The modern indie band happily discusses its DIY ethic, but follows a rather traditional path—single, video, album, tour, repeat. And you can bet there are rather large and involved machinations behind the scenes. Then there’s Midi Matilda. The San Francisco-based duo—Skyler Kilborn and Logan Grimé—comprise a rather unconventional but extraordinarily catchy electro-pop duo that’s more than happy to do everything themselves: songwriting, instruments, audio engineering, producing, video production, artwork, even live shows (“Just the two of us does make touring easy,” notes Kilborn.)
“It’s not like we’re against collaborating,” says Grimé, Midi’s drummer. “We’re just really hands-on with everything.” Which means they’re not doing everything by the book. And we’re not discussing Midi Matilda’s new album. Because...there isn’t one. Instead, we’re discussing songs the band chooses to release when they feel like it. Songs that get time to develop “a vibe, life and story of their own.”
“We want to be putting things out on a regular basis,” says Grimé. “It’s not just us releasing one big chunk of art a time. That’s why we love making music videos — I feel like it gives each song more focus. Whatever we release, I want people to feel like there’s a lot of care going into it.”
Midi Matilda officially started in 2011. Named after both Grime’s great, great grandmother Mini Matilda de calca jour (who migrated from France to own one of the first gold mines in Virginia City) and a picture of a robot his dad drew that played music, the electro-pop duo immediately drew rave reviews. “[A band] uniquely poised for imminent world takeover,” said The Huffington Post. “Impeccably polished and produced,” added SF Weekly. And The Burning Gear simply noted, “It’s kind of perfect.”
Influential SF alternative station Live 105 crowned Midi “their favorite new band,” while comparisons to everyone from M83 to Passion Pit abounded (credit Kilborn’s tender falsetto for the latter praise).
While an early version of the group featured six members and more of an alt-rock vibe, the Midi Matilda that garnered the attention was the current-day duo. “Just having the two of us actually opened things up musically,” says Kilborn. “Whether our lineup was created accidentally or subconsciously, I don’t know. But as the two of us were writing and playing stuff, we got more interested in the electronic side.”
Interesting, the band decided not to play a lot of live shows in the beginning. “We wanted to build a following online first,” says Grimé. “We used social media, reached out to local blogs, filmed our videos locally, and tried to get the community excited about us.”
Since releasing the EP Red Light District in 2013, Midi Matilda has focused exclusively on releasing one song at a time. Recently, that includes the buoyant synth-pop earworm “Tidal Wave” (which features a wildly inventive vid clip that should win some sort of “Most Locations Ever Used In a Music Video” award) and “You Make Me Feel Like,” a slinky, horn-infused pop jam that took three years to perfect.
While going a more digital route helped the band branch out musically, Kilborn’s been careful with how they utilize all these new sounds. “We have a rather massive toolbox to work with,” says the singer. “The trick has been teaching ourselves to be minimal, despite that freedom. And to make sure we sound like we’re always the same, cohesive band.”
To capture their rather expansive sound live, the band features Grimé on drums and Kilborn utilizing a Misa tri-bass, a unique fusion of an iPad-like touchscreen, three “string” guitar and MIDI controller. “I wanted to make electronic music, but I had history as a guitarist and a singer,” explains Kilborn. “And I didn’t think pushing knobs looked that interesting.”
It’s not a traditional set up. And the band sees no reason to change that, or any other part of their approach to art.
“We don’t just want Midi Matilda to just be about people listening to songs,” says Grimé. “We have a lot of great ideas: we want it this to be an experience. We want to create cool stuff that’s different ... but still us.”
show less
“It’s not like we’re against collaborating,” says Grimé, Midi’s drummer. “We’re just really hands-on with everything.” Which means they’re not doing everything by the book. And we’re not discussing Midi Matilda’s new album. Because...there isn’t one. Instead, we’re discussing songs the band chooses to release when they feel like it. Songs that get time to develop “a vibe, life and story of their own.”
“We want to be putting things out on a regular basis,” says Grimé. “It’s not just us releasing one big chunk of art a time. That’s why we love making music videos — I feel like it gives each song more focus. Whatever we release, I want people to feel like there’s a lot of care going into it.”
Midi Matilda officially started in 2011. Named after both Grime’s great, great grandmother Mini Matilda de calca jour (who migrated from France to own one of the first gold mines in Virginia City) and a picture of a robot his dad drew that played music, the electro-pop duo immediately drew rave reviews. “[A band] uniquely poised for imminent world takeover,” said The Huffington Post. “Impeccably polished and produced,” added SF Weekly. And The Burning Gear simply noted, “It’s kind of perfect.”
Influential SF alternative station Live 105 crowned Midi “their favorite new band,” while comparisons to everyone from M83 to Passion Pit abounded (credit Kilborn’s tender falsetto for the latter praise).
While an early version of the group featured six members and more of an alt-rock vibe, the Midi Matilda that garnered the attention was the current-day duo. “Just having the two of us actually opened things up musically,” says Kilborn. “Whether our lineup was created accidentally or subconsciously, I don’t know. But as the two of us were writing and playing stuff, we got more interested in the electronic side.”
Interesting, the band decided not to play a lot of live shows in the beginning. “We wanted to build a following online first,” says Grimé. “We used social media, reached out to local blogs, filmed our videos locally, and tried to get the community excited about us.”
Since releasing the EP Red Light District in 2013, Midi Matilda has focused exclusively on releasing one song at a time. Recently, that includes the buoyant synth-pop earworm “Tidal Wave” (which features a wildly inventive vid clip that should win some sort of “Most Locations Ever Used In a Music Video” award) and “You Make Me Feel Like,” a slinky, horn-infused pop jam that took three years to perfect.
While going a more digital route helped the band branch out musically, Kilborn’s been careful with how they utilize all these new sounds. “We have a rather massive toolbox to work with,” says the singer. “The trick has been teaching ourselves to be minimal, despite that freedom. And to make sure we sound like we’re always the same, cohesive band.”
To capture their rather expansive sound live, the band features Grimé on drums and Kilborn utilizing a Misa tri-bass, a unique fusion of an iPad-like touchscreen, three “string” guitar and MIDI controller. “I wanted to make electronic music, but I had history as a guitarist and a singer,” explains Kilborn. “And I didn’t think pushing knobs looked that interesting.”
It’s not a traditional set up. And the band sees no reason to change that, or any other part of their approach to art.
“We don’t just want Midi Matilda to just be about people listening to songs,” says Grimé. “We have a lot of great ideas: we want it this to be an experience. We want to create cool stuff that’s different ... but still us.”
The modern indie band happily discusses its DIY ethic, but follows a rather traditional path—single, video, album, tour, repeat. And you can bet there are rather large and involved machinations behind the scenes. Then there’s Midi Matilda. The San Francisco-based duo—Skyler Kilborn and Logan Grimé—comprise a rather unconventional but extraordinarily catchy electro-pop duo that’s more than happy to do everything themselves: songwriting, instruments, audio engineering, producing, video production, artwork, even live shows (“Just the two of us does make touring easy,” notes Kilborn.)
“It’s not like we’re against collaborating,” says Grimé, Midi’s drummer. “We’re just really hands-on with everything.” Which means they’re not doing everything by the book. And we’re not discussing Midi Matilda’s new album. Because...there isn’t one. Instead, we’re discussing songs the band chooses to release when they feel like it. Songs that get time to develop “a vibe, life and story of their own.”
“We want to be putting things out on a regular basis,” says Grimé. “It’s not just us releasing one big chunk of art a time. That’s why we love making music videos — I feel like it gives each song more focus. Whatever we release, I want people to feel like there’s a lot of care going into it.”
Midi Matilda officially started in 2011. Named after both Grime’s great, great grandmother Mini Matilda de calca jour (who migrated from France to own one of the first gold mines in Virginia City) and a picture of a robot his dad drew that played music, the electro-pop duo immediately drew rave reviews. “[A band] uniquely poised for imminent world takeover,” said The Huffington Post. “Impeccably polished and produced,” added SF Weekly. And The Burning Gear simply noted, “It’s kind of perfect.”
Influential SF alternative station Live 105 crowned Midi “their favorite new band,” while comparisons to everyone from M83 to Passion Pit abounded (credit Kilborn’s tender falsetto for the latter praise).
While an early version of the group featured six members and more of an alt-rock vibe, the Midi Matilda that garnered the attention was the current-day duo. “Just having the two of us actually opened things up musically,” says Kilborn. “Whether our lineup was created accidentally or subconsciously, I don’t know. But as the two of us were writing and playing stuff, we got more interested in the electronic side.”
Interesting, the band decided not to play a lot of live shows in the beginning. “We wanted to build a following online first,” says Grimé. “We used social media, reached out to local blogs, filmed our videos locally, and tried to get the community excited about us.”
Since releasing the EP Red Light District in 2013, Midi Matilda has focused exclusively on releasing one song at a time. Recently, that includes the buoyant synth-pop earworm “Tidal Wave” (which features a wildly inventive vid clip that should win some sort of “Most Locations Ever Used In a Music Video” award) and “You Make Me Feel Like,” a slinky, horn-infused pop jam that took three years to perfect.
While going a more digital route helped the band branch out musically, Kilborn’s been careful with how they utilize all these new sounds. “We have a rather massive toolbox to work with,” says the singer. “The trick has been teaching ourselves to be minimal, despite that freedom. And to make sure we sound like we’re always the same, cohesive band.”
To capture their rather expansive sound live, the band features Grimé on drums and Kilborn utilizing a Misa tri-bass, a unique fusion of an iPad-like touchscreen, three “string” guitar and MIDI controller. “I wanted to make electronic music, but I had history as a guitarist and a singer,” explains Kilborn. “And I didn’t think pushing knobs looked that interesting.”
It’s not a traditional set up. And the band sees no reason to change that, or any other part of their approach to art.
“We don’t just want Midi Matilda to just be about people listening to songs,” says Grimé. “We have a lot of great ideas: we want it this to be an experience. We want to create cool stuff that’s different ... but still us.”
read more
“It’s not like we’re against collaborating,” says Grimé, Midi’s drummer. “We’re just really hands-on with everything.” Which means they’re not doing everything by the book. And we’re not discussing Midi Matilda’s new album. Because...there isn’t one. Instead, we’re discussing songs the band chooses to release when they feel like it. Songs that get time to develop “a vibe, life and story of their own.”
“We want to be putting things out on a regular basis,” says Grimé. “It’s not just us releasing one big chunk of art a time. That’s why we love making music videos — I feel like it gives each song more focus. Whatever we release, I want people to feel like there’s a lot of care going into it.”
Midi Matilda officially started in 2011. Named after both Grime’s great, great grandmother Mini Matilda de calca jour (who migrated from France to own one of the first gold mines in Virginia City) and a picture of a robot his dad drew that played music, the electro-pop duo immediately drew rave reviews. “[A band] uniquely poised for imminent world takeover,” said The Huffington Post. “Impeccably polished and produced,” added SF Weekly. And The Burning Gear simply noted, “It’s kind of perfect.”
Influential SF alternative station Live 105 crowned Midi “their favorite new band,” while comparisons to everyone from M83 to Passion Pit abounded (credit Kilborn’s tender falsetto for the latter praise).
While an early version of the group featured six members and more of an alt-rock vibe, the Midi Matilda that garnered the attention was the current-day duo. “Just having the two of us actually opened things up musically,” says Kilborn. “Whether our lineup was created accidentally or subconsciously, I don’t know. But as the two of us were writing and playing stuff, we got more interested in the electronic side.”
Interesting, the band decided not to play a lot of live shows in the beginning. “We wanted to build a following online first,” says Grimé. “We used social media, reached out to local blogs, filmed our videos locally, and tried to get the community excited about us.”
Since releasing the EP Red Light District in 2013, Midi Matilda has focused exclusively on releasing one song at a time. Recently, that includes the buoyant synth-pop earworm “Tidal Wave” (which features a wildly inventive vid clip that should win some sort of “Most Locations Ever Used In a Music Video” award) and “You Make Me Feel Like,” a slinky, horn-infused pop jam that took three years to perfect.
While going a more digital route helped the band branch out musically, Kilborn’s been careful with how they utilize all these new sounds. “We have a rather massive toolbox to work with,” says the singer. “The trick has been teaching ourselves to be minimal, despite that freedom. And to make sure we sound like we’re always the same, cohesive band.”
To capture their rather expansive sound live, the band features Grimé on drums and Kilborn utilizing a Misa tri-bass, a unique fusion of an iPad-like touchscreen, three “string” guitar and MIDI controller. “I wanted to make electronic music, but I had history as a guitarist and a singer,” explains Kilborn. “And I didn’t think pushing knobs looked that interesting.”
It’s not a traditional set up. And the band sees no reason to change that, or any other part of their approach to art.
“We don’t just want Midi Matilda to just be about people listening to songs,” says Grimé. “We have a lot of great ideas: we want it this to be an experience. We want to create cool stuff that’s different ... but still us.”
show less
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