Verified. Exploring The Authenticity Of Being Big Gay : A Discussion. Each of the queens conceals their identities for a variety of reasons, citing fear of bodily harm or damaging familial relationships. "I mean, I think we just move fast," said Sam Melo, one of the band's . . "It was like, we did RKS. Thrash has previously performed at Bonnaroo and Austin City Limits. They had started playing shows around the Boone area and wrote and recorded the earliest Rainbow Kitten Surprise songs as a duo. There's nothing better than being front row for a Rainbow Kitten Surprise show. // Do Not Sell My Personal Information Since then, Rainbow Kitten Surprise's engaging blend of indie pop and a variety of other genres has won it high-profile festival appearances and a fervent nationwide following. While the band does not have an explicitly religious ideology, it has been noted that some of their music does touch on spiritual and religious themes. If you're looking for the living embodiment of multi-dimensionality, turn to Sam Melo, lead singer from the band Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Funny story, they got their name back in college before an open-mic gig. . Just working with Jay and Jason and the whole crew just opened my eyes to what kind of sonic avenues there were. In this article, we will explore the evidence behind the rumors, and examine whether there is any truth to the speculation that the lead singer of Rainbow Kitten Surprise is, in fact, gay. I'm sorry if I'm gonna sound dumb, but we're talking about Sam Melo, that came out right now as trans, right? The contemplative "Mission to Mars" then eases into fuller band arrangements and introduces lead singer Sam Melo's stylized, melodic speaking-rapping. Alan Sculley Or these are 2 different people? Though he wrote the song in 2015, it wasn't released until three years later. Participation in this event is entirely at your own risk. While the band has not explicitly stated that they are LGBT, their music and involvement in Pride events have been seen as a sign of support for the LGBT community. . That's the thing, Jay and I talked about this, somebody said the first day, so if you have nine months to make a record it's going to take you nine months to make a record. basically using musical vocal techniques to raise the pitch of your voice to sound more feminine in everyday social scenarios. Tbf earlier all I knew was that the lead singer had this gorgeous beard and that's how I knew who is the singer, not by the name. Get premium, high resolution news photos at Getty Images At times I honestly thought the leader singer, Sam Melo, had fallen down after jumping and dancing on stage, but every time he rose up again, somehow becoming better with every song. RKS are the indie rock heroes we deserve. I still had dial-up till a year after we moved back, so MySpace hit me pretty hard. I think it was something we had to get acclimated to a bit.". By the time we left, we were pretty broke and it was sort of defeatist, at least from my eyes. Hailing from the Blue Ridge Mountain college town of Boone, North Carolina, Rainbow Kitten Surprise play a fervent mix of bright indie pop and earnest, harmony-driven folk-rock. Its like 2 AM and the bars all close at ten in hell, thats a rule I made'Anyway, you say youre too busy saving everybody else to save yourselfAnd you dont want no help, oh wellThats the story to tell". "It changed my life forever.". I will do my best to solve the issue. Even at this early stage, there were signs that Rainbow Kitten Surprise might grow into something more than a just-for-fun college-years band. Although the group of Carolinians frontman Sam Melo, Darrick "Bozzy" Keller, Ethan Goodpaster, Jess Haney and . Like can you say him in a song? Rainbow Kitten Surprise. How much are the fans playing into your mindset? And it would be a different record if it got made in nine months, but sometimes you need the two-week record. Reading the new introductions to the band has been awesome and I cannot wait for their new chapter! Mon. Rainbow Kitten Surprise, the best name ever we know, sat down with us at Outside Lands to talk about their new record and their song Hide. And Ethan ended up getting into the band and he was like, 'Well, my roommate used to play drums and he might be able to help us out with a few shows. After gracing the bills of Bonnaroo, Lollapalooza, and Osheaga, to name a few, RKS moved 80,000 tickets of their own on their sold-out Friend, Love Freefall Tour earmarked by a packed night at Red Rocks Amphitheatre and three consecutive gigs in Athens, GA-as chronicled on their first official live album, "Live from Athens Georgia" released in 2021. We always love Austin City Limits debuts, and it's even better with a young band as fresh and exciting as Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Well, it just so happens that two of the members of the five-piece band are also members of the LGBTQ+ community - singer Sam Melo is gay and bassist Charlie Holt is trans. By the time I reached that period, especially with this last record, I just started furiously writing down pages of lyrics, the guys came back and was like, "Sam, you don't have to rewrite a whole other album, look at what we already have. At the end of the video, one of the queens reveals her persona to her father - and in true pride month spirit, he declares, "I'll always be your biggest fan. Your band is in such a great position and there is so much for me to think about and I also wanted to congratulate you onHow to: Friend, Love, Freefall. I don't know if that's the way this next record is going to come together but given our history, I feel like maybe that right now it's still that gestation period I'm curious to know what's going to come out on the other side of the rabbit hole. She made the announcement on Instagram just a few days before the bands tour began. That's just how they like it. independent local journalism in Dallas. And you were aware of this at 14, I'm assuming you've been a deep feeling person your whole life. This tale of internal conflict is particularly relevant for both the band and this particular show. [7] The single "Fever Pitch" from the album climbed to number 34th on Billboard's Alternative Songs chart in spring 2018. Fergie: An Icon For The LGBTQ+ Community And One Tree Hill Fans, The Never-Ending Debate: Exploring Franklin Jonas Sexuality And Its Impact, Is The Navy Ready To Be Gay Friendly An In-Depth Look At The Navys LGBT Policies, Mariah From Sister Wives: Breaking Down Stereotypes About Polygamy And Sexuality, Is Fred Gay? The band got its name when someone's hospitalized, heavily medicated friend kept repeating the phrase Rainbow Kitten Surprise. I'm happy to share with you that I am trans. Learning how to navigate the technology and capabilities that come with a true professional studio wasn't the only challenge for Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Many electric vehicle batteries lose power when its very cold. You tend to do it when something is unstable in your real world and then you hole up to gain some measure of control by expelling into this musical format. It feels like this big, intricate record that was always kind of hiding in the band's music even when it was a two acoustic guitar band. Im Ela, lead singer of Rainbow Kitten Surprise. By VinStyleRe. This story was originally published March 31, 2022, 9:40 AM. Sam Melo, the lead singer, took the stage with the lyrics and bent down to pray during the ominous and richly emotional Holy War . Rainbow Kitten Surprise. "I got into the band through Ethan," Haney said, referencing guitarist Ethan Goodpaster during a recent phone interview. I'm Ela, lead singer of Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Rainbow Kitten Surprise on Audiotree . You never think that when you put words on to a paper that anybody else is going to pick it up and say word for word, that's me, and identify with it. Rainbow Kitten Surprise. "Me and Ethan went to high school together, and we kind of played in my basement and did covers of random things. It was incredible. Like if somebody loses a friend and somehow our music is cathartic to them, go for it, man. Now boasting over 1 billion global streams across platforms, the band first began building their devoted fanbase with independent albums "Seven + Mary" (2013) and "RKS" (2015). The Alternative/Indie-Pop band takes influence from great artists like Modest Mouse, Lana Del Rey, and Kings of Leon. Rainbow Kitten Surprise, a six-month-old kitten, was born at Appalachian State University in North Carolina six years ago. In 2017, the band appeared at festivals including Bonnaroo, Firefly, and Austin City Limits, and they signed with Elektra Records for their third album. Liking Bridget Jones: Does It Mean Im Gay? Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Rainbow Kitten Surprise appeared on the show, and even though the group was eliminated in the first round of competition, the appearance brought a notable measure of exposure. Rainbow Kitten Surprise. Rainbow Kitten Sursprise was formed in early 2013 when the first two members, Sam Melo and Darrick "Bozzy" Keller, began writing and composing music together . Because especially if the song were to be a hit, then immediately were poster children, you know?, "Hide" was accompanied by one of the most impactful music videos of last year. . pic.twitter.com/kejuO2yLIn. When Ela Melo, lead singer of Rainbow Kitten Surprise, decided to come out as transgender, her family and friends were overjoyed. You adapt pretty quick as a kid and kind of roll into it. Read our full chat and get information on the show below. Melo, who was raised half in Appalachian North Carolina and half in a Dominican Republic mission, belted out the lyrics with every fiber of his being, driving home the importance of embracing your truth while the crowd sang along. They are based in Boone. The band has had a meteoric rise since their formation in 2013, with their debut album making it to the top of the Billboard Heatseekers chart, and they have since gone on to tour the world and perform at festivals like Bonnaroo and Lollapalooza. It was just kind of a thing I did in high school with my friends. Speech therapy usually only effects talking, not singing, though speech therapy for trans women is essentially vocal training, I underwent it for a little while a few years back. One day we were all sitting in Boone and the next thing we were touring the world. On this Wikipedia the language links are at the top of the page across from the article title. Thanks for sharing that story. 04. Suddenly, the five musicians found themselves driving to Nashville, where they all now live, setting up shop in the high-end Neon Cross Studios and working with one of the city's most in-demand producers, Jay Joyce. I'm grateful to be able to express who I truly am and share in this moment with you. By danielmorez. And hopefully, that comes out of the next record. The lead vocalist (Sam Melo) seems like someone that is very suited for passionate Americana music and has a similar voice to the frontman of . Sept. 17, 7:30 p . Right on. Rainbow Kitten Surprise Fashion Casual Navel,Funny Women_s Personality Sticker. Sam Melo and Darrick "Bozzy" Keller, decided to begin writing and . Sam Melo, lead vocalist of Rainbow Kitten Surprise performs at the Georgia Theatre, on Tuesday April 8, 2018, in Athens, Georgia. Fri, Sep 14, 2018 at 12:09 pm. North Carolina indie folk-rock outfit Rainbow Kitten Surprise rose from college dorm-room jammers to main-stage festival performers during the mid-2010s. Somewhere in our minds, we're still just the kids playing music in bars in Boone. Right of Admission Reserved. Rainbow Kitten Surprise Band Music Tour Poster. Since the 2013 release of their first album, Seven + Mary , the vibrancy and courageousness and uniqueness of RKS' music has brought in nearly 2 million monthly listeners on Spotify . Watch on. I was just talking about this with my bassist last night, you encounter different sets of problems the further you go. thanks in part to Melo's intense vocal style, but also because only two of the 13 tracks cross the four-minute . My dad's cousinlives down there. This was the last stop on their summer tour. It's all fun. Get our top picks for the best events in San Antonio every Thursday morning. Yeah, so Tampa is kind of a city I only know in a very limited fashion. Formed in 2013 by college students Sam Melo and Darrick Keller, Rainbow Kitten Surprise developed a sound that was every bit as colorful as the group's name, eventually becoming one of America's m.. . Any actual connection? Be yourself. The internet. The rest of the Rainbow Kitten Surprise bandmates also introduced themselves and revealed what they identify as in their social media post Wednesday. Hi everyone! She is responsible for overseeing the bands growth, having worked with them since their inception in 2013 and assisting them with their success. It's incredible that this is what life is. That was the understanding that I had. Saw her in Newport and I was on the barrier. "Work Out" arrived alongside a lyric video, handwritten by RKS frontperson Ela Melo. Has being able to record How To in the circumstances that you did made you want to go bigger on a new record? Rainbow Kitten Surprise Sticker. Address: Orange Road, Emmarentia, Johannesburg 2195. In fact, Melo publicly came out through one of the tracks off of the project, "Hide." Though he wrote the song in 2015, it wasn't released until three years later. COLD LOVE hitting different today!!! I will say as a trans girl that some of the older lyrics make more sense now. The Ritz, 1503 E. 7th Ave., Ybor City. Choose music service. [5][6], On April 6, 2018, RKS released its How To: Friend, Love, Freefall album, under the Elektra Records label. [2] Their first EP, Mary, was recorded in a dorm room at the university. A beautiful experience indeed. Fans of the band appreciate their unique sound and the way they bring a sense of joy and fun to their music. Rainbow Kitten Surprise, also known as RKS (Return to Rainbow Kitten), is a musical phenomenon that many people consider to be a musical phenomenon. In 2013, Melo and Keller had self-released a three-song EP, Mary, and the band followed that with a self-released full-length, Seven. The video, which in part contains a micro-documentary directed by Kyle Thrash, follows four drag queens in New Orleans throughout their day to day life. The "Rainbow Kitten Surprise Presale Presale" will go on sale Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 10 a.m. Tickets will cost $39.50 for Lawn seating and $45.50 for the Rapids Section. I'm Ela, lead singer of Rainbow Kitten Surprise. RKS 'Work Out' available now! On April 6, 2022, Rainbow Kitten Surprise released the single "Work Out," their first new single released in nearly 18 months. Hi everyone! Hailing from the Blue Ridge Mountain college town of Boone, North Carolina, Rainbow Kitten Surprise play a mix of bright indie pop and earnest, harmony-driven folk-rock. On June 9, the North Carolina-based band played an intimate show at The Troubadour in West Hollywood, CA, and Ones to Watch was lucky enough to stop by and see what stories the band had to tell. The band is made up of singer-songwriter Sam Melo, bassist Darrick "Bozzy" Keller, drummer Jesse Wells, and guitarist Richarddriver. Rainbow Kitten Surprise in Concert. What happens is, I learn different things that I'm interested in, like for the last record I got really interested in jazz drumming and the beats, the meters they're in, the different time signatures and playing around with that and usually I go down those avenues for a while until the band snaps me back into reality and it's like, "Oh shit we've got this show to put on, we've got a job to do." Rainbow Kitten Surprise was formed in 2013 by Ela Melo and Darrick Keller. After forming in 1972, John Fogerty the singer, guitarist, and songwriting mastermind behind Creedence Clearwater Revival broke up the band. Join the Observer community and help support There wasn't a seat remaining as the lights dimmed in the Tennessee Theatre. Even by this early stage, there were signs RKS might balloon beyond a just-for-fun . Obviously, some days we didn't get anything. People who are b. "Devil Like Me" went on to get radio play, as did two songs from RKS "Cocaine Jesus" and "Lady Lie" propelling Rainbow Kitten Surprise onto tours and appearances at notable festivals including Bonnaroo and Sasquatch. Do you have to cancel all press and just go work? Rainbow Kitten Surprise is a popular indie-rock band that has made waves in the music scene with their unique sound and style. 264K followers. If you haven't heard yet, we are so excited to have partnered', Rainbow Kitten Surprise [@RKSBandOfficial], "Hi everyone! In 2010, the band was accused of plagiarism after their song Fantasy resembled another artists work. Ela Rainbow Kitten Surprise is an American indie rock band from Boone, North Carolina. Concert Review: Rainbow Kitten Surprise By October 29, 2018 October 29, 2018 Music . Reply. Live from Athens Georgia. We had few friends back here. Inspired by a close friend's morphine-ridden ramblings from a hospital bed, RKS was. Yvonne Gougelet is a playwright, theater producer, actress, activist and political & music journalist. Whats the balancing act like between the person we hear on the record and thinks about insecurities and this other person who is committed to making RKS something you can do for the rest of your life? They dont see themselves as their spokesmen for the song. Ela Melo, the lead singer for the popular alternative/indie rock band Rainbow Kitten Surprise, revealed she has found her "authentic self" in coming out as transgender. and Formed in 2013 by college students Sam Melo and Darrick Keller, Rainbow Kitten Surprise developed a sound that was every bit as colorful as the group's name, eventually becoming one of America's most beloved indie-rock acts of the late 2010s and early 2020s. San Diego Gay & Lesbian News (SDGLN) is the top-read news source for the gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender community of San Diego. Their music style is a mix of folk, pop, and rock. On March 30, 2022, the band's lead singer came out as transgender.[11]. They announced earlier this week that their tour had sold out in less than a week. Dude, thanks for making music that makes me want to ask questions like that. When it comes to Rainbow Kitten Surprise, just remember the old axiom to never judge a book by its cover. With catchy and deeply lyrical meaning, beautifully designed bass lines, and melodic guitar riffs, their unique sound will keep you humming their tunes all day long. Appalachian State University offers up and coming student musicians the opportunity to record, publicize and more for free with the school's own record label, Split Rail Records. . Straight from the bluegrass hotbed of Boone, North Carolina . But I still can't wait to hear what they've got coming next. Those are things you gotta figure it out. Ela Melo is the lead vocalist for alt-rock band Rainbow Kitten Surprise; she wrote their biggest hit, "It's Called: Freefall.". Previously unseen footage of Layne Staley performing with Alice In Chains has been made public. The band's Pride Weekend performance at the Troubadour was a truly spectacular celebration of equality, community, and love - not to mention a kickass rock show. Their live performances are renowned for their high-energy, raw emotion, and often times, humor. Tickets can also be . Jay Joyce (at Neon Cross Studios and Jason Hall) did a great job with your vision. Their songs are often filled with clever wordplay and heartfelt lyrics. Buy Rainbow Kitten Surprise tickets from the official Ticketmaster.com site. I just couldn't be more thankful to be able to do what we do.". Hailing from the Blue Ridge Mountain college town of Boone, North Carolina, Rainbow Kitten Surprise play a fervent mix of bright indie pop and earnest, harmony-driven folk-rock. 9827 fans Top Tracks. Im so glad she finally feels comfortable to be her true self! The crowd immediately stood to their feet when they heard the . Music is the universal language. But if you have two weeks, you'll make it in two weeks. I wouldn't say it gets easier, it certainly gets more routine. Arriving in 2018, the band's breakout full-length debut for Elektra, "How to: Friend, Love, Freefall. Recorded at Nashville's Neon Cross Studio, where the group took advantage of a collection of vintage instruments, How To: Friend, Love, Freefall was produced by Jay Joyce (Cage the Elephant, the Head and the Heart) and released in 2018.