KinderCrowdControl (aka KCC) is the culmination of years of music and art collaboration between the internationally celebrated fine artist Edem Elesh and lifelong friend Brett Smith. Together they have helmed several noteworthy musical projects including Landscape of Sound, Drowning Pool Music, and Mumbles. The music of KinderCrowdControl transcends musical boundaries. Besides pop creations, it has been used as soundscapes in many videos, and featured as an integral part of art presentations and performances. Brett and Edem, the hub of KCC, have welcomed working with other musicians. They have celebrated the vocal talents of Thea Ulrich; featured the amazing saxophone, percussion, and drumming talents of Toby Karlin; and debuted the effortless inspired piano riffs of Griffen Elesh. In 2018, Edem met the celebrated Croatian artist Sandra Ban while on an international art exchange in Bangkok Thailand. After sharing their musical histories and interests, they agreed to partner. Now, featuring Sandra’s voice as “songspiel", and mining her unique acumen to round out their sound with the human touch, KinderCrowdControl again moves forward into new sonic territories; continuing in the spirit of exploration, discovery, and celebration that has fueled their musical journey from the beginning.

Can you tell us when was the moment you knew music needed to be your life's work? Edem: I was seated in my dorm room at UCSD with my guitar on my lap, practicing instead of attending to my homework, when I realized I was taking up space as a college student. I decided then and there that I would rather live the life of a musician/artist with all the risks of pursuing a life with no absolutes, but also untold unimaginable adventures that could lay ahead. Brett: 8th Grade. My music teacher offered me a position in a student filled traveling Swing Band he had newly formed. He handed me a 4 string electric bass guitar created by Leo Fender from sometime during the early 1950’s and I was hooked. Being the only bass player of a 20+ piece Swing Band was da bomb! Where does the soul of your music come from? Edem: Who knows? That’s why I love it. I’ve always felt music and art were my life’s work. When I create art and music, the clock stops, time stands waiting, and I’m in the moment. It’s a place of certainty for me in a chaotic world. Brett: The soul of our music comes from our collective life experience. The more experience the deeper the soul. The more variety of experience we have, the more expansive our sound is. It’s important to get to know your soul because that’s where the best musical ideas come from. We're excited for your musical journey! What is at the heart of your music? Edem: Thank you! What a journey it’s been! Brett and I have created our music for decades. The fun never stops, and I’m blessed to have him as a lifelong friend and music collaborator. I guess we’re reflecting on this journey. It’s a path of bliss for sure. So friendship and a fearlessness of the unknown. Brett: At the heart of our music is the un-ending, burning desire to communicate with our fans on an emotional level. Creating music is life itself. How would you describe your sound to people who may have not heard your music yet! Edem: Unique. We’ve been told time and again that it sounds like nothing else and defies categorization. I’d send them to kindercrowdcontrol.bandcamp.com - I know, cheap shot! I like to hear what people have to say about the KinderCrowdControl sound more than defining it myself. What I think is a standard riff, usually is reacted to as “wow, that’s weird’. It’s important in any art form, that the audience has room to form their own opinion and reaction. Brett: That’s the trick, right? If we were able to qualify the genre it might make it easy for readers to assume that we sound like fill in the blank. Our desire has always been to blaze our own trail, so when answering such a question we like to defer people to our web site and tell us what they think. Like Edem said, most people hear our sound and say they love it and there’s nothing like it. That’s the way we like it, uh-huh-uh-huh! How much love do you put into putting a set together? Edem: A lot! We love what we do. Every song is an adventure in and of itself. Brett: Love it! It’s fun and easy to do with so many great choices. We love it even more after rehearsing and fine tuning our set to build the overall experience for our fans. Fun. What do you most want to learn about as you create more music for the world to sing to? Edem: Myself. As we move forward I look forward to surprising myself with ideas that seem to spring from thin air. There's nothing composition-wise that Brett I and I won’t consider until we’ve heard it. Anything is possible. It's all about belief. Brett: Why stop at the world? There’s a much bigger Universe to conquer. No boundaries. Is there music that you aren't prepared to release yet? Why? Edem: It ain’t done yet! Brett: We have lots of music in various stages of production. Like a good Cook, we have many fires burning and meals in various stages of preparation, but we’re not likely to serve it up until we’re happy with the finish. Keep an eye out for announcements about any new material by subscribing to our Social Media. Thank you for this interview, we are excited to see what is next! Share all the Socials: Edem: Thank you! Our hub: kindercrowdcontrol.bandcamp.com FB: https://www.facebook.com/KinderCrowdControl IG, TikTok, Spotify, Amazon Music, iTunes etc. etc. kindercrowdcontrol