Taleen Kali flourishes on their debut album Flower of Life

Photo Credit: Kris Balocca

Taleen Kalenderian has found her tribe in the sprawling city of Los Angeles. “It's all about finding your people. Finding safer space in the music community,” Taleen writes over email. “Making art together.” The native Southern Californian has just released the splendid album Flower of Life with her band Taleen Kali. 

Prior to making music, Kalenderian was a writer whose work ran in publications such as The Onion, Spin and The Bushwick Review. In 2011, she launched DUM DUM Zine. “I was a writer who got sick of the poor pay so I decided to start my own zine and forgo the shitty $50 per review and collect that same amount by playing DIY shows instead.” 

Around that same time she started DUM DUM Zine, she began playing music with Teddy Bloom as Tülips. After the duo disbanded, Taleen went solo and released her first EP Soul Songs. The five song release combines different variations of rock, including garage, shoegaze and punk. In 2021, DUM DUM branched off into a record label, releasing Taleen Kali’s second EP Songs For Meditation. The release was recorded in a warehouse in one sitting and explores Taleen’s interest in sound healing and meditation.

“Our first 2 EPs were opposites of one another. Soul Songs was heavy on the production and Songs for Meditation was all improvised and captured every sound in the warehouse,” she writes. “With Flower Of Life we knew we wanted the big monster production and yet we wanted a lot of warmth in the sonic layers.”

Announced almost a year ago, Taleen describes releasing Flower of Life as feeling “like coming back to life.” The album was produced by Jeff Schroeder of The Smashing Pumpkins and Josiah Mazzaschi. “We'd all been friends for so long and yet we'd never worked together and I'd never been to The Cave,” Taleen explains. Over the years, Mazzaschi has hosted recording sessions for ACTORS, Soft Kill, The Jesus and Mary Chain and other bands at the Los Angeles recording studio The Cave. “The album came together when we were making demos of ‘Flower Of Life’ in the fall of 2022 and getting ready to bring it into the studio. When Jeff suggested The Cave I went and saw Josiah for a visit and knew it was our place for this record,” Taleen writes.

Taking cues from a variety of genres, Flower of Life is a big record. On the album, Taleen Kali brings together the sounds of brit, goth and alt-rock. The title track “Flower of Life,” first released in early 2022, is a guitar-heavy anthem about persevering. Toward the end of the song, the excitement in Kali’s vocals reaches waveform distortion, pushing us to join her in the repeating line “survive.” At the same time, the album is about facing a collapsing world with someone next to you. The song “Only Lovers Left Alive,” a nod to the film of the same name, romanticizes the empty streets of Los Angeles during the COVID lockdown. On the synth-heavy “Vague Flesh,” Kali’s evocative vocals provoke us to remember what it feels like to fall for another person. The song “Cazimi,” meanwhile with its mix of acoustic and electric guitars, is a throwback to The Smiths and The Cure. On “Trash Talk,” Taleen turns her Debby Harry energy to ten as she takes on the haters. When I ask Taleen whether she ever encounters self-doubt as an artist, becoming her own critic, she writes, “Totally, we all do! I try to combat that feeling by going into the studio and thrashing it out on the guitar. Or I meditate, call a friend, cuddle with my pup LeeLoo.”

Over the years, Taleen Kali’s supporters have rallied behind the band. The album was backed by crowdfunding and the band is now using Patreon to sustain their art. “Patreon helps us cover our studio rent and pay for snacks on the road, guitar repair, new gear, and last minute bumps on the road,” Taleen writes. “We love our patrons!”

After playing a series of shows at SXSW this weekend, the band will be heading out across the US. When I ask about what the band is most looking forward to, Taleen exclaims, “Playing Chicago for the first time and going back to New York. Plus doing our first festival circuit!”

---

To purchase Flower of Life directly from Taleen Kali head to their Bandcamp.. Their music can also be streamed on Spotify and other platforms. To support the band, head to their Patreon. Follow Taleen Kali on Instagram. Go see Taleen Kali on the road:

March 17 - Austin, TX - SXSW
March 18 - Austin, TX - SXSW
March 19 - Houston, TX - Bigtop Lounge
March 20 - Norman, OK - Opolis
March 21 - Wichita, KS - Kirby’s
March 22  - Denver, CO - Skylark
March 23 - Salt Lake City, UT - Black Lung Society
March 24 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Fest
March 25 - Boise, ID - Treefort Music Fest
March 26 - Las Vegas, NV - Artifice
May 16 - Philadelphia, PA - Kung Fu Necktie
May 17 - New York, NY - Our Wicked Lady
May 18 - Pittsburgh, PA - Bottlerocket
May 19 - Chicago, IL - Cole’s Bar
May 20 - Detroit, MI - Lager House

---