April 2016 issue by RAD Magazine

ISSUE 2

DAYLUTA MEANS KINDNESS AN INTERVIEW WITH

Krystall Poppin

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TABLE OF CONTENTS ART & POETRY

DAYLUTA MEANS KINDESS

KRYSTALL POPPIN

MUSIC REVIEW

Get The Honey by Brett Powers

Presence As I lay, the gravel underneath pushes through with its might, into my brain. The hum grows deeper and remains constant and the noise in the back of my head is relieved. O, how must one be expected to close his eyes when it is not the eye what truly sees? And it is only when we die that we get our truthful rest. Then the worms will carry the dirt, and like the gravel make their way into the soul.

â&#x20AC;&#x201D;H.P. Superior

DAYLUTA MEANS KINDNESS When You’re Young You’re Invincible: Dayluta Means Kindness Grows Up and Out Written by Eric Acosta Photography by Andrea Ximenez

I am in the studio with four of the five-piece postrock juggernaut Dayluta Means Kindness (DMK). The ceilings are tall and the space is large. DMK’s drummer, Ryan Jimenez, does not say much today, but what he says is clear, concise, and crafted: “Meeting these guys, growing with them, and just getting to play music with them – I think it’s everything.” The day is hot, but not unbearable. There is a small breeze that carries vestiges of winter, cool to contrast the yellow day. The vibe is comfortable and feels of old friends. “For me, it’s family,” one of DMK’s three guitarists, Adrian Nava, says. He’s dressed in black jeans and t-shirt and has a cyberpunk hairdo: shaved on the sides and back with a slag of hair combed to the front; long, gelled and scraping against his brow. He’s played in a lot of genres – ska, rockabilly, experimental Latin, and the list goes on. “When you have a brother and sister or whatever, you

always have each other’s back. In this group I have their back all the time and it feels really like family to me.” “If it wasn’t this band, it would probably be something else,” second guitarist, Christian “Reggie” Miranda, says. He is calm and collected and also all in black. When he talks, you get this aura of ‘experienced musician’ from him. Miranda is originally from El Paso, but he was living in San Antonio for a while. He is one of the founders of San Antonio post-rock band Bright Like the Sun. Although Miranda had to leave the band to take care of things here in El Paso, he couldn’t stop performing. “Music is the ultimate form of expression,” he says. “To perform is me being myself, it’s who I am – my truest form.” Dayluta co-headlines with Bright Like the Sun in San Antonio on Friday, April 29. Missing from today’s interview is bassist David Moncayo, Jr. Miranda and Moncayo have been playing together in El Paso since 2003; these were their first real bands. Moncayo is also a sound engineer. He tracked and mastered Dayluta’s demo, “The Ground is Lava.” He previously lived in the Oakland/Bay area where he worked with the RX Bandits and Green Day. “I can see this going somewhere much more than I’ve been able to see anything else going,” third guitarist, Jesus Chavez, says. Chavez is funny, hungover, and clinging to his Pedialite, but he cracks jokes and gets the conversation moving. “Not even in the sense of money, just to get it out there; it’s cool.” Chavez joined

the band last January and is previously of El Paso post-rock group Hallows. “I ended up here in a weird way. They kind of roped me in,” he says of his entrance into Dayluta. “We had already played with Hallows and thought ‘this guy can fit with our band,’” Miranda says. “He’s probably that missing piece to fill out the sound. So we’re like, ‘Let’s try him out, but not tell him.’” “They asked me to do San Antonio and Austin with them last January,” Chavez says. “They f*ckin gave me a week to go play out of town, man.” “Yeah and to, like, some sold out crowds,” Miranda adds. “His first show was at this little joint called the Ten Eleven, kind of like Monarch, but longer. There was just over 100 kids in there. It felt like playing Tricky Falls to a sold out crowd.” Dayluta hasn’t played very many shows in the past months, but the members have been busy. I meet them in the thick of writing their debut album, When You’re Young You’re Invincible. “Nothing speaks more true because when you’re young you can stay out late, sleep an hour, and go to work,” Miranda says. “You really have that feeling that nothing can hurt me.” I’m listening to the track “For Lebanon” from the new album, and it’s killer – sonorous and relaxed as prayers before bed. Ten minutes later, the song is over and the room feels empty, like something in the room doesn’t want to let go. I feel gutted. “We’re going to do a music video for it,” Chavez says. “Trying to come up with concepts is insane. In the song itself there are four changes in moods. It’s very hard to think of a concept.”

When You’re Young You’re Invincible is being released by local label Electric Social. “This record’s actually studio produced and engineered, there’s strings – we put like ten times more effort into this than we did the demo [‘The Ground Is Lava’],” Miranda says. “We’ve been working on the album for most of last year,” Miranda continues. “It took us like half a year to get the ball rolling. We were just playing tons of shows. New bands got to play a lot so they can get their name out there.” The band’s effort paid off when they signed to Electric Social Records last July. On Saturday, April 16th, Dayluta make the signing official with a party at The Lowbrow Palace. Joining Dayluta will be Great Shapes, The Other Half, Frythm, If We Were Turtles, Late Phases (formerly Gentlemen), Stan Z, and Trost House. During the party, Dayluta will also be giving away two palm-sized tattoos from Blue Panda Tattoo. The five dollar cover at the door goes to finishing DMK’s new album. “The way we’re gelling now, the way we’re writing music now, everyone slid into their role,” Miranda says. “Every new song we write is better than the next.” At the end of the month, Dayluta will go on tour. April 27th will be the tour kickoff show at the 216 Haus with local rockers, Avindale. The tour is centered around the ninth annual KRSW My Radio Festival in San Marcos, Texas. The MR Festival runs Friday and Saturday, April 2930. It’s a free outdoor concert featuring over thirty bands with headliners La Luz and Night Beats. Dayluta hits the stage on Saturday, April 30th. In May, Dayluta post-rock Neon Desert Music Festival. “We couldn’t even book a show at the beginning,” Jimenez says. “We couldn’t book shows for friends, we couldn’t book our own shows – nothing.” The interview is over. The force of my driving pushes through the car’s open window. The day cools as it ages. The idea that won’t stop sticking to the roof of my mind is how much effort it takes to be a successful artist. That mountain of effort seems daunting, but Dayluta Means Kindness is very much proof that if you are talented and put in the work, there is light at the end. You can find Dayluta on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and SoundCloud.

DAYLUTA MEANS MEANS KINDNESS KINDNESS DAYLUTA

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As I stood in downtown El Paso watching Krystall Poppin get her picture taken in her infamous red heartshaped sunglasses against an image on the wall that resembled her so much, it was like the universe was trying to tell her something. “I feel like the universe talks to me once in a while... It gives me little check marks… Life tells me that you’re doing good and doing what you are meant to do. Keep your eyes open for what the universe is telling you. There are always signs,” said Kystall as we discussed how hard it was for her growing up, her career, and being a woman in the industry. When speaking to the 20-something with hair as big as her energy and a smile that lights up the whole room, I was able to understand who she is without all the glitz and glam. She said, “I think it’s crazy that I perform because usually when I walk into a club, I wanna leave with nobody knowing that I was there…I’m gonna enjoy myself in my own way…I don’t want people to notice me.” Though Miss Poppin has found much success for her first full-length album, Starstruck, her life wasn’t always all smiles; her father was murdered when she was only six years old. Krystall said that after their father was taken from them, “[she] had to live in a house with [her] grandma, [her] mom, [her] four siblings, [her] aunts, and their kids. It was really hard to have privacy or anything like that.” High school, like for many teenagers, was hard for Krystall. It was difficult for her to be accepted by her peers; she felt like she wasn’t someone to be noticed or affiliated with. Miss Poppin has a message for teens feeling the same way: “Looking back at it… it’s nothing. The issues and problems I was going through…they mean nothing now. I just want those kids that feel that same way, don’t try to be the popular kid if you’re not; just be true to yourself.” She went on to explain how good it makes her feel when people, especially young females, approach her and let her know that her lyrics have helped them: “I just want these to kids to know, especially the girls, you don’t have to do what everyone else is doing…Be yourself, and you can be something amazing after high school…I wish someone’d told me that it’s going to be okay. You’re gonna be okay.” She used the pain of her childhood and the feelings of not fitting in in high school to help mold the person she is now and fuel her writing and rhyming: “I would have a notebook and it would just be scribbled on. There was a bunch of little quotes or I would rhyme things…I always look back and see what I was going through at the time. It’s kinda crazy to have this documentation

of my feelings.” In an attempt to understand what it’s like to construct songs and lyrics that rhyme, we discussed the writing process and how each writing style is different: “I like to start by throwing a dart at a wall. I’ll sit in front my computer or paper and something will pop in my head…I’m ready to write. I wanna write a song about feelings or relationships and I’m like, cool. That is my starting point. I’ll just think of something, and I’ll throw it in there and I’ll start brainstorming.” Miss Poppin is unique: she can sing and be soft, hit the bars really hard, and pump you up for the club. She is a female rapper holding her own in a world dominated by men. When asked how she feels about people saying she’s ‘good for a girl,’ she said: “I don’t feel like I’m good for a girl. I think I’m running with the big boys. I am able to do this...I feel like I dropped one of the dopest albums in El Paso…I have to work harder than male rappers. If I had just put out like a little mixtape in a little sleeve, everyone would have been expecting that, [but] I gave them…a realass product [and] it slapped everyone in the face,” said Krystall. Just six days after the March 4th debut of Starstruck, KP sold more than 200 of the 300 physical copies ordered and reached iTunes Top 200. Krystall Poppin is one of the most genuine people I have ever met; our conversation flowed so organically. She mentioned a few times that she wants all people to be the best versions of themselves: “I don’t wanna be the hand-me-down Kim Kardashian. I don’t want girls to be like a cookie cutter… I want them to be the best version of themselves because everyone has the best version of themselves.” Miss Poppin and her team are not stopping any time soon. She has dreams of being in an RV on tour and putting out another project to give her fans a little taste of what’s to come. She says that El Paso has supported her so much and she’s so grateful. Miss Poppin encourages everyone to chase their dreams and never give up. She wants you to quit making excuses and just do it: “I wanna tell my fans that you only get one shot at this life thing... You didn’t ask to be in it, but you gotta get through it somehow, someway, and if you’re gonna get through it by never discovering who you really are or what you really want, you’re just gonna end up helping someone else do it.” Kystall Poppin’s album, Starstuck, is available for purchase on iTunes and the Google Play Store. You can also hit her up on Facebook and she might just mail you a physical copy. Krystall Poppin is wise beyond her years and has the guts to get it going.

MUSIC REVIEW

AVINDALE

Written by Joseph Saucedo Photography by Vladimir Avina “Where the Light Shines Most,” by ever-evolving local band, Avindale, is both a musical and visual piece that encapsulates growing solidarity among artists from all walks of life. From the composer to the videographer, the track and video are pieced together harmoniously. This artistic crossroads is the culmination of talent coupled with professionalism. It is this attention to detail that allows Avindale to layer Passion Pit-like synthesizers over funky bass and guitar counter rhythms with such finesse. This track harkens back to the days well before my existence: of dance-inducing 80s tunes such as Taylor Dane’s, “Tell it to My Heart.” What is missing from that track, however, is Oscar Alderete’s impeccably clean staccato picking, which complements the atmospheric groove of keys and drums. Matt Bustillos’s drumming, which I commend for seamless syncopation, makes use of variant percussive depths, alternating from quick hits on the high hat to a lone tom hit on the downbeat. The song’s first breakdown features Alderete’s standout vocal talent accompanied by lush synthesizers, and in the

artistic stylings of groups like M83 and Washed Out. Within the soothing layer of keys, which alone can entrance the listener, are the impassioned lyrics: “Is this love, because it sure feels like it.” These words, in their simplicity, speak volumes to the heart and universal human inquiry. As the drums resume, yet another layer of synthesizer cascades in the audible periphery with sheer eloquence. Alderete’s funky guitar-strumming style is a modern take on standards like “Good Times” by Chic, while this style was later popularized by artists like Daft Punk with their hit “Get Lucky.” The chorus in its groovy trudge is the product of catchy heartfelt lyrics paired with crisp strikes of the guitar. “Where the Light Shines Most” arguably stands as one of the most ornate and skillfully layered arrangements to come out of the El Paso music scene in years. As Avindale continues to hone in on their sound, this piece is certainly a staple in their long accomplished catalogue. To listen to “Where the Light Shines Most,” head over to Avindale’s Bandcamp page.

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ISSUE 2 APRIL 2016