Taleen Kali took a fairly unorthodox path to being a performing musician. She grew up in Los Angeles and attended shows at DIY spots like The Smell and Pehrspace before moving to New York City for a few years where she lived near legendary DIY spaces like Death By Audio and 285 Kent and took in the one off house and the like. But she went to Chicago to attend art school and became immersed in the underground music scene there and regularly attended performances by the wide array of noise artists in and touring through the Windy City. Returning to Los Angeles in the early to mid-2010s Kali ended up forming her own band TÜLIPS which was a potent hybrid of punk and and shoegaze. But by summer 2017 Kali debuted her solo act. Across a handful of singles and EPs like 2018’s Soul Songs, Kali has revealed herself to be an imaginative songwriter and lyricist able to translate those concepts to a powerful live presentation with an undeniable mystique. The forthcoming, full-length debut album Flower of Life showcases the work of an artist capable of fusing styles to suit moods and to somehow be both ethereal and introspective and ferocious and gritty often within the same song. The style is very much her own and that of her collaborators but she has truly synthesized elements of garage rock, classic pop, punk, shoegaze and psychedelia to craft her own sound that suits well the heartfelt and heady subject matter of her lyrics.
Listen to our interview with Taleen Kali on Bandcamp where we discuss her roots in music and evolution as an artist. The aesthetics of her songwriting and her appreciation for the Jim Jarmusch film Only Lovers Left Alive, the title of one of the singles on Flower of Life. Connect with the artist at the links below and catch the band currently on tour in the US including at the Hi-Dive on Sunday, October 16, 2022 with Tuff Bluff, Galaxies and Princess Dewclaw.
Queen City Sounds and Art 
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