While on their latest North American Dedication Tour and before hitting the road on their new Just For Fun Tour, AMBY picked up the phone to give hip-pop duo Kalin and Myles (Kalin White and Myles Parrish) a call to discuss twerking anthems, interesting fan encounters, and loving dodgeball. Join the KAMFAM and get acquainted in our exclusive interview below:
Kalin & Myles: Hey yo! What’s up girl? It’s Kalin and Myles!
AMBY: Hey you two! How are you guys doing?
Kalin & Myles: Good, how are you?
AMBY: Great, thanks. Welcome to AMBY and thanks for taking the time to speak with me today.
Kalin & Myles: No no. Thank you for wanting to chat with us, we appreciate you!
AMBY: It is my pleasure! So, you released your latest EP Dedication back in December. Tell me a bit about the release and the experience you had working with one another.
Kalin & Myles: The release was actually really cool because the last one before that was like six months to where we got to release something else. So releasing the new music was really good and I think this was the most different project we worked on together because this was the one where we were in the studio with more producers, rather than Myles, because up to that point Myles produced all of our songs. That was a little bit different for us because we were testing the waters and seeing how it works because we were with a label and that is how they like doing things over there.
AMBY: You both have created your own genre of “hip-pop”, as you call it, with this EP. What initially triggered that spark of wanting to write rap music with a pop twist?
Kalin & Myles: It comes from our personal influences and the music that we’ve been listening to all along. We’re definitely into the function of the club sound, we love getting to experience that and throwing it down with a little R&B at a personal level. I think that it only makes sense that that was what was translating with what we started writing and producing our own music.
AMBY: You kind of mentioned slowing it down there and adding in those R&B vibes. I read in the premiere piece for the new Trampoline video that it’s “a song set to be a twerking anthem next summer”. What are your thoughts on that, when people coin your music like so?
Kalin & Myles: Man… When they coin our music like that it is almost too good to be true! It’s like if you speak of something too soon, we don’t want them to jinx it. We try not to get comfortable and we appreciate the nice things because that’s so awesome. At the same time it just makes us work harder so that way those things can come true.
AMBY: Do you think you wrote that song with that tempo and downbeat with the hope of getting responses like that?
Kalin & Myles: Honestly, when we are making music, in our mind set, we just want to make music. However the session is feeling at the time you feel inspired by different things so we’re pretty much just making music, not really “Oh, man, I hope this is a radio hit”. We’re just trying to have fun with it.
AMBY: I like hearing that – you do this because you love it, rather than hoping for fame. I guess it is a bonus that everyone happens to love the tracks!
Kalin & Myles: Oh yea, it’s a beautiful thing.
AMBY: You officially have three EPs under your belts with K&M University, Chasing Dreams, and Dedication. Are there any plans to start working on a debut?
Kalin & Myles: I think having three EPs definitely makes us hungry to drop a full length project whether it is a mix tape or preferably an album. We do have friends who do it, but it’s all in the right timing and getting everything right. We want to make sure we have the right music so it is definitely a work in progress. At the moment we’re just working on a lot of songs, but I can’t wait for that day to come.
AMBY: In support of the release, you’re currently on a North American Dedication tour. How has this tour been going for you?
Kalin & Myles: It’s been really good! We’re learning a lot on this run, this is the busiest that we’ve ever been on tour. Stopping off at different radio stations and it’s been so much fun getting to do cool things like Trampoline events where we’ll get to hang out with some of the radio listeners. We love doing stuff like that! Just trying to stay healthy out here and focus on what we came to do also. It’s been a good learning experience all around. The shows have been really cool and edgy and just a lot of turned up.
AMBY: One thing I’ve noticed over time is a certain love of dodgeball that you both share. I feel fans and I are wondering, what is up with you two and your love for this game?
Kalin & Myles: [laughs] I think that just goes back to the radio event. It’s cool when a radio tries to throw a surprise with winners that they get who thankfully want to meet us. I think they’re doing it at a trampoline park because our single is called Trampoline, so there is a little bit of irony in there. But… hey, we’re all for it! We act surprised! Myles is actually great on a trampoline. We’ve had some history with the trampoline, we’re undefeated. Also that we’re pretty awkward in the regular interview rooms that they set up, so anytime that they say we’re doing something else besides that, whether it’s like going bowling, we also really really like bowling too, we’re excited to get out of those rooms and just kick it on a real level. It’s not just us up on a stage, we’re all up there together.
AMBY: Yea, for sure. Well it looks like you know how to have a fun time while on the road. Aside from the odd game of dodgeball or bowling, what else do you do to keep yourselves busy while on tour?
Kalin & Myles: Thankfully we’re travelling in a tour bus and that allows us to have a lot of leeway room so if we get stiff we can walk, get up, move around, or even lay down in our bunk. We actually brought some video games on the bus which helps the time go by when there is absolutely nothing to do. Sometimes we like to explore the city a little bit because we usually don’t get to.
AMBY: Something I have to bring up is the KAMFAM that you’ve created over time. Your fans show some serious dedication to your music. What’s one of the more interesting or funny fan encounters you’ve had?
Kalin & Myles: There was this one time when I was at my house and I wasn’t even expecting anybody to come over but the doorbell rang. So I went and answered the door and this girl had actually brought me a Thai tea to my doorstep and she was like, “Hey. I was in the area and I wanted to see of you wanted some Thai tea”. I was like, “Oh wow! Thank you so much”. That was pretty interesting!
AMBY: Being that you’re so close with your fans, is there anything that you would like to say to those who will be reading our interview?
Kalin & Myles: Oh yea, for sure! Thank you for being tuned in; just know that we love you so much and that we cannot wait to meet you if we haven’t! If we have, turnt up round two baby.
AMBY: You have to keep growing that KAMFAM.
Kalin & Myles: KAMFAM gonna get it!
AMBY and Kalin & Myles: [laughs]
AMBY: To wrap things up, what’s something about Kalin & Myles that most of your fans don’t know yet?
Kalin & Myles: This is something very random, but my first job was actually at a trampoline park.
AMBY: Oh, okay!
Kalin & Myles: Yea, so that ties into the theme and also dodgeball. Something else you may not know about me is that I used to live in Texas. I grew up between the Bay Area and Texas. I would go back and forth every year.
***
Thank you Kalin and Myles, for giving us your answers!
Facebook // Twitter // Website //
Interview by Alicia Atout | @AliciaAtout