Interview: Cemeteries

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Back in December we had the pleasure of bringing you a new artist by the name of Cemeteries, which is the project of multi-talented New Yorker Kyle Reigle.

When Kyle's previous band (Mutiny On The Belfonte) dismantled in 2009 he quickly turned to making his own music, and quite literally every aspect of it. Taking the bedroom D.I.Y process to a whole new level.

As more & more people got familiar with Kyle's work, Cemeteries soon topped the Bandcamp  charts (Myspace died a long time ago people) for his native Buffalo, New York.

To fully to get a better understanding of what Cemeteries is about you can read our interview with Kyle below....


(One For The People) For anyone unfamiliar with Cemeteries, give us a brief insight....

(Kyle Reigle) Cemeteries is basically just me making the music that I would want to hear myself. I love a lot of bands but there are very few that actually speak to me on a personal level. My music is basically a blend of all of the genres and ideas that I absolutely love.


(1FTP) Cemeteries, horrors, ghosts. Whats the deal with all the spooky shit? 

(KR) It's all nostalgia. I've been obsessed with scary stuff as far back as I can remember, from hearing ghost stories as a little kid to watching my first horror movie. I always had creepy undertones in my songs but I tried to keep them at bay. It wasn't until I heard bands like Dead Man's Bones and Dreamend that I realized I should just embrace all of the weirdness. I guess I'm just my most creative after I've watched some bad, grainy B-horror film from the 80's.


(1FTP) What advantages, and disadvantages for that matter, come with doing pretty much everything solo?

(KR) The major benefit is that I can do everything the way I want. My music doesn't appeal to everyone and I feel most comfortable just doing it all by myself. Unfortunately that probably keeps me from coming up with different ideas because it's always nice to bounce things off of someone else and see what happens.


(1FTP) How have you found the reaction to your work thus far? Positive I presume?

(KR) I really just made the album as a hobby. I started it in early October and gave myself a strict date to finish it (Halloween) and just went from there. The first review it got was pretty bad so I was kind of upset but I just intended it to be a fun, little project so I wasn't too worried about it. Then at some point in November it just exploded and hundreds of people were downloading it and all I've heard were great things since. I'm really excited about that because I know I can make a better album. I gave myself a month to finish Speaking Horrors so who knows what I can come up with in a year.




Cemeteries - Brighter Colours



"I guess I'm just my most creative after I've watched some bad, grainy B-horror film from the 80's" - Kyle Reigle, 2011




  Cemeteries - Leland


(1FTP) OK, without sounding too intrusive, have you had any label interest as yet?

(KR) Unfortunately, no. There's a small cassette-only label that is releasing a mix that I'm contributing a song to but that's about it. I've sent my album to maybe 3 labels? I really just need to remaster it a little better and send it everywhere and see what happens. I'm not too worried about it at this point.


(1FTP) Moving on... Let talk live shows. Is that something your keen to pursue? And also, being a one man show, how will you adapt to it? 

(KR) I've been thinking a lot about how I'm going to do this. I would love to get a band together but it's really tough to find the right people. I have someone in mind to play bass but that's it. Maybe it would be more interesting to do it all myself with loop pedals and sampling etc. I just need to figure it out.






(1FTP) I know some artists / bands who say they dont really listening to modern day music, which comes a bit of a surprise to me. I see you like to keep up with a lot of current stuff, whats on the latest Cemeteries playlist?

(KR) There were a lot of great releases last year like Teen Dream by Beach House, Avi Buffalo's debut album and Halcyon Digest by Deerhunter. Lately I've been listening to Destroyer and Smith Westerns. I never really stay on one album for very long. My three favorite songs lately have been "When We're Dancing" by Twin Shadow, "Kaputt" by Destroyer and "E is for Estranged" by Owen Pallett. I don't know, I could go on for hours...


(1FTP) Finally, where do you hope to see Kyle Reigle & Cemeteries in a years time?

(KR) Either playing some shows or putting out a new album. Any step further than where I am right now would be incredible.


Cemeteries debut album Speaking Horrors is available to listen / download here (costing you only an email address, although you can offer to pay what you like) and virtual 7"s 1 and 2 (which is compiled of covers of Dreamend & Neon Indian).


Heres a track made specially for French online mag Hartzine, its called "Cobwebs".





  
 Cemeteries - Cobwebs



Next in line fo Cemeteries is an exclusive track for Chicago based blog Flashlight Tag, who are teaming up with Orchid Tapes (Warren Hildebrand of Foxes In Fiction) to put out a physical release in the not too distant future.

And after that, well, possibly a follow up album before the years out. Stay with us for more...

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