All photos credit: Ashley Mck
I’m about five minutes into my chat with Lennon KC, and it’s become clear that he’s an artist who doesn’t wait for permission to switch lanes. Here’s a singer-songwriter who has spent the last two years self-producing music that floats between fuzzy indie rock, folk pop, and electronic experimentation. Somehow all within the same project.
His 2024 debut full-length, Manic Pixie Dream Boy, showcased a knack for turning raw acoustic songs into something fuller and stranger. But the way he chose to follow it up with the EP, don’t give me sympathy, i’ll take it., went the other direction entirely. Born out of hermit-mode production sessions, he dove headfirst into the emotional void that can follow putting everything you have into a piece of art.
Don’t let that fool you into thinking he isn’t collaborative. You can catch him performing as a duo with his drummer, Niko Fedin, or shooting DIY music videos with his collaborator, Austin Avery. It’s clear he’d rather build something real in Durham than chase the obvious path somewhere else.
What have you been listening to lately?
Lennon: Honestly, I’ve been listening to a lot of demos that friends send me, which is really cool. I send my demos to them and vice versa. This duo Jia has a project called Yes, No Question that I’ve been beating to death.
I just put together a playlist of songs I remember listening to in the backseat as a kid: “Simple Man” by Lynyrd Skynyrd, “Fire on the Mountain” by The Grateful Dead, “Use Me” by Bill Withers. That’s what I was listening to yesterday. I’ve also been listening to a lot of Wet Leg. They just put out a second record [Moisturizer] not too long ago and it’s really good.
How do you approach giving feedback to friends who send you demos? Is it an in-depth critique or more of a vibe check?
Lennon: Usually, I have one friend in particular that I’ll send all my demos to; it’s my buddy Austin Avery. He was one of the first creatives I met when I started doing this, so we’ve developed enough rapport that we don’t have to do any of the niceties. It’s just like, “Hey, I really liked this bar, but the volume’s inconsistent here,” or “This is something new and different from your other stuff.”
It’s fun too, because if he sends me something, I’ll get a little boost and be like, “All right, let me make something today,” and send it back his way. There’s not a whole lot of in-depth feedback unless it’s something one of us specifically asks for.
Though I do have to mention that my girlfriend hears all of it too. Sometimes I’ll think I don’t like something and play it for her anyway, and she’ll say, “I don’t think I like that part either,” and she’s right. She’s the wall I bounce all my ideas off of.
Who is the first musician you remember discovering on your own — or having introduced to you — where you just became completely obsessed?
Lennon: As a kid, I would listen to Jack Johnson’s Curious George album every night to fall asleep. So when I started writing on acoustic guitar, I was diving deep into all his stuff. But the first artist I found on my own was probably Dominic Fike when he dropped his Don’t Forget About Me, Demos. They just felt fun, with great songs and a lot of good energy. I liked the genre blending he was doing, and it really resonated with me.
What was the first instrument you learned, and how did that translate into your songwriting process?
Lennon: I taught myself guitar, and that slowly turned into writing a bunch of terrible songs that eventually turned into a few good ones. Towards the end of college is when I met Austin, who was the first creative I met outside of school. Then I met another group of people, and we worked on my first project, Culdesac Kid, together.
That was my first real collaborative recording experience. It gave me a lot of insight into the recording process and all its different facets, because up until that point, I was just writing songs on acoustic guitar and recording them on voice memos. Listening back was painstaking, but it made me a better singer and a better writer. Eventually, after working on that collaborative project, I started teaching myself production. I’ve been playing a lot more electric guitar, I have an Orchid digital synthesizer, and I use a Roland 404 sampling machine too.
Did you always perform under your own name? Was the music you started putting out in 2023 your first foray into releasing music publicly?
Lennon: In college, I was in a cover band. That’s where I got my first taste of performing and got to experiment. We played the Lovin’ Life Music Fest and won the battle of bands there. At that point, I had my own songs I was working on, and I wanted to try to incorporate both the solo stuff and the band stuff, but it just hit its natural course.
So I went off to pursue the solo thing, writing songs and collaborating on the Culdesac Kid project. I did a couple of solo gigs under my personal name, and at one of those gigs the guy running sound, Niko, ended up becoming my drummer. So now the live set is a duo under Lennon KC, but I’m looking for a bassist!
Your last record had this blend of indie rock: not afraid to get gentle, aggressive, or a little noisy, but also with this poppy, folky sensibility. When there are so many directions to go, how do you focus that into what you put out?
Lennon: I really try not to think too much about the label or the genre while I’m making it. That’s something I tend to look at after the fact. The different sounds come from what I’m working with at the time, who I’m working with, what instruments I have, how I’m feeling, and what I’m listening to.
For Manic Pixie Dream Boy, a lot of those were older songs I’d written when I was just on acoustic, and I knew I wanted to build them up more. I just didn’t have the tools yet. So it was like, “These are really good songs, let me get them out,” and I started building and recording around them, which inspired a few more songs to kind of glue the whole project together.
Then once I finished the mixing, mastering, and recording for Manic Pixie Dream Boy, I was really pent up, and the pendulum kind of swung the other way for this EP. Instead of a song starting on acoustic guitar and then building around it, I was messing around with my newfound production skills, just having fun and experimenting. I built out some beats I really liked, then the title kind of came to me, and the lyrics were built around the concept after the fact. I was in total hermit mode, locked in my studio going a little bit crazy, with a lot of pent-up energy and emotion that went into this EP [don’t give me sympathy, i’ll take it.].
What was the response like to the progression of your music? It’s been a pretty prolific run when you look back at all the singles.
Lennon: For the EP, I guess we’ll find out Friday; more data will come in due time. But my friends, family, and the people I talk to love my music. And I love my music, so I’m happy right there.
Usually I make something and then a few months later I’ll return to it and gleam more about what I was thinking and what I was going through. If I’m thinking about all of that in the moment while I’m recording, it gets messy.
I love that you’re making music videos. It feels like a bit of a lost art, especially for smaller local artists. What’s your process?
Lennon: For Manic Pixie Dream Boy, I was way aspirational. I told my buddy, “We’re going to do a video for every single song,” which was completely delusional and did not happen, but it fueled the ones that did.
Austin and I have done most of the videos together. Usually I’ll text him about a song I want to do a video for, we’ll talk about it briefly, I’ll sit with it and come up with some scenes, themes, and locations, and we’ll land on a few pillars. We haven’t gotten to the point of diligently storyboarding everything out, and honestly part of that is beautiful. When we get there, we’re just winging it. It’s kind of like freestyling over a beat.
We shoot it all in one day, and then I sit down at my computer and piece the story together in post. The more we’ve done, the better I’ve gotten at knowing what pieces are essential to make the editing go smoother. We just did one for “2die4” at a church in Hillsborough and I’m working on editing it now. I went to school for video editing, so it ties into that. It’s just another way to express the song, and it’s fun!
When you look back on last year, what was your top highlight?
Lennon: For the Manic Pixie Dream Boy release, we did a show at The Portals in Raleigh on the release date and played the album front to back. I was in full makeup, and by the end I was sweating, makeup burning in my eyes. But it just added to the whole show.
My buddy Austin was wearing this mask, we really did up the theatrics, there was a glass bottle going over my head. It was a ton of work and I think it was a huge success. The narrative of Manic Pixie Dream Boy front to back was really strong, so it was cool to personify that for the live show.
And then we played the Mercury Lounge in New York City — our first out-of-state show and first time in New York. I got to see some friends up there who’d never seen me play, so that was just a really good time all together.
How did the Mercury Lounge show come together as your first out-of-state show? That’s a pretty unexpected jump.
Lennon: It totally was. I had been thinking for a little while that I was going to move to New York, but ended up staying here and I’m really happy about that. But I was like, “I have some friends up there, my uncle lives there, we could stay with him, let’s try and get a show.” My drummer also runs sound for a booking agency, so through a couple of degrees we got in touch with Mercury Lounge. I found a couple of bands, put together a bill, pitched it, and they gave us a Tuesday.
We had about 50 people in the room, which was pretty solid for a weekday. And you can just feel it in the atmosphere, like if you’ve been to Cat’s Cradle — you can feel that “Oh yeah, there have been some shows here” energy.
Any other aspirations for out-of-state shows or goals for the rest of the year?
Lennon: It’s been a while since I’ve played in Charlotte, and I actually got a last-minute add to a show with Under High Street at Snug Harbor on March 20th. I’m excited to get back out there and play for the people who know me and maybe some new ones too.
The local scene in North Carolina is really strong, and the Triangle in particular just has a really underrated music scene. I’m proud to be in Durham and building from the inside out. Going to New York City is cool, and I know Nashville and LA are big music towns, but it’s important to me to establish connection with the local community here first. Maybe Richmond, I’ve heard, has a cool scene too. Right now I’m focused on making music and making friends who play good music.
Who are some of your favorite local Durham/Triangle or North Carolina musicians you’d want to shout out?
Lennon: Shout out Emerson Bruno, he’s a great guy. I’m playing a show soon with Bedroom Division. Dylan is awesome, they’ve got a nice indie pop sound and I love all those guys. My buddy Maximilian is in Biking with Francis and he’ll be playing a show at Rubies on Five Points later this month. He’s got an awesome sound, and he and Max and Austin and I have actually been collaborating on some music together. Super talented. I also love Lady Die from Wilmington. And rest in peace, Megabitch.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
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