When Powers heard it from another room, he hurried in and suggested they should build a song around it. The seed of the song came from a chord progression that Xayalith was playing to herself at home, using a synth echo setting on her keyboard. The Naked and Famous then released the song that would become the bedrock of their career, ‘Young Blood’. The title track was again given a video by Special Problems and the song hinted at the group’s future direction, with dreamy melodic vocals underpinned by an expansive band sound. The first hint of their full-spectrum new sound was the three-song All of This EP. The album was also mixed by Billy Bush – the US sound engineer who had made his name working on four albums by Garbage (including Version 2.0, which sold platinum in the US). When it came to working on their debut album, Powers now had the equipment to record at home, but still wanted to get a fuller sound for crucial elements such as live drums and vocals, so they hired The Lab Recording Studio and worked with in-house engineer Olly Harmer. To get a fuller sound on their debut album, the band went to The Lab recording studio. Fortunately Xayalith signed off on the decision and the five-piece was ready to move forward. Auditions were held for a new rhythm section, but Powers and Short ended up being most impressed by two of their former schoolmates from high school: Jesse Wood (drums) and David Beadle (bass). The following year, the band realised they needed fellow musicians who shared their drive to make a career in music. The heavy guitars found a counterpoint with a catchy chorus hook on ‘Meeting People Sucks,’ and there was even more of a potential hit in ‘Serenade’, especially with the accompanying clip by rising music video directing duo, Special Problems: Campbell Hooper and Joel Kefali. Their next EP, This Machine, was even more of a revelation. Xayalith and Powers tended to sing the vocal parts together, though on the final two tracks (‘Part 2’ and ‘Bells’) there was a hint of the beautiful vocal sound that could be achieved with her voice pushed forward, while he provided perfectly matched harmonies underneath. Their first EP, No Light, still showed the heavy influence of Nine Inch Nails, with heavy guitars over pounding beats and synth parts fuzzy with distortion. The Naked and Famous hit the ground running in 2008, releasing two EPs through local indie label Round Trip Mars and performing at CMJ and SXSW. It was a fitting moniker since they would eventually have to consider how to deal with fame themselves. They took the phrase “naked and famous” from the Tricky song ‘Tricky Kid’ which expressed an ambivalence about striving for celebrity. They formed the first line-up of The Naked and Famous with Ben Knapp on bass and Jordan Clark on drums. Her perception of where her music could go was further expanded by listening to acts such as Karen O and Fiona Apple.Īfter a year at MAINZ, Xayalith and Powers left to get jobs at Real Groovy Records in Auckland, but Short stayed on so they still had access to the recording studio and began working on material for their own band in 2007. At age 13, Xayalith was inspired by Bic Runga to take up the guitar and she expanded her vocal ability through appearing in school musicals. Xayalith also grew up in a musical family, with a father who sang in his own band back in his homeland of Laos, before the family fled to New Zealand to escape the civil war there (Xayalith was born in New Zealand).
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