When The Kaleidoscope Kid embarked on his healing journey with his dog Blue, his only goal was to find reprieve from his tremendous physical pain, but what he discovered was so much more. With only his guitar and dog he cataloged his tale that not only cured his physical pain but also fed his soul on his debut album, The Kaleidoscope Kid. The new album is due out April 22 on the tastemaker label, Suburban Noize Records. Pre-save and Order here: https://fanlink.to/kaleidoscopekid
About 5 years ago, the Phoenix based musician was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease that left him unable to leave a hospital bed and near death. He found renewed life through music, an escape from pain, by teaching himself to play guitar and write songs. Losing faith in traditional Western medicine and baffling doctors who gave countless misdiagnoses, The Kaleidoscope Kid turned to Eastern medicine and psychedelics.
Kaleidoscope walked out of the hospital, sold his worldly possessions, and moved to Sedona with his guitar and dog, Blue. He lived off the grid in a remote cabin for years, wrote music while he focused on healing with reishi mushrooms, organic berries, and Sedona spring water. His holistic approach to recovery worked and he eventually started to experiment with hallucinogenic mushrooms sometimes tripping for weeks at a time. Through this process, he found his calling and decided to dedicate his life to music. He returned to Phoenix and lived in a recording studio where he recorded his first demos that eventually got him signed to indie powerhouse label Suburban Noize Records.
Kaleidoscope states, “Writing music for me is medicine, through my own growth, self acceptance, and healing. I can learn to be there better for myself and others, and show up fully to life. There is a magic to any creation but for me writing music has been a way to alchemize even the most difficult moments of my life and turn them into something beautiful.”
Although a true newcomer to the music scene, Kaleidoscope’s discography leaps and bounds between spaces, leaning on his charisma to bring the listener along for the ride. A fan of an extensive catalog of inspirations that span from Beck, Pink Floyd, to Bob Marley and Sublime— his work is a reflection of intentionality and passion for the craft. Taking pieces of his life and translating them into his sound Kaleidoscope has created a unique concoction of his blues-style guitar blended with hip-hop percussion and soulful vocals. The new record takes listeners into an ethereal world that’s equal parts relatable and entrancing with The Kaleidoscope Kid and his dog, Blue.
The collection of songs presented on The Kaleidoscope Kid are a culmination of stories from his time in the Sedona cabin. Kaleidoscope recalls, “These are the adventures of myself and my dog Blue, who was my best friend during those times of living in Sedona, wandering into the forest with no destination in mind. Anytime I would play my guitar blue would lay at my feet to listen. As long as Blue liked the songs I was happy.”
The first single released under his new label deal with Suburban Noize, and on The Kaleidoscope Kid, was “Hold Up.” It continues to gain momentum with his edgy vocals and idiosyncratic flows. Kaleidoscope declares, “Be careful not to fall down the rabbit hole. “Hold up” takes you on a magic carpet ride, through a psychedelic landscape like Never before!” Gaining fan and tastemaker accolades, the song has surpassed over two million streams on Spotify. The music video for the song plays like a cinematic homage to Breaking Bad, with the singer wrestling with a bad trip and burying himself — or his former self — in a shallow desert grave.
The second single and music video from The Kaleidoscope Kid was “Watermelon Kisses.” With the maturity of ‘old soul, The Kaleidoscope Kids sings about being young and in love over a funky beat and some breezy acoustic guitars. Kaleidoscope recalls, “The song ‘Watermelon Kisses’ was inspired by the beauty of a new relationship. The concept is based around what it feels like to first fall in love with someone,” he continues, “At the time in my life when the song was written, I had just recovered from a broken heart and I wasn’t sure if I would ever experience that connection again. Shortly after I met a beautiful woman who inspired the song and reminded me that everything happens for a reason.”
The Kaleidoscope Kid was written, recorded, and produced all by The Kaleidoscope Kid with mixing and mastering by Matthew Campbell at Vaul Studios in Scottsdale, AZ. Kaleidoscope returned to Sedona to record the album and he recalls, “The songs were all recorded in a cabin in the woods where I was living at the time. It seemed more as though the location chose me. And with the solitude and freedom offered by the surrounding forest, the songs of the birds and the creek, it was the perfect place to get lost in a world of my own creations.”
The album artwork is by Mossy Giant, who Kaleidoscope met through his music and found they were mutual fans of each other’s work. After hearing Kaleidoscope’s story he created the one of a kind piece of art to commemorate the friendship with Blue and their journey. Joining Kaleidoscope on the record is Big B (Suburban Noize, OPM) Kaleidoscope comments, “Big B had reached out to me after hearing some of my music, and we immediately started talking about doing a song together! He really helped open a new door for me, and I’m so stoked to have him be involved with this record!” He appears on the last song “Maniac,” where Kaleidoscope closes the album with the sad story of Blue passing away.
With the new album The Kaleidoscope Kid , Kaleidoscope Kid has created a wonderfully creative musical playground that is an immersive escape from daily life. It is a psychedelic trip, reminiscent of The Kaleidoscope Kid’s own journey that traversed living in a cabin in the woods away from civilization for years to battling an autoimmune disease that almost cost him his life. Armed with blues-style electric guitar riffs and hip-hop percussion, The Kaleidoscope Kid emerged from his journey with a powerful self-titled debut album The Kaleidoscope Kid dropping April 22, 2022 everywhere you stream music.
Pre-save and Order here: https://fanlink.to/kaleidoscopekid
ALBUM TRACKLIST
- “Hold Up”
- “Watermelon Kisses”
- “Stampede”
- “Cause and Effect”
- “Fight or Flight”
- “The Kaleidoscope Kid”
- “It’s All Love”
- “Hell or High Water”
- “Maniac” ft. Big B
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