From Raves to Revelation: NGHTCRWLR’s Journey Into Oz

Back in July, TEETH got to chat with one of today’s most prolific musicians, Kristrina Esfandiari. Some might recognize her as King Woman, while others know her from one of her many other projects, Sugar High, KRIS, or Dalmatian, just to name a few. Today, Kris comes to us with her latest project, NGHTCRWLR. 

While taking influences from industrial music, electronic music, and shoegaze, NGHTCRWLR cannot be pinned to any one sonic influence. A sense of raw aggression and emotional catharsis can be heard in her most recent single, “Madhouse”, thanks to its driving breakbeats and the role it plays in what can only be described as a mass of sound. NGHTCRWLR’s upcoming album, OZ, is NGHTCRWLR in its most concentrated and perfected form.

In this conversation, we cover everything from Kris’ musical foundation of G-Funk, Bay Area hip-hop, and Gospel, to the importance of working with your loved ones, and what it means to be creative. We’re happy to share with you, NIGHTCRWLR’s Journey Into OZ.

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Nick: Starting from the beginning, what holds you to making music versus any other outlet for your creativity?

Kris: I kind of felt like it chose me. I started singing and doing music in church when I was pretty young. People started buying me instruments randomly.

One of my friends was like, “I feel like you need to do music.” Bought me a guitar, and then my parents bought me a guitar. Then I borrowed my friend’s MacBook and could write songs pretty much immediately. It’s pretty crazy. I picked up a guitar, wrote my first song, and it was really good. I just had a gift in songwriting. And it felt like there was really no other option for me, to be honest. It was just natural.

 

I think I started falling in love with your music when I heard your cover of “I Want to Be Adored” by the Stone Roses. Do you have a secret formula as to what you’re sonically drawn to, for making music? And if you do, what do you depend on as your musical or creative inspirations?

Well, I think I do so many different genres, it just kind of depends on the project I’m doing at the time. I listen to so much different music. I have a metal band, I have this drum and bass NGHTCRWLR project, and then I have a rap project. It just depends on what is speaking to me at the moment. I listen to all types of music, and I am influenced by all types of sounds. So I think it’s more about what is speaking to me at the moment. It happens to be NGHTCRWLR right now.

 

And in your creative experience, you’ve said that you’ve done rock, metal, and then rap and drum and bass. So what separates NGHTCRWLR from your other music projects, and what was more important? What was the influence that made you drawn to this outlet, I guess?

It’s very electronic clubby, jungle/drum and bass-inspired. I just kind of wanted a home to facilitate those sounds.

And I really love drum and bass. I was really obsessed with it, specifically during quarantine. It was helping me get through all that was going on during that time. So I started working on a record. I think it’s just a way for me to express certain genres of music. It took me a few years to finish that record.

 

 

I had gone to your show as King Woman, and you clearly have a very theatrical approach to your music. Do you find that there’s a difference in your persona within the two separate projects? I guess like, even mentally, you have to sort of get into a certain character almost when you’re writing music, either for King Woman or even rap or NGHTCRWLR.

No, I don’t really feel like I have to get into character because it’s like all really who I am. It’s hard to describe… just more of a specific headspace or just an approach with different genres, obviously, King Woman is going to be actual physical instruments.

With NGHTCRWLR, I’m approaching writing a little bit differently. I would just be on logic, sampling things, and stuff like that. There are some instruments in it, like guitars, but it’s mostly just like on a laptop. For the rap stuff, it’s just like smoking weed and making beats. It just depends on which project.

 

And do you go into each project or release with a goal in mind, or is it just something that sort of comes alive during the writing process for you?

Well, for the NGHTCRWLR record, the name kind of came to me first. I would say, like a year before I started writing it. I thought, Oh, it’s a really powerful name. And I started working on it, I thought it was going to be one way, I had like a few songs, but by the time it was actually finished, it went in a pretty different direction than where I had originally started. I feel like albums really take on a life of their own, and you can’t really force the process. They finish when they’re ready. So I just kind of went with what was speaking to me and ended up shifting things around after taking a break on it for a while, because there were some difficulties with it. Then I put it away for a bit, went back to it later on, and changed quite a few things. It was a long process of sitting with the music and letting it take shape. The songs really just come to me. Don’t really have to force the process at all.

 

Do you find yourself going through learning experiences over and over again, with whether the direction you’re taking it in, or does it come to you as second nature?

I mean, I feel like doing music is always a practice, and you’re always learning things. I definitely learned some new things during the process of working on this album. It was a difficult record to finish.

The album is called Oz. And you mentioned the sort of mystique behind The Wizard of Oz. So, is there a tie to the world of Oz? Whether it be The Wizard of Oz, Wicked, anything like that?

I’m not a Wicked fan. It’s not for me. I grew up on musicals like The Sound of Music and The King and I. My dad really loves musicals like Fiddler on the Roof. So I was exposed to those at a super young age. I think it really influenced me musically. Some people heard this record and said it sounded like a musical. Ha.

I had a fascination with just these strange theatrical films, and The Wizard of Oz was one of those. It always kind of stuck with me. My dad was a really big influence on my musical taste growing up. I think that’s when The Wizard of Oz stuff got picked up in my psyche.

 

Do you have an ideal setting in mind for someone to experience a new album?

Yeah, like a really good sound system, a real quality sound system where you can sit and focus and listen to it. Ideally, with some interesting visuals, I’m working on all the videos right now. I feel like the videos really inform the music, and they can really bring something to life and help people to understand what you’re trying to convey.

 

Do you plan on taking NGHTCRWLR on tour? And if so, who would you want to design the wardrobe for your tour?

Yes, I’m definitely going on a world tour. My friend Maria is my designer, and my friend Melo has been working on a bunch of custom outfits for me. Shout out to them. I was in LA, and Maria was working day and night on these different costume ideas for the videos. And she did like a whole custom camo corset outfit with a top and pants. She and Melo just collaborated on that with me. She was just working day and night sewing it and, you know, putting it on me and then readjusting it.

I’ve always wanted somebody to design stuff for me. So it’s been a dream come true, just working with really talented, amazing people that are really close to me. I was actually just doing that the past few weeks. And we’re gonna design more stuff.

When I was younger, I wanted to be a clothing designer. And I have all these crazy ideas that I couldn’t really articulate. I can’t sew. I tried to take sewing classes, and it was a disaster. I just show them what my ideas are. And then Melo will come up with an idea around it, and Maria will execute it, and just nail the concept. So it’s been pretty incredible.

Do you have any favorite fashion designers just outside of, you know, stage presence, things like that that you personally like?

I really like Anna Bolina. I’m wearing some glasses of hers right now. The reason I like her stuff is that it’s just stuff I wear every day. Like, I have this hoodie by her. I wear it pretty much every single day. It has holes in it. I’ve worn it so much. I wear it during sessions, you know, when I’m working, whatever. I really love oversized things and feeling cozy. I wear these glasses pretty much every day as well. I had a concussion a few months back. I got the glasses in the mail, and I was like, these are the perfect concussion glasses. They are HUGE.

 

That’s right. Because you sort of get sensitive to light and stuff, too.

Yeah, they’re just so big.

 

So you’re in Tokyo shooting this music video. What role does the visual element play in your creative process?

I mean, it’s a massive part of the creative process. I really enjoyed being a creative director. I have so many ideas. It’s half the fun of working on a record. Where you get to come up with all these concepts and shoots. So many ideas all the time. So yeah, that’s what I’ve been doing the past few months, just writing and producing and coming up with crazy creative ideas for all the videos. It’s a lot of work, but super rewarding. I got to commission a lot of my friends to work on the stuff with me, which made me really happy. Like my friend, Collin Fletcher, did my layout and designed stuff for my physical record. He’s extremely talented. Then one of my best friends out in Tokyo, Marta Espinoza. She’s always wanted to direct. And I was like, Okay, you’re doing my next video. Getting to collaborate with friends has been a huge joy and very rewarding for me, for sure.

 

I feel like that’s the dream when you sort of develop something enough to where you can bring your friends on board.

Yeah, it’s like the perfect team.

You seem to take a lot of influence from the punk and hardcore scene. I know that you’re a fan of bands like Show Me The Body. Where do you find that sort of influence to shine the brightest in your process?

I did grow up around the hardcore scene. I wouldn’t specifically say I grew up in the punk scene or anything like that. I was always a little bit of a loner. I went to all types of shows and was influenced by so many different genres. I never really subscribed to any certain cliques or groups of people. I can appreciate all of my friends and all the different types of music they do. You know, go to their shows, support them. But across the board, I was around all sorts of musical influences growing up. I was more in the Bay Area scene. I was really influenced by screamo growing up. Then, a lot of my dad’s influences are classic rock, Bay Area rap, Sacramento rap, West Coast shit, and gospel music. I grew up in church. There are just so many influences across the board. I wouldn’t really necessarily say I was a part of any specific group or anything like that.

 

Are you a big Mac Dre fan?

I am, and I really, really love Andre Nickatina. He’s my favorite.

Hell yeah, I was just listening to “Train With No Love” the other day.

 

So finally, what advice do you have for any artists or creatives who are trying to make a career out of their artistic outlet?

You know, I was just talking with my friends because they’re on tour in Tokyo. It’s just a real blessing to travel the world and play shows. It’s so incredible. It’s a lot of hard work. I would just say, don’t move from a desperate place. You’ve got to be you; whatever you do needs to be authentic and come from within. Nobody’s going to care about what you’re doing as much as you do. You have to advocate for yourself because most people are not going to fully understand your vision, or they’re just not going to ride as hard for you as you will for yourself. So I think advocating for yourself, knowing and believing in yourself, and just being as authentically you as possible, because people can really sniff out when you’re a wannabe or, you know, when what you’re doing is contrived. There are just a lot of people, I would say, in the industry that do things for the wrong reasons. It’s got to come from the right place. It’s a lot of work, and it’s not an overnight thing. Believe in yourself and never, never give up, because you just don’t know what could potentially happen for you down the line. One moment could change the trajectory of your whole career.

Totally. It’s so funny to think back at like, I forgot what year it was, but it was when Amoeba was still at the old location in LA. I guess whoever was running the register was spinning your record, and I was like–

Are you in LA?

Yeah, I am. But I was like, Who is this? I was blown away. But that must have been like, at least like 2017 or 2018, something like that.

 

Probably, yeah, I feel like I’ve changed so much since then. Like the way I approach music, some of the stuff I’ve done in the past, I’m like, that lives on the internet forever. You know?

But you’re killing it. So amazing work.

Thank you so much.

 

When and where can we hear the new album, Oz?

Tentatively, it’s supposed to come out on October 24. I’m super excited. I haven’t put a record out in like four years. So many thanks to all the people who were involved in the process.

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OZ will be available on streaming services starting October 24th.
You can stay up-to-date with Kris and NGHTCRWLR via Instagram and through the Year0001 website.