Khruangbin

Khruangbin
Khruangbin performing in Victoria Park, London (2018)
Background information
Origin	Houston Texas, United States
Genres	Psychedelia, soul, funk, instrumental rock
Labels	Dead Oceans Night Time Stories
Website	khruangbin.com
Members	Laura Lee Mark Speer Donald "DJ" Johnson

Khruangbin is an American musical trio from Houston, Texas, formed of Laura Lee on bass, Mark Speer on guitar, and Donald Ray "DJ" Johnson Jr. on drums.^[1] The band is known for blending global music influences, classic soul, dub and psychedelia.^[2] Their debut album, The Universe Smiles Upon You (2015), draws from the history of Thai music in the 1960s, while their second album, Con Todo El Mundo (2018), also has influences from Spain and the Middle East.^[1] Speer, Lee, and DJ also host "Air Khruang" radio shows on NTS and Facebook Live.^[3]

Background

Speer and Johnson met in 2004 while playing in Rudy Rasmus's St. John's Methodist Church gospel band in Houston, Texas. The church employed Speer as the guitarist and Johnson as the organist.^[4]

In 2007, Speer met Lee through friends, where they initially connected over a shared love of Afghan music and middle eastern architecture.^[5] In 2009, Speer taught Lee to play the bass.^[6] In 2010, both she and Speer went on tour with Yppah and Bonobo, Laura Lee on bass, Speer on guitar.^[7]

The tour galvanized the two of them to make more music together more seriously, sowing the first seeds of Khruangbin.^[8] Speer and Lee went to a barn where they developed the bass-heavy, psychedelic sound that became the basis of the band's aesthetic.^[8] Upon their return, they asked DJ to join the band as drummer, to play simple break-beats under the guitar and bass.^[6] The barn, located in the 300-person town of Burton, Texas, would become the site of all future Khruangbin recordings.^[9]

When asked to play their first gig, Laura Lee, who was learning to speak Thai at the time, decided they should use her favorite Thai word "khruangbin", (เครื่องบิน) which means "flying engine" or "aeroplane", as their name.^[10] Speer admits that, had they had the foresight to predict the band's success, they may not have chosen a name that was so difficult to pronounce.^[6] Though the band's name is notoriously challenging to say, it symbolizes the international set of influences that shaped the band's formation.^[10]

Career

After touring with Bonobo, the artist featured Khruangbin's song, 'Calf Born in Winter,' on his 2014 Late Night Tales compilation.^[11] The song became one of the most popular tracks on the record, helping create an initial audience^[8] for the band's first EP, The History of Flight, and debut record, The Universe Smiles Upon You, in 2015.^[12]

Shortly thereafter, Khruangbin were named The Guardian's "New Band of the Week",^[10] opening for acts like Father John Misty,^[5] Tycho,^[13] Chicano Batman and Massive Attack.^[14] They also joined the festival circuit, playing a string of festivals like Glastonbury, Bonnaroo, ACL, Outside Lands, Desert Daze and South by Southwest.^[13]

In January 2018, Khruangbin released their second album, Con Todo El Mundo.^[13] The title of the album came from Laura Lee's Mexican-American grandfather, who would often ask, "How do you love me?" ("¿cómo me quieres?") and would only accept one response, "Con todo el mundo," or in Spanish, "with all the world."^[12]

The band has been quoted as saying the title of the record is also a reference to the diverse range of musical influences that inspired it, primarily from the Middle East.^[5] Shortly before the release of Con Todo El Mundo, the band also covered Ma Beham Nemiresim by Googoosh, a popular Iranian songstress, for the Artists Rise Against Islamophobia compilation,^[15] and created a Tehran-specific playlist on Spotify, in addition to many other city-specific playlists, as part of their Air Khruang DJ series.^[3]

Style

The band's musical genre is a hotly debated topic amongst critics.^[16] Mostly instrumental,^[17] the band's sound has been described as soul, surf, psychedelic, funk,^[17] one website even describing them as "electronic."^[16] The most commonly used term to describe Khruangbin's music is Thai funk,^[16] though the band members themselves challenge the convention of genres, publicly refusing to be pigeon-holed into one particular label.^[16]

Perhaps a reflection of their genre-bending sound, the band notably attracts diverse audiences, with fans ranging from Iggy Pop to Haley Joel Osment to Korean pop star Lee Hyori.^[14]

Discography

References

External links

• Air Khruang