INTERVIEW - BLACK KIDS

Black Kids are an unsigned band who don't have a record and have never been on tour but are suddenly being tipped as the next big thing. With songs that sound like The Cure vs My Bloody Valentine, this Florida quintet wowed everyone at the recent Athens Popfest and are currently getting lusty reviews everywhere. We chatted to the Black Kids and found out what they're making of all the hyperbole...
MP3: Black Kids - "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You"

VICE: Great name. How did you come up with it?
Reggie Youngblood (Guitar/Vocals): This tends to be a long answer, but you're not attacking our name (as some do), so I'll tell you this: It is REALLY fucking hard to come up with a name that hasn't been taken. You think of something you like, Google it, and sure enough, someone's beat you to it.  So, we thought, we really must have something that most people won't touch. And it should sound cool. I find it hilarious when someone black asks Owen or Kevin (who are both white) what band they play in, because they're not quite comfortable saying it aloud.  If I'm with them, I just keep very quiet and relish the awkwardness.

How did you meet?
Well, I met our keyboard player, Ali, shortly after my mother birthed her.  I've come to think of her as a sister, really. Kevin Snow and Owen Holmes, our drummer and bassist, respectively, I met in Sunday School.  I'm pretty certain they're going to hell. Dawn Watley, our other keyboardist, is Ali's best friend.

Sunday school? Are you religious?
I'm not sure that any of us have been to Sunday School in the past decade. I can say this for Sunday School: it is a premiere place to meet girls.  And there's so much sexual repression among Southern Baptists, that you inevitably hook up, which was probably foremost on our minds back then.  I don't think any of us would qualify as religious. Though, we have been discussing Santería, but we can't get past the animal sacrifice.

Why aren't more black kids into indie?
I think it's just culture. I grew up listening to everything. I think my first two music purchases were Poison's "Open Up And Say Ah" and Bell Biv Devoe's "Poison." I used to think that made me strange, but I'm finding that it's not that uncommon with people my age.

How did the song "I'm Not Gonna Teach Your Boyfriend How To Dance With You" come about?
Well, Jacksonville is a sort of anomaly, in that despite being a somewhat culturally bereft city, we have amazing dance parties at which we dance like motherfuckers.  So, in this environment, I've repeatedly found myself in situations where girls love to dance with me (cos I can move, baby) but usually go home with someone else, who can't dance for shit.  It's a problem.

Are you planning any tours soon?
We've mostly kept to our hometown, but we will be touring soon. We'd very much like to hit the UK. As for releases, that's up in the air, but I can't imagine us not recording an LP within a year.

What do you enjoy doing when you're not playing music?
I live to school Owen and Kevin in basketball - they're hopeless. I'm also a male nanny, or manny, if you will. And, like everyone else, I deejay.

You're getting so much love at the moment what with a bunch of big record industry execs swarming to sign you. Is there anything you hate right now?
The platypus. Is it a mammal? A bird? Did you know that the males have poisonous spurs on the hind foot? Ungodly beasts.

DOM TUNON

* For more go to www.myspace.com/blackkidsrock

Comments

[ecorva]

I don't really get it. those kids look east indian to me (the darkies that is). Beside, it just seems like another ploy to capitalize off a bands ethnic diversity. Get a new name fags!

[Emilee]

That song is sweet! It made my morning a little brighter. Thanks!

[yourmomsbestfriend]

I'm gonna start a band called Not Black

[.]

my band (of white boys) was gonna be Black Girls but then we saw a tab for that name in a used cd store. dude's right, its hard!

black lips, black kids, black ghosts, black tits

[joelland]

these dudes are top notch.

i think they sucked

[petro]

who sings? is it the black dude? cause it's pretty rare to hear a black dude sing like david bowie. song kicks ass though.

[LAST YEAR'S MODEL]

NEATO! IT IS A NICE THING TO SEE THIS BAND GET SOME PRESS!!! WE OPENED FOR THEM IN JACKSONVILLE AND IT IS TRUE ABOUT THAT TOWN... THE KIDS DANCE LIKE CRAZY!! THIS BAND HAS GREAT SONGS AND WAS EXCELLENT LIVE SO LISTEN UP, OKAY?!

[Ladyboy]

Check out that guy's afro. I bet it attracts all the honeybees.

[b]

The black dude sings.

[b]

Pretty fresh cover.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VmqJW0vUZKQ

[trill]

bleh. doesnt sound much like MBV. doesnt really stand out amongst the current crop of poppy indie bands...

[dag]

is this a joke?

[ll]

AWESOME

[jameson]

this one is for the black singer: main auditorium - stairwells. don't tell me you don't remember me. its a good thing that one girl you were dating never found out.

[woah!]

the last comment is psycho.

is Jameson a guy or a girl?

[CRAZY TOM]

i normally dont like indie rock but this is fucking great

[tony]

The whole office was dancing.

[,nfv]

this song sucks. it's completely unoriginal and has a certain kid's tv show vibe that makes me want to throw up

[crap]

Dude.. just go by Destroyer's "Red Rubies" album, now a couple years old, and forget about this high school imitation

[ben]

Every band should have two girl keyboard players and that's no joke. Keytars would be better but I'll take what I can get.

[ted]

it's a fun song--as are the others on their myspace--but it's such a blatant cure rip that i can't really enjoy it. i listened to it twice, and it already sounds old. where is the mbv influence?

[ted]

and who puts stock into NME reviews anymore, especially ANY review with the phrase "my bloody valentine-gone-frat"? WTF? by now, NME's hyperbolic suck offs are both expected and irrelevant.

[Heather Weather]

i know them there non black folk.
and my mama taught me if i ain't got a dang nice thang to say nice bout 'em... don't say nothings at all.
____________________________.
i am just so full of southern hospitality and wholesomeness... now ain't i's?