KM: What I’ve been working on here at New, Improved Studios is with Daron Key over the past week. We just got in the studio and started recording stuff, and so far we’ve got some things that we’re excited by and we’ll see when we can get back in here and keep the process rolling.

NB: And we’re out [in New, Improved Recording in Oakland] because you used to live in the Bay Area.

KM: That’s how I am acquainted with Eli, is from the ’90s in San Francisco. I lived in the city for 6 years, from ’94 to 2000.

NB: What were you doing when you were living out here, and what pulled you to New York?

KM: I was doing drugs…that’s a short answer. I was doing a lot of things: playing music with friends and making records, riding bikes, making out. Being a young person with very little responsibility, and then I sired a child. The mother of that child didn’t want to stay in San Francisco, she wanted to be near her family, and so I moved to New York to be a father. My daughter Isabel is 9 years old now.

NB: She’s not out here with you right now, it’s just you?

KM: It’s just me. They didn’t know it was going to blizzard out [in New York] this past week, otherwise I would have taken her, but I’m trying to let her be in school when she’s supposed to be. I think it’s kind of a cop-out, but that’s what I’m gonna do. I’m saying, I can’t predict the weather most of the time. Also, she would have been pretty bored here in the studio.

NB: Like you said before, you lived here for a while. Do you miss anything or are you returning to anything somewhat nostalgic? Is there anywhere that you like to eat maybe, that you’re stoked on being able to eat at while you’re out here?

KM: I feel a little bit embarrassed to say. I love Northern California, I think it’s one of the best places in the world. Some of the social politics I forgot about. I don’t know, I’m back to being an East Coaster for sure, is what I’m finding out. That being said, there’s no Cafe Gratitude in Brooklyn and I like the food at that place.

NB: It is pretty good, but I’m sure theres other raw stuff [in New York]?

KM: Yeah, there’s Rock-n-Raw in Williamsburg.

NB: But they don’t ask when you take out your menu out to say something like ‘I am Splendid’ or whatever, the whole vibe that is at Cafe Gratitude.

KM: Yeah, it’s different, it’s like the opposite of Chicago, if you’ve ever been to Chicago. It’s just a different attitude there. I remember going to this bar and grill [in Chicago], they were blasting metal music and the burgers were named like, ‘Can I have a hot stick up my ass?’ That kind of thing.

NB: Like Voodoo Doughnuts in Portland. Have you been there before?

KP: Never sober, so I don’t remember exactly..

NB: [laughs] Then you probably really enjoyed ordering, you just don’t remember…there were pretty gnarly names for their doughnuts, too. Well, is there anything else on your mind right now about being [in the Bay Area] right now? How are you feeling in general?

KM: I feel great. I spent the day somewhere up in Sonoma County yesterday, running around in the nature scene, smoking marijuana and eating psychedelic mushrooms, cooking food with friends, walking around naked and what not. That also doesn’t really happen much in Brooklyn so much, I mean there’s not really space for it. That’s not the kind of thing that happens there, so its nice to come here and take a break and get back to that kind of thing.

Photos

Credits
Audio Recording: Eli Crews, John Finkbeiner
Audio Recording Assistant: Carlos Arredondo
Audio Mixing: Eli Crews
Video Recording: Nathan Fritz, Brent Harnisch
Video Editing: Amanda Larson
Photos: Nicole Browner