Featured Artist – Hiatus Kaiyote

Nashville – Fire dancing isn’t the typical back-up career of fledgling musicians. But then, nothing is typical about Naomi Saalfield. This former fire-dancer, who goes by the all-too-appropriate stage name Nai Palm, is the lead singer/songwriter of Hiatus Kaiyote, a four-piece band from Melbourne, Australia. The eclectic band has been on fire (pun intended) since the release of their self-produced debut album, Tawk Tomahawk. The album garnered so much attention on Bandcamp after its initial release in 2012 that it gave renowned producer and songwriter Salaam Remi the final push he needed to create Flying Buddha Records, the Sony Music imprint on which Tawk Tomahawk was re-released in July of 2013. Hiatus Kaiyote’s complex, diverse sound has been plugged by monster tastemakers like Animal Collective, The Dirty Projectors, ?uestlove, and even Prince.

The description “genre-less” is often used but rarely legitimate in indie music. Hiatus Kaiyote is the real deal. Their music draws strongly from hip-hop, funk, and R&B, but it also incorporates Malian music, flamenco, electronica, and recordings from nature. As with jazz improvisation, there’s little telling where their songs will move next. Each moment is a surprise. Hiatus Kaiyote (kaiyote = coyote + peyote) has described their music with such esoteric terms as “future soul,” “wonder core,” and “multi-dimensional polyrhythmic gangster shit.” No matter what they call their sound, it stands out as original and intelligent amongst the mass of indie blah.

Nai Palm’s voice loosely ties the collage together. At times her voice smolders on the low end (“Lace Skull”). At times it scratches like she smoked a pack of cigarettes on the way to the studio. It dives and rises with suppleness like St. Vincent’s over melodies and lyrics that belie her twenty-three years of age.

Most of her songs deal with sorting out pain from her chaotic childhood. She spent those formative years moving around with her widowed mother and four siblings, and then bouncing to homes of foster parents and family members after her mother passed away. At fifteen, she left caregivers and made a home amongst the artists living in the sharehouses and warehouses of Melbourne. Somewhere along the lines she began writing music seriously, taking fashion tips from Bjork and Boy George, and easing into her charismatic, avant-garde identity.

Bassist and producer Paul Bender sought out the singer/songwriter to work with after he caught her performance with a pink, nylon guitar in a small club. But as she recalls, she “wussed out” on the offer. They didn’t run into each other again until over a year later, but Bender wasn’t letting it go this time. The pieces began to fall into place when Nai Palm randomly met Perrin in a café where they started talking music and decided to give it a go. Bender brought in keyboardist Simon Mavin, and the band was formed. Despite different musical backgrounds, the band felt that they had a unique opportunity to make uninhibited music. Mavin, a former studio session musician, has said, “Hiatus has really been the first band where I’ve been able to flesh out what I really want to write.” When artists encourage each other to let it all hang out, magic can be made.

Since Tawk Tomahawk, it’s been a whirlwind of touring for Haitus Kaiyote including an opening gig for Erykah Badu and a spot on Jay Leno. They’re currently embarking on a six-stop U.S. tour followed by a twelve-stop European tour. A predictably unpredictable audience attends these shows. Bender describes their audience as, “…a cross section in ages, indie-rock kids, prog-rock dudes, jazz geeks, guys in Metallica shirts.” The bottom line is that Hiatus Kiayote appeals to people who can dig into colorful, freewheeling music.

To appease their growing number of fans, the band has just released a two-song EP, Live In Revolt. It features live recordings of four songs off Tawk Tomahawk that are melded into two. Never a band to bore, these two songs are barely recognizable from their parentages. Although Hiatus Kaiyote’s music is always challenging, their earnestness comes through, making it accessible. Nai Palm promises that the band will continue to make such art “as long as what we’re creating is boundless and an honest expression.” Beautiful. Sounds good to us.

Caroline McDonald

Caroline McDonald

My first memory is of singing Dolly Parton’s “I Will Always Love You” quietly to myself during preschool naptime. Perhaps it’s because I’m from Nashville where an instrument lives in every home, but music has gripped me for as long as I can remember.

After dabbling in many parts of the music industry—recording studios, PR, management, labels, publishing—I’m expanding into music journalism because I’m yet to find anything more rewarding that finding and sharing new music.

A longtime sucker for girls with guitars, my musical taste unabashedly follows the songwriting lineage of Dolly Parton and includes Patty Griffin, Gillian Welch, and Neko Case. But not to pigeonhole myself, my music love is big love that stretches from R.L. Burnside to Animal Collective to Lord Huron.

I’ve recently moved home to Nashville after living in Boston and Big Sur for several years. I’d forgotten how music pours onto the streets ten hours a day, seven days a week. I’m honored to share the creative explosion happening here. If your band is in the area or of the area, please reach out!
Caroline McDonald

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