Today we’d like to introduce you to Kyle and Myles Mendes.
Kyle and Myles, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
Kyle and I (twin brothers) were born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. We grew up listening to a variety of music such as electronic dance from the 90’s, new wave 80’s, hard rock and classical. We moved to Dallas at a young age with our family to a small apartment in, Lewisville TX. We had a cheap Casio keyboard and a small electronic drum machine that we could bash and make sounds with.
My brother and I have never strayed apart creatively and eventually over the years evolved into what we are now. We put out our first record independently and performed our first show in Denton Texas at Rubber Gloves about 4 years ago.
As we performed more locally and outside of Dallas, we had opportunities to have opened for many amazing acclaimed artists such as A Flock of Seagulls, Howard Jones, Modern English, Clean Bandit, and Yumi Zouma.
We have also toured Texas with Midge Ure of Ultravox, Small Black, and The New Division. We had amazing opportunities and branched out of our home state to go on two national tours, one with Seabound (Germany) and The Foreign Resort (Denmark).
Last year we signed with Cleopatra Records from Las Angeles to put out our current record, Reborn. This year we have performed at our label’s SXSW showcase headlined by Todd Rundgren, did a Texas tour with Magic Sword and we are currently looking forward to performing with Midge Ure once again at the end of this month. Next month we look forward to some dates with Chad Valley!
We have completed writing another album that will be released through Cleopatra and is currently in the process of being mixed.
This year we are excited about releasing new material and more national tours!
Check out our latest music video:
Has it been a smooth road?
Our journey through music has certainly not been a smooth road. NITE is not just Kyle and I, it’s our manager Kami Fuller, our label Cleopatra, the musicians and producers we work with, the directors for our music videos, and photographers etc. We all work hard to see success in this crazy state of the music industry that we’re in. Doors close on us, sometimes we’ve been ripped off, and on one current occasion we were robbed in San Francisco on tour.
However, with every obstacle we overcome, something great comes out of it. We couldn’t be more proud of the achievements made possible with the people we work with and that we will continue to work with. We are optimistic of the future with the team we currently have and couldn’t be happier.
So let’s switch gears a bit and go into the NITE story. Tell us more about the business.
We are a duo that creates a hybrid of electronic dance and indie rock music. The music we create is modern in production but also nods to a heavy influence of the 80’s new wave and dream pop of the that decade and the 90’s.
We have dynamic live performances with a live drummer, analog synths and at times fuzzed out guitars and overdrived bass tones. On the stage we are mostly a trio, Kyle and I on vocals, guitars and synths and our drummer, Phil Helms.
How do you think the industry will change over the next decade?
I feel that we need a big change in the music industry as it is today. I see a great line of divide of big major label artists and the smaller indie artists. There’s a lot more barriers bands need to cross before they can get recognized and it seems almost impossible without a greater financial backing.
I do see however, that the power isn’t all in the major labels and that self-made bands can actually sustain a career. It’s an interesting time to be an indie band because it’s very much the Wild West and that nothing is standard anymore.
We all try to wrap our heads around a bigger picture and how we can make things better, but to keep our heads on straight we just have to press forward and do what we feel is best for the band as we are now.
Contact Info:
- Website: nite.bandcamp.com
- Email: booking: spektralkami@gmail.com
Image Credit:
Whiney Hensley
Jenni Wilkinson
Rob Martinez
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