KANEHOLLER is an electronic-soul duo, comprised of Chelsea Tyler and Jon Foster, currently based out of Venice Beach, CA. That sensual element added to their solid electronic beats sets them apart, and when you listen to their music, your body is going to be pumping, bouncing, kicking, and rolling cause you can’t not want to dance. Their chemistry is just undeniable, on and off stage.
Some fun facts:
– Kaneholler used to be called badbad. They had to change their name because others were using it.
– ‘Kane’ is the gaelic name for ‘battle’ and ‘holler’ means ‘to cry out’, ergo Kaneholler = battle cry.
– Chelsea is Steven Tyler’s daughter.
– Her middle name is Anna. So her initials spell CAT.
– Chelsea and Jon are engaged!
– Jon took the traditional route and asked her father first. Kudos, sir.
They’re on tour with The Ting Tings across America until the end of April and I got a chance to talk to them when they hit Vancouver, BC. After their set we took our chat outside. It was pouring and it was cold, but we braved it. (And hell, I was a bundle of nerves.) Here’s what went down:
How’s the tour so far?
Jon Foster: So much funnn.
Chelsea Tyler: Yeah, it’s amazing! It’s our first one so we’re like in a whirlwind of.. what’s going on and what’s next and what’s happening right now, and we’re driving the whole thing so it’s crazy.
JF: And we just came from San Diego – that was the first show – this is the second. And we’re really excited to be here ’cause I used to live here and I’m very excited to be back. It’s awesome.
I think I read somewhere you guys met through Zoë Kravitz?
JF: Yeah, we did.
Aside from coming together as two people, how did you guys come together as two artists?
JF: It was very fast. It was immediate, in fact. She introduced us and 48 hours later we were making music together.
CT: But it was very natural at first and not like, ‘hey let’s make a band’. He had instrumentals and songs that were kind of bits of songs and things and he played them for me and I was like, ‘whoa this is really good’, and then I sang over some of them and it’s like, ‘whoa that’s really good’. It was just playing around but it was immediate for sure, and then it was almost I think two years of doing that, of writing and recording but not wanting to do anything with it and then we started showing people the songs and stuff and that’s when we started.
How long ago was that?
JF: Almost four years ago we met, and then took about a year and half to actually get it going and to put our full attention on it. We’ve been doing it ever since.
Well, I’m glad you did! What’s the working process like? Like I know you guys kind of have to compartmentalise the work and the relationship?
CT: We do, I mean we haven’t had a chance in a while to sit down and lock ourselves up and write so we’re really excited to do that again after this tour. Everything is happening at the same time. When you’re making music, you’re on tour, you’re writing, it’s not like you go to work and punch out. It’s your whole time. Anyways so we do definitely have a separation between the relationships of being partners in life and then being partners in business, but it’s all happening all the time.
JF: All the time. We are on every phone call together and every moment of the day we’re together, talking about the project and also looking forward to a shared life together, which is really cool as well.
CT: There’s definitely moments where we’re like, ‘let’s not talk about work right now’. You know when it’s two in the morning and you’re tired and you’re like, ‘I have an idea, you’re like’, I wanna hear your idea but I just need to…
JF: To just tune out for a second.
CT: And not talk about work right now.
Even on stage, I saw so many moments and I wish I could just capture one. It was just really sweet.
CT: Yeah we have a lot of fun up there.
JF: Yeah, we do.
I saw in another interview you guys described that you were kind of taking things step by step. So I was just wondering what’s the next step after this. Are you gonna start on a Volume 4? Are you gonna start planning the wedding?
JF: Yes. Most definitely. First and foremost is the wedding ’cause that’s like a month after we’re done with this tour. We’re getting married and immediately looking forward to getting back in the studio and making a full album. Just honestly could not be more excited about that, about making new music. And the wedding is cool too! But it’s all fun and it’s all exciting things to think about and there’s a lot to do and it’s fun. I mean, we’re making dance music.
CT: There’re moments where it’s tiring but it’s so hard to complain. And my brother’s on the road with us right now, he’s our third member, helping out with like stage hand and our merch and driving. So it’s all family, you can’t really complain about anything. We’re very lucky to be able to do this.
JF: Very.
It’s a nice dynamic.
CT: All in the family.
I was wondering why you guys.. it was probably ’cause they’re EPs, but I was wondering why the songs were split up that way.
JF: We had 12 songs. Well, we had a lot of songs. But really they were kind of like the first EP or the first four songs we’d ever made and they were a very different style from the stuff we started making recently. And we decided, instead of putting it all on one album ’cause they kind of like evolve in genre, in music, why not split them up and be able to release more and show and display our style and the growth of our style. I think that’s pretty much it.. We really liked the encyclopedia series and that’s kinda why we went with Volume 1, 2, 3. ‘Cause those don’t exist anymore!
Yeah I actually really like that.
JF: They don’t exist and that’s what we grew up with, you know the 20-volume encyclopedias, it’s about half your room.
CT: Well, they felt like volumes.
JF: And that was our Google.
CT: They felt like separate ideas.
JF: That was our Google.
CT: Kinda aging ourselves here.
And it came through! Like whenever I listened to it, I listened from Volume 1 to 3 and I could notice the subtle differences. It got more powerful, you know like –
JF: Intense, yeah.
CT: Well, we started playing live and that changed a lot ’cause you make people dance and that’s a whole different feeling than making music that people can listen to and drive around. It’s a very different way of making music and listening to music. The first time we played and we made people dance. We were like, what’s going on..?
JF: I was thinking, slide.
CT: We were like, ‘this is such a high!’ This is amazing to make people like that cathartic feeling of going out and dancing, you know? So we definitely got kinda excited about that.
JF: Yeah.
CT: Like let’s make more dance music.
JF: We love making people dance.
CT: And we love dancing!
JF: Yeah we love dancing!
CT: And getting moody is fun and you gotta break it up but it’s also like fun to be stupid and not care so much.
Compared to this smaller show, the SXSW show that you guys were at before must have been more…
JF: It was. It was really intense ’cause it’s like a hundred thousand people down there! And there’s 10 bands per venue per day and you gotta haul all your equipment through that crowd of people like it’s mardi gras. And it’s so much fun, it’s just in-sane. That place is crazy but it’s so much fun, we’re really looking forward to going back someday.
Yeah? Who were your favourites?
CT: That we saw down there? Like other bands? Okay there’s a couple that I’m really excited about.
JF: The Skins.
CT: The Skins are a band that I found like a month before we went down there, totally separate from South by (South West) and I just became obsessed with them. They’re like dirty, kind of like southern rock.
JF: Yeah, they were great.
CT: With this like badass chick vocals with harmonies and the lead singer and the bass player are sisters and they have this like groove they do together.
JF: And the drummer’s their brother. It’s like a family affair. It’s really cool.
CT: And then we found out we were playing with them down there and then we met them and they’re so sweet so we were really high off them while we were down there.
JF: Them and Elliphant, who’s a girl from, I think, Sweden and we love what she’s doing. That stuff was so much fun.
CT: Yeah she’s got a lot of power.
JF: Talk about dance.
CT: Yeah, for sure.
Okay well, conclusively – Anything you wanna say to your fans that I didn’t ask?
CT: Well, we have a couple of things coming out.
JF: Yeah we do.
CT: We have a music video that’s coming out soon.
JF: It’s about to come out. It’s done, we’re just waiting to press POST.
CT: For Paper Games and it’s really been a lot of fun making it so we’re really excited to put it out.
JF: And I guess other than that, come dance with us!
CT: Come find us. This is our second show of five weeks, of 22 shows. We’re driving all over the country so it’s exciting. We want everybody to come find us, so we can make them smile and dance.
JF: Go to our WEBSITE and see our tour dates.