INTERVIEW: Lena Simon of Kairos

Throw Me the Statue, Pollens, Tomten, La Luz, Thunderpussy, and now, her solo venture, Kairos. Lena Simon, a former/current member of all the aforementioned bands, is one of the busiest -and talented- musicians working in Seattle today. I had the chance to chat with Lena about Kairos, splitting her time between bands and life, crowd surfing in Montreal and mixtapes.

Check out Kairos’ debut EP and make sure to catch Kairos this Friday at Chop Suey!

the mixtape: I’ve got to know: Is it KAIROS or Kairos?

Lena Simon: That’s a very good question. I tried to make it all caps for a moment, but I realized that it should just be the logo font that’s all caps. It’s surprisingly difficult to change your artist name on Facebook and iTunes, even if it is the same spelling and just changing to capital letters…

tm: Not only are you the brains behind Kairos but you also play in two super cool bands: Thunderpussy and La Luz. How do you manage your time and do you ever feel like you’re spreading yourself too thin?

LS: When I’m in town, I base my calendar on a first come first serve basis between the 3 bands. I’m on the road with La Luz about half the year it seems like so when I’m in Seattle it’s a lot of Thunderpussy. I don’t know what could be better than going from one group of my favorite ladies to another, I have it good. Kairos takes the most time for me conceptually so I try to give it enough time to be prepared and ready for the next show or release. Sometimes that takes a while but I’m not going to put it out there unless it’s truly ready. If I have gaps in my schedule, which is rare, I will play out with friends who ask, with enough time in advance. I played bass with Will Sprott for a couple of short tours recently and that was a lot of fun.

tm: When did you first get the idea to form Kairos and why did you choose the band mates that you did?

LS: In the beginning, it wasn’t Kairos, it didn’t have a name yet. After graduating college I had a bunch of songs that I had written that didn’t fit in with any of the bands I was playing with at the time, so my buddy Charlie Smith brought me into the studio and we decided to record my solo project. We discovered the sound of the EP while we were recording it so I hadn’t even thought about the live translation until after it was done. There was a surprising amount of synthesizers and drum machines on the EP in addition to guitars and vocals so I knew I had to have an arsenal of multi-instrumentalists playing with me. There have been a few line up changes since the start but every single player has brought something unique and beautiful to the live band.

This upcoming show at Chop Suey features Alex Barr (KA and Kithkin), Ray McCoy (Charms and Red Ribbon), Kate Finn (aka Katie Kate), and Marian Li-Pino (La Luz).

tm: On Kairos’ Facebook page there is a list of standout moments of the year for 2014. One of those moments has to do with crowd surfing. Tell me about your first ever crowd surf in Montreal while on tour with Ty Segall AND have you crowd surfed since?

LS: Oh this was definitely a highlight and a game changer for me. La Luz was on tour with Ty Segall supporting the release of his Manipulator album and the fans were insane the entire tour. Montreal was fairly early in the tour for us but I remember standing on the side of the stage with my bandmates dancing and head banging. All of us were nervous to crowd surf because the kids were going absolutely wild! It all had to be timed just right; the right tempo of the song, not too rockin, not too tame… I had that moment when your heart is racing and you want to run a marathon so I knew it was the right time to just jump in. It went great and I didn’t die! I was so excited that I had a crazy side cramp after the crowd surf.

And yes, everyone in La Luz crowd surfs now. Shana and I are known to be caught surfing WHILE playing now too. More risky and more fun!

tm: Last May you released your debut Kairos EP. Which is fantastic! Do you have plans to release an LP? If you do, what’s Lena’s future looking like: More Kairos, less other bands?

LS: First I have to finish writing it, but yes, there will be a full length some day. It’s tough for me to be in the right head space to write for Kairos when I’m traveling so much, but the more I get used to it the more productive I can be all of the time. Definitely more Kairos in the future, but not necessarily less other bands. I don’t know how that works out but knowing me, I will find a way.

tm: What’s it like for you, now being the one to front a band? Does it come naturally?

LS: Yes and no. I would say that playing in bands comes most naturally to me, but I can also be a big control freak when it’s my own thing I’m working on so being a leader is a necessity. I’m usually the bassist or drummer in bands so I find it exciting that I get to lead my own band with guitar. Playing musical chairs also comes naturally to me, so I suppose frontman is a part of that game.

tm: What’s the strangest situation you found yourself in while on the road?

LS: This probably isn’t the strangest story, but La Luz got kicked out of our rooms in the middle of the night in San Sebastian, Spain once. We didn’t do anything wrong, the concierge didn’t understand the situation and booked us in too many rooms. That just sucked though.

tm: If you could go back in time and expel a bit of advice to your 13 year old self, what would you say?

LS: Keep at it, kid! At 13 I was super into teaching myself to play the drums and guitar. I was learning a bunch of Led Zeppelin then too. I think this was an age where I really started falling in love with music and performance, I was on the right track and I have no regrets, so keep on truckin! I would give the same advice to anyone at any age. If you have a dream and you want to do it, then go hard. Do it and don’t stop.

tm: If Kairos was an action figure, what would the accessories be?

LS: All the instruments. And maybe some wings so I can satisfy my incessant travel bug.

tm: Do you have a fond memory of a cassette mixtape that you either made for someone or received?

LS: Well I was born in 1990 so CD’s were more prominent when I was growing up. My older sister actually made me the best mix CD when she was in high school, so I guess I was 11 or 12. She called it Indie Mix pt.1 and it had so many great bands on there that I still listen to now, like The Shins, Modest Mouse, Spoon, Elliott Smith, Radiohead… I remember feeling like knowing the band names on that CD made me so much cooler. And I think it actually did. Thanks sis!

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