mini-interview with Taleen Kali
Before the pandemic I was just beginning to get to know Taleen Kali. Btw, I still have the aloe plant from your pre-pandemic tamale party, Taleen tells me—and I’m reminded of my partner’s diligent potting of so many succulents to give to our friends. May we meet again before too long, Taleen!
Taleen Kali is a musician, artist, and L.A. native. She is the creator of the cult-favorite Dum Dum Zine & Records. Her debut full-length album "Flower of Life" is out now everywhere you listen to music.
You're alone in the middle of the ocean. What are your thoughts?
A melody. A pause. A symphony. A new idea. A creative solution. A semblance of peace.
What is your dream life (at night, asleep) like?
I have periods of lucid dreaming and complete forgetting. I used to keep a dream journal and it helped me remember my dream life and connect to my creativity in a whole new way. This question makes me want to return to that habit!
What projects are you working on right now that you're most excited about?
I'm working on my next full-length record at the moment. It's at this point where the first song "Aepex" is written and I'm doing the same sort of thing I did for my last album where the album name will take the name of the song title. It feels like such a defining quality for some reason. A sort of blueprint for how the rest of the album's themes will unfurl. I normally wouldn't talk about such things when a work is in progress but I've grown to trust the mystique of the way songs and album themes like to reveal themselves to me subconsciously. This album is going to be a dance record. I've been learning how to play drums in order to help the dance beats come to life. There are a few more songs I've been writing for the record. One is called "Crossed" and the other is called "Viper."
What's a type of art-making that you haven't done yet that you'd like to do?
Graphic design. I've made random merch designs here and there over the years, but this year was the first time I felt the desire to make more.
You perform and tour--can you give us a taste of a transcendent moment you experienced performing or touring?
Last Halloween we played to a room of 600 amazing humans in Eugene, Oregon. The love was so real I almost lost my mind. Oh and jumping over the locked pool gate at the Madonna Inn in 2019 to get laid.
