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KITTEN NEW POLITICS WILLIAM BECKETT
KITTEN Words by Tanya Traner » Photos by Catherine Powell Two years ago, electro-pop rock band Kitten were playing to audiences of 15 people. This spring, the young band opened for Paramore on their 2013 North American Spring Tour. All five members of the band started playing music at an early age. Chloe Chaidez says her father began teaching her to play bass when she was 10. She covered Sigur Ros songs from a mixes her dad would make for her every month. “That’s how I learned about song structure, through covering songs,” frontwoman Chloe says. Drummer Lukas Frank started taking drum lessons when he was young. He and Chloe met at a party just two years ago and formed an instant friendship. Lukas was friends with bassist Zach Bilson, keyboardist Bryan DeLeon and guitarist Waylon Rector, and he brought them all into the band. “Everything just kind of fell into place,” Chloe says. “We just kind of clicked musically.” The group began playing shows around Los Angeles where they all grew up. They have very fond memories of their hometown and the advantages they had in what Chloe describes as a “blooming youth culture.” “There are so many underage venues that I don’t think a lot of other cities have,” Chloe says. “There’s places [where] younger bands can really thrive. There’s so many shows too. So many bands start in L.A.”
She says some of her favorite bands like Trash Talk and No Age started at a venue called The Smell, which happens to be where she played her first show as well. “L.A. is the shit. L.A. is awesome,” Lukas says. “After touring, I think I’m so lucky to have grown up here.” Bryan says artists in L.A. aren’t subject to the same judgment he sees from those in other states. “In L.A., it’s like, ‘Oh you play in a band? That’s cool, check out my band,’” Bryan says. “I feel like in other places in the U.S. it’s not like that. In L.A. it’s cool to want do that for a living. In other places, if you aren’t a famous band people expect you to be doing all the stuff you’re supposed to be doing as a young adult.” Kitten signed to Electro Records six months ago. Being signed to a major label while finishing school wasn’t easy for everyone in the band. Bryan says he tried to do both the band and community college, but made the decision to drop out. “I was like, ‘Mom, I’m going to drop out of school.’ And she was like, ‘I’m surprised you went to school in the first place,’” he says, laughing. It wasn’t a problem for Chloe, who stopped going to school in ninth grade and has been working with a tutor. “My school was psyched,” says Lukas, who left high school to pursue the band. “They were just excited to be able to say, ‘Oh one of our students is on tour doing this.’” The group says they are lucky to have parents who support them and allow them to make their own decisions. Lukas says he had to make some promises to his parents to allow him to pursue music during high school. “See, I’m getting good grades and it’s not an issue,” he says. “When your parents see that you’re so clearly focused on something, I think they allow you to do what you want to do,” Chloe adds.
NKDMAG.COM
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