any commercial from the late 80s and early 90s. I can write a song on the spot, but especially if it’s about dogs, food, or something really immature. I’m very classy.
What was the first CD/album that you bought and what was your most recent CD/album purchase?
Nolan – Ok – the first tape (yep cassette tape) I ever purchased with my own money – was Love & Rockets (self titled) – I believe I heard the tune “So Alive” on the radio or saw the video on MuchMusic
I instantly fell in love with Daniel Ash (also of Bauhaus) there was something so cool about him and the music was unlike anything I was hearing at the time…I remember an older kid at school seeing me with my Walkman (yep I’m old) and asking me what I was listening to (fully expecting to be made fun of…or picked on…I told him) shockingly the older kid’s response was much more “whoa…you’re how old and listening to L&R??” I had been made an honorary cool kid that day (it didn’t last very long) and my coolness factor may have peeked right then and there at the tender age of 12.
These days we share an extensive vinyl collection Most recently we picked up “More Harm” the last record by The Honest Heart Collective on vinyl – out of Thunder Bay Ontario…in our opinion one of the best rock bands working today and the frontman Ryan McDonald was kind enough to mix our latest single.
Kristen – The first CD I bought with my own money was Moist’s Silver album. The first CD that was purchased for me was Live’s Throwing Copper. But the first actual album I ever bought with my own money was a tape (yeah… we’re old), and it was by The Jets. I had never listened to them, I didn’t know what kind of music it was, but I was really young and I think I just liked the cover. Needless to say, I can probably still sing every word from that one, because I wore the tape out. Before that it was all Muppets, Mickey Mouse, and Mini Pops, so that tape was a true adult moment.
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