Photography/Director: Sailey Williams . Styling: Tori Famuyiwa
Hair: Lawanda Pierre . MUA: Madison Mills
Associate Editor(s) Sacha Azor, Jordan Llanes
Kind Monitor, founded by Joshua Aaron Guthals is a Brooklyn-based alternative indie rock band. XEX became aware of KM after seeing their video “Sharks” on LOGO’s Click List and was instantly captivated. Kind Monitors music immediately became a permanent addition to the XEX Magazine photo shoot playlist. We are so thrilled to have been able to work with KM on a photo shoot and video piece; check out our xexclusive interview in the video!
Joshua Aaron Guthals a San Francisco native relocated to Brooklyn NY where he began to create the formula of the Kind Monitor sound. The music scene in New York City soon took notice of KM’s cool elegant and darkly melodic pop music. From an initial gig at a private art party in Sunset Park, a slew of shows followed at New York’s indie-rock hotspots, including Pete’s Candy Store, Joe’s Pub, and the Zipper Factory, to name a few. These shows were met by ardent response from artists and intellectuals who saw something of themselves in this delicate rock music; the publication Creative Loafing described Kind Monitor as an “Emily Dickinson of indie pop-rock.”
Over the next year, the band recorded an EP and released several music videos. Somebody Saves My Life Most Every Single Day, KM’s debut EP, available on ITunes, gathers “Cairo,” “Sharks,” and 4 other tracks of the band’s most enjoyed songs. The videos for “Cairo” and “Sharks” both received nominations on MTV’s Logo Network for Video of the Year. “Sharks” was added to MTV.com after being voted the #8 video of the year on Logo’s Click List in January of 2010. Kind Monitor also continued live performance in 2010, with headlining shows at venues like Galapagos ArtSpace and The Knitting Factory
In February 2011, Popmatters called the band’s music “a wonder of nostalgia and familiarity.” Joshua is currently completing at Master’s Degree in Music Technology at NYU and recording the band’s first full length album for his master’s thesis project. A forthcoming music video “Dizzy” will be the first single and video recorded and released during Joshua’s studies at NYU. The band’s full length album, called “Graceful Exit“, is intended for release in late 2011.
Kind Monitor– www.kindmonitor.com
Custom Vests: Saira M. Huff – www.totalcrapuninc.com
ARTICLE FEATURED IN XEX MAGAZINE: SPECIAL EDITION ISSUE