Saint: To start things off, what's one word each of you can give us that pretty much sums up CLK?
Dev: Raw. Minimal. Soul
Saint: One word Dev
Dev: raw
Saint: Kat? Prinny?
Prinny: can't think of one ironically
Kat same here
Dev: hip-hop, soul
Prinny: oh, I got one-ghostly (not even sure that's a word)
Dev: that's a good one
Saint: Whenever I think of the name CLK, I think Miyavi, because they have that song called Coin Locker Baby. Is your band's name in any way connected to that?
Dev: yes it is. We both based our title off the same book, but we don’t know about the band.
Prinny: No, not to the song but the actual book. I mean I’ve never personally read it, but I got the gist of what it's about- it's about mothers abandoning their children in coin lockers in Japan (I think)
Kat: I started reading it and from what I read, the names fitting for us.
Dev: Yeah, but somehow they survive. And the book chronicles their lives and their chaotic downfalls.
Epic: speaking of fitting, you guys were previously referred to as trip-hop by Jaymie Baxley of SmartNews. When Saint did the podcast she referred to you as "hip-hop". What type of music genre do you personally think your band falls under? If any.
Dev: soul, to meand hip-hop, alternative hip-hop. And not that Flobots and GCH stuff, if it comes to that.
Prinny: well I’d say alternative hip hop really like strictly alternative like not normal
Epic: Who are/have been your major influences?
Dev: Portishead for me
Kat: Portishead
Dev & Prinny: beck
Prinny & Dev (laugh)
Prinny: Prefuse 73
Dev: bjork
Prinny: Madlib
Epic: I love beck and Portishead
Kat: They're the best. Well, Portishead is. I can't say about beck. I'm not that big of a fan.
Prinny: You are cool in my book V
Saint: Prinny directed me to Portishead
Dev: Prinny and I are huge beck fans. If you listen to beck, you'd see a huge influence.
Saint: I've only heard the loser song. (I like it.)
Prinny: See that's what's wrong with the world...not enough beck fans.
Dev: Shut up girl! Loser does NOT define beck. It doesn't even scratch the surface. That's like liking Creep.
Epic: Beck is his own genre.
Prinny: Of course.
Dev: that's what our goal is- to transcend our sound, but not in an arrogant way. That's why I use words like raw, or soul- because those words are big words, not too confining. We don't wanna change the world. We just wanna make real music, you know?
Saint: How does your music making process reflect that?
Kat & Dev (laugh)
Dev: it's senseless
Kat: Dev, explain our music making process
Dev: it's really, really, really raw. We haven't gotten a recorder yet, so Prinny's input has been in networking and helping me work out beats and lyrics.
Prinny: that's how we met you guys
Dev: I’m the root when it comes to beats and lyrics, Prinny hooks us up (he's like the bass/ manager) and Kat brings it all to live with her voice.
Prinny: life
Dev: Yeah, life. Or all alive.
Epic: Dev--Do you consider yourself the perfectionist?
Dev: ask them
Prinny..... Hell the fuck yea
Kat: HELL THE FUCK YES (laughs)
Prinny: (laughs) I mean, it's not a flaw. More of a stunting advantage
Kat: it’s more of a pain in the ass to me. You’re lucky you don’t have to record things 95785484 times but it’s all good
Dev (laughs)
Prinny: well of course, I’m not singing
Epic: but in the end it's all worth it right?
Prinny & Kat: Of course.
Dev: definitely. There's a method to the madness.
Saint: Since you brought up singing, where do you guys get the inspiration for your lyrics?
Kat & Prinny: Dev
Kat: He writes everything.
Saint: Dev?
Dev: Well, I feel a lot of pain a lot. I’m the type of person that just gets really affected by other people and things like apathy and emotion. I internalize a lot.
Epic: Kat, Dev described your role in the band as one the who "brings it all to life/alive". Having this said, do you think people are more attracted to CLK because of your vocal abilities?
Kat: It's weird to think of it like that. I don’t particularly think I’m a good singer. Really, I don’t actually consider myself a singer at all, so I don’t think people just listen to clk because of me. I mean, the beats are pretty hot too.
Dev: Psh
Prinny: I think so. I mean, if it was dev singing, I’m sorry, but I don’t think we'd catch too much attention.
Dev (laughs)
Prinny: I mean, Dev isn't a bad singer, but I feel more emotion coming from a female singer.
Dev: Same here with what nique said.
Saint: Kat, Did you ever aspire to be a singer? Or was it just sort of like "we need a singer...give it a try"?
Kat: did I ever wanna be a signer? No. my moms a singer, so I never wanted to be that. But I love singing for clk-it’s great most of the time. (As long as dev isn’t being anal about everything)
Dev: nowadays, it's great.
Saint: Kat, you're in college like I am. What're you majoring?
Kat: engineering-totally not music-bio-medical engineering.
Dev: she's brilliant, but she's an artist too.It's in her blood.
Kat: (continued) but I have been playing the piano for the past 10 years, so music is very much a part of my life.
Prinny: I had to adapt.
Kat: yeah, it is, but Science is my calling. I love science. And math. It makes the world go round.
Prinny: Unless you believe in God, then science is worthless.
Dev: oh my god. ANYWAY. Kat can talk about science for days. She loves Science. Clk is Kat’s back up plan!
Kat: (to Prinny) Whatever. Evolution totally exists. (to Dev) kind of. I mean school is friggin hard. If we make it big, which I’m sure we will, it looks like that’s what I’m, gonna do.
Dev: clk is kind of like a break for her.
Kat: very much so.
Epic: Since this is also an issue with us, what is the biggest difficulty having Kat in college while Dev & Prinny are both still in high school?
Saint: For us, I have a TON of time while Vanessa has a limited. Is it the same with you guys?
Kat: It’s always like that. I have no time EVER. I have so much work all the time and I hate it. I wanna put the time and effort in that it deserves, but I just don’t have the energy
Dev: the biggest difficulty is between Kat and me, because since I make the beats and nique assists, we can do it by ourselves. We make the beats.
Prinny: in terms of assisting, I criticize and give him thumbs up and crap.
Kat: it’s quite a pain only being able to record on the weekends
Dev: I don't move forward unless Prinny says so. We’re brothers really.
Prinny: I’m like the damn congress.
Epic: Speaking of difficulties, Prinny- what's the biggest difficulty being in a band with two people who are dating?
Dev & Kat: (laugh)
Prinny: (laughs) man don't get me started on that!
Dev: drama drama drama
Prinny: but it's coming along. So no worries.
Dev: so our music comes a little slower and there are no worries because Kat’s a survivor, just like her mother.
Kat: if I don’t fail calc.
Dev: I have the utmost faith in my girl.
Kat: (to Dev) I’d hate to let you down.
Dev: she could never let me down because she’s trying real hard.
Epic: how long have you guys been together? (meaning Dev and Kat).
Dev: 17 months on the thirtieth
Kat: 17 months tomorrow
Dev: (laughs) Prinny and I have been together for years.
Prinny: (laughs)
Dev: since we were little damn asshole babies
Prinny: meaning 5th fucking grade, snobby dickwad children
Dev: I never thought we'd make music together.
Epic: Prinny, Dev keeps referring to you as Nique. What's the story behind the name Prinny?
Dev: (laughs) yeah Prinny, what’s the story?
Prinny: (laughs) Well it's simple- in my spare time I like to play video games and one in particular I’ve come to love is Disgaea. It has creatures called “prinnies”, which are demonic penguins that kill stuff -
Saint: *gasps*
Kat: Wait, I thought a Prinny was a bomb shell or something.
Dev: (laughs)
Prinny: (continued) and explode when thrown and say "Dood" a lot.
Dev: Totally fits the clk mood.
Prinny: Prinny God is the highest tier; well it's a monster class in the game. It’s so hard to manage demonic penguins. That’s it really.
Saint: Since we're on the subject of Prinny, What inspired u to pick up the bass?
Prinny: It was actually by chance really, way back like 2 years ago-
Dev: Tyler Truxell-He’s a kid we know from school.
Prinny: When Dev and I were in another band, they had a bassist named Tyler who was like brilliant at it. So I picked it up and started messing around and he said I was pretty good and should start playing. So I did. I mean he taught me the basics of bass and he probably doesn't know it (cause he's probably playing World of Warcraft).
Saint: If you could play any instrument besides the bass, what would it be?
Dev: cello
Prinny: Well I did play cello at one point, remember? I could probably pick that shit right back up, but besides that, I’d say guitar. Or a damn harmonium.
Dev: (laughs) awesome sauce
Kat: oh my god. You did not just say that…that’s so gay.
Prinny: ......
Kat: I’m sorry he said that.
Dev: Kat I date a white girl.
Kat: and I date a black guy. They don’t say that.
Prinny: and I date a black girl.
Dev: I picked it up from you.
Kat: I never said that. Ever. That’s b.s.
Prinny: ugh. Can we not do this? Awesome sauce is lame though. Just say awesome.
Kat: Yes
Dev: anyway. But the sauce is awesome.
Prinny: next question please
Kat: what sauce? My sauce?
Dev: my sauce.
Prinny: PLEASE
Saint: How would you say clk has developed since you started out?
Dev: drastically. The development has been drastic
Prinny: well, buying stuff.
Dev: well it started with a band named Brainerd which was a bass, a guitar, and a vocalist Then two bassists, a guitar and a vocalist.
Prinny: two basses are never good. I didn't play much
Dev: Anyway, so I got into a big fight with everyone about controlling issues. It was a big fall-out. Then I decided to make my own thing. I made a whole cd using premade samples from session which is like garage band for windows and after I was done with it
I wanted to make something with nothing but strings and piano. Then changed to strings and digital beats, like bjork and I had a friend with a violin
Kat: I remember those days, they were very….interesting.
Dev: Kat was my new girlfriend at the time and I was making SHIT
Kat: It wasn’t that bad. You’re too hard on yourself. I’ve never thought that you made shit. Ever.
Dev: Either way, Kat asked to join because we wanted to be closer
Kat: (laughs)
Dev and at first I was like, what do you wanna do? Play piano? And she said she didn't know.
Kat: I did at first wanna play piano, but that didn’t always work because I’m better at playing Mozart’s shit than making my own.
Dev: oh yeah I remember. But I was like it's hard going from classically trained. So I said, “sing” ‘cause at this point I was bored of my voice.
Kat: that worked a little better. I used to be very shy. VERY. I wouldn’t record if anyone was around
Prinny: me too.
Saint: I’d imagine that the singing gave you confidence.
Kat: Definitely. I’m still a little iffy on things
Dev: Because of the compliments
Kat: and my voice, because my moms a singer. So it’s weird
Dev: I always thought her voice was like an angel and her mom always said it too
Kat: (rolls eyes) it’s not that great, but yeah I’m way more confident than before.
Prinny: it really isn’t.
Kat: I think I’m average at best
Dev: she's feigning modesty
Kat: No. it's true, I'm not a singer. You know that.
Prinny: good thing she's still humble.
Saint: To be honest, I think that's what attracted me to listen to you guys. Vocals, lyrics, overall sound.
Epic: I second that notion. I think it's a beautiful voice.
Kat: well thank you.
Dev: Kat's voice, bottom line, makes what clk is. My vocals are just some rapper coming in and saying shit. Kat brings the soul.
Kat: You bring it too. We’re like Martina and tricky
Prinny: (laughs) Yeh, before they broke up.
Saint: your rapping always gets stuck in my head.
Dev: well that's a real hip-hop thing-the punch-line thing. While Kat’s singing and I’ll say stuff called adlibs or punch lines. I wanted to really fuse the nature of traditional hip-hopisms with the kind of forties/fifties lounge music vocal style mixed with sixties and seventies beats. That’s why the name is CLK
Prinny: samples
Dev: Yeh, samples samples samples.
Kat: and more samples
Saint: I see you guys as the future of hip-hop. What do you see in store for the future of CLK?
Dev: the future. That’s a hard one.
Kat: being rock stars
Prinny: well …
Kat: I don’t know.
Dev: I think we have something special
Kat: this is Devyn's vision. I hate not really being able to answer
Epic: it's alright, because that just means your future is open.
Saint: Nicely put, V.
Prinny: I’m not a rock star. Well what I see, in all honesty, I don’t know. I mean not to sound vain, but some of the stuff we make I don't see how we can't "make it" but it's all about the art form really. It would be badass to be rich
Kat: I know what you mean, but I’d say its all dev, honestly, the credits all his.
Dev: with the help of my comrades of course.
Saint: comrades?
Epic: His amigos. Friend. Makamaka in your case.
Prinny: His niggas
Saint: Dude I know what a comrade is, I just wanted to know if he was using another play on white people terms.
Dev: look, if it was all up to me, I’d have nobody listening. on one side Prinny always, when not making bass lines directs me and points me in the right direction and Katrina adds her soul into the music and enhances what nique and I have made so although it's like my ideas I couldn't do it alone and would never do it alone
Prinny: that's all well and good but the question was about the future. FUTURE of CLK!
Dev: well we gotta finish a cd. I want 10 tracks.
Kat: we’re gonna keep making music as much as we can the first album is gonna be called-
Dev: and when we get ten tracks we'll be ready to-
Kat: ....
Prinny: We'll just ship them
Kat: should I tell them?
Dev: Newport
Kat: yup
Epic: Since we’re on the topic of the future, with the elections coming up, what do you think of our presidential candidates and their VPs? More specifically, what do you guys think of Sarah Palin?
Dev: OBAMA OBAMAOBAMA OBAMA and BIDEN the attack dog
Prinny: I don't care
Kat: Obama, I love Obama (laughs.)I’m voting. They can’t. But I’m voting Obama
Saint: same here. Vanessa can tell u how strong we are on that one.
Epic: Very strong.
Dev: Nique and I are skeptical though
Prinny: Biden for president. Obama is a dead man walking
Saint: Biden?
Kat: what about him?
Dev (laughs) nique and I are black
Saint: Hey...if bush isn't dead I’m sure Obama would be fine.
Dev: either Obama’s gonna get killed
Kat: so am I
Prinny: I don't think Obama will live the whole 4 years. If he does get elected, I fear for his life.
Dev: or McCain is just gonna make it in office and that'll be it
Kat: as for Sarah Palin, I think she’s a joke.
Dev: fuck that fucking dumbass bitch. I’m not a Joe six-pack
Prinny: I hate her. She’s stupid. No experience
Saint: have u guys seen palinforpresident.us yet? Amazing site there.
Epic: No but I will look into it. I honestly don't like her either.
Prinny: I mean, whatever happens, happens.
Dev: she says she doesn't have to answer questions at a debate! And the whole republican campaign is bullshit! Just how many lies can you tell in a string of commercials?
Kat: she can make herself look like a fool. Seriously.
Saint: V, you totally opened a can of worms with that political question.
Epic: she's a bulldog with lipstick that rides a snow mobile.
Dev: or a toboggan. Obama wants to raise taxes.
Kat: Yeah, that’s not happening
Prinny: Actually Dev, if Obama is elected, we might become a socialist nation.
Kat: no WTF?Don’t be retarded.
Epic: not at all
Prinny: spread the damn wealth!
Kat: and Obama is Karl Marx, right?
Dev & Saint: (laugh)
Prinny: YEA
Kat: don’t be stupid. Oh my god. You should spread the wealth but not like that that’s totally different
Epic: didn't you watch the Colbert Report?
Prinny: It is true.
Dev: I’m spreading the wealth every footstep I take
Kat: They’re not the same.Not taxing the poor isn’t the same at spreading the wealth. Spreading the wealth is what comes from that but those two ideas are very different.
Dev: I spread the wealth
Saint: On that note, we’ve run out of questions for you guys. Do you have any end comments to conclude this interview?
Dev: We're very happy with this band. We're all friends and not a lot of "bands" have that. We have what I think is a unique style of making music. Sampling is a lost art. Bass-heavy music is a lost art. Female vocalists outside of R n B is a lost art. We're trying to be relevant and give respect to the past.
Kat: Very much so. We're always looking for new ways to get our sound out.
Prinny: Prinny Dood. Times have changed and so have we.
Dev: We might make it from scratch; we might sample it from some old school obscure soundtrack. I just think we're full of ideas from all three of us. We all take music very seriously. Our goal is to not be heroes, but just to make real music that inspires people and shakes it like a saltshaker.
Kat: like a Polaroid picture
Dev: Make the ladies throw their panties
Saint: (raises eyebrow)
Kat: (rolls eyes) thanks Dev
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