All I Really Want
With every generation comes a new wave of artists who, while often influenced by their predecessors, push music forward reflecting the collective consciousness of their time. Mikaiah and Anaiah Lei, 21 and 17 respectively, are certainly representatives of this emerging class but, considering how long the duo has been making music as The Bots, they’ve got a solid head start on most of their peers. The LA-bred brothers recorded their first album nearly 6 years ago and have been rocking the festival circuit, starting with appearances on Warped Tour, ever since.
Musically, The Bots brand of rock is certainly a product of some of the great musicians of the past ranging from punk’s roots to contemporary icons in the genre. In fact, they’ve seemingly followed a chronological trajectory of the genre, fusing styles and injecting their unique twist along the way. In mastering the craft of those that came before them, The Bots have truly found their artistic identity and are poised to make an impact with their forthcoming album, Pink Palms, which will be released on October 14th via Fader Label.
We had a chance to catch up with the promising band at this year’s Outside Lands finding the brothers, as we expected, to exude an aura of youthful creativity. Check the conversation below, stream the first single from Pink Palms above and, if you’re digging it, grab the track on iTunes as well.
TMN: When did you first start listening to music and what was the first artist that you really got into?
Mikaiah: Our parents showed us a lot of good oldies and reggae growing up. I was listening to a lot of MTV stuff so that was, at the time, NSYNC, Backstreet Boys, Avril Lavigne, Green Day…
Anaiah: Do you even know a Backstreet Boys album?
Mikaiah: No, but that’s what I listened to!
Anaiah: I liked a lot of Reggae and Punk Rock music.
Mikaiah: Commercial radio and stuff like that was what I was into, but then I grew up. After the punk thing, I was like, okay, this is real cool music. I started weeding through all the other types of music and figuring out what I really liked. As I grew a bit older, I realized I shouldn’t be so worried about what people think if I like Madonna or whatever. I listen to everything now, but back then it was a lot of Reggae and Oldies. When we came to a certain age, our father introduced more 80s hard core. It was a lot of Black Flag. Also, Rock ’n Roll like Ramones and, everything more classic, like Led Zeppelin and ACDC—it was punk and then all the rock bands. That’s when we found out what we really like. We like rock music. Anaiah listens to a bunch of stuff, I listen to a bunch of stuff. We share music and that’s how we keep things interesting in the band itself when writing. Continue reading
