Photo courtesy of Carson Lund
Last month we spoke to Los Angeles’ based bedroom artist Cloud (aka Tyler Taormina) for our MusicMakers interview series (and his “Wildfire” single even closed a recent episode of Ask an Engineer!). He’s a unique musician and filmmaker who is rooted in DIY and community. He co-founded Long Island’s Practice Room Records back in 2006 so that he and his hometown friends could find an outlet for their art. The PRR collective still record, release and promote beautiful music to this day (stuff like Beach Moon/Peach Moon, Winter, Marblemouth and Adam & Naive are particular favorites).
Cloud’s music is eclectic and ever evolving. Something we noted last time was that he is an artist who “creates something big from something small, through experimentation, collaboration, and self education.” And collaboration has always been key to PRR and for Cloud too, both of which have been a hub for friends and artists to create together and support one another. Taormina is someone who knows that sometimes DIY doesn’t have to be done alone…but there are times too where you can keep on learning and experimenting and to reach a place where you’re confident enough to do things with your own art that you previously could not.
With this in mind, we thought it might be nice to share this gorgeous new song from Cloud, it’s a new experience for Taormina as he tries his hand at mixing his own music for the first time. Alongside this premiere, Taormina was also able to give us a little more insight into home recording, inspiration, mixing, vision and more.
On “Wild Flies, 25” he said:
“I’ve been recording my own music for many years and have a lot of pride in being able to articulate my vision for these songs within my own boundaries. The best type of solitude is in the studio with no one around for days as you lose yourself to tracking and editing, watching this tower rise brick by brick. This track was my first time mixing my own music as well, I chose a fairly stripped down piece but I think it was a successful.
The piece is about physiology! That’s what I mean by wild flies, they are the tangible feeling of fear, confusion, anger and love. In my experience, whatever begins in the subconscious manifests somehow in the body in code, always uncomfortable. This song is one of my many efforts to understand the language.”
Cloud’s albums have come to us from different times, different ages and different cities. A young man has grown up with each record. They’ve been lo-fi and fractured, they’ve been guitar heavy and angsty, they’ve been dreamy and electronic and they’ve been burnt out and psychedelic. And while his latest album, Plays with Fire, sees him at his most musically confident and comfortable with his craft, the music is still independent, alive and unpredictable. Rather than style, fidelity or genre, the core of Taormina’s output has always been his earnestness and willingness to share, learn and teach. Sincerity, hard work and good ideas can go a long way.
“Wild Flies, 25” is the B-Side to the “Me, Her & Lavender” single, released tomorrow on Audio Antihero Records.
You can catch a live set from Cloud tomorrow at Kulak’s Woodshed in North Hollywood, CA. The line-up also includes Mines Falls and Oren Pine (listen below!). Event info can be found on Facebook.
If you missed it, you can still read our MusicMakers interview with Cloud (plus QA’s with Frankie Comos, Jeffrey Lewis, Say Sue Me, Haiku Salut, SuperKnova and more).
Photo courtesy of Carson Lund
The Plays with Fire LP is out now on Audio Antihero.
You can follow Cloud on Bandcamp, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and Spotify.
