What are your Full names?
James Carn
Leon Vandol
What is your band’s Genre?
Urban/Rock
Give us a little bio of the band and you guys as individual.
Streets Made Innovators (S.M.I.) are an English production duo composed of Leon Vandol and James ‘Carnage’ Carn. The duo are from London and were formed in 2012 after being introduced by a mutual friend.
With Vandol already producing alone under S.M.I and Carnage gigging as a session guitarist, they were both looking for the next piece of the puzzle in their music careers and having found a natural energy in the studio, the current S.M.I was born.
Carnage’s love for funk and rock music mixed with Vandol’s already established minimalist beats and their shared love of jazz, soul and blues, helped formed S.M.I’s distinct sound it is today.
Where did you get the band name from?
Vandol’s brother thought of the name
Who does what in the band?
I.e. who does the vocals, who plays what, who writes the songs
The music is written by a combined effort of Vandol and James in the studio. Vandol focuses more on the keys and general direction of the songs, whilst James supplies the guitar work and melodies.
Are You Signed?
Independent
What instruments do you play?
Guitar, Bass, Drums and Piano
How did the band come about?
As an outlet to express our musical visions.
When will you guys be releasing new music?
Soon
You say you’re going to be starting a pledge campaign soon, Tell us more about it.
Morning light is our next release it features ?
Who is singing the vocals?The singer remains a mystery. Who is he?
What will we expect from your new music?
A fresh sound, with good rhythms and catchy hooks
Any tours in the planning?
if so where abouts.
Not at the moment.
How did you guys meet?
In a pub, by a mutual friend
Who are your influences?
Vandol – Timbaland, Wookie, Jermain dupri, Dre, the list goes on
James – Red Hot chili Peppers, John Butler, Parliament/Funkadelic
What are your backgrounds whether it’s in music or not?
The wallpaper of our phones? I think this question is irrelevant to today’s society.
How did music come in to your lives and when did you start doing it?
James: Music has always been in my life. I’ve been listening to a lot of music every since I was very young. It’s always something that has captured me. I first picked up a guitar when I was 13, in a school band.
Vandol from the day I was born.
How do you get inspiration to write songs?
When writing lyrics, they come from concepts that we pick up on all around us, we constantly take notes of phrases, quotes and sayings. Or just feelings people have. When writing the music, it starts with a riff, that’s a spark and it just escalates as we add different ideas into a track. At times it can be all very trial and error. We like experimenting with different styles to see how it can all fit together.
What is your best moment since being in the band if you have any?
Getting lost in the song creating process in the studio, We love creating and bouncing ideas and energies from one another.
What’s the best bit of advice have you ever recieved?
Don’t buy into peoples hype, create your own hype, time waits for no man, invest in yourself.
Where do you see the band in 2-5 years’ time?
Hopefully, writing music for mainstream artists, defining a new genre and changing the game up.
Where would your dream place be to perform in the UK?
Glastonbury Festival
Where is your dream place to perform in USA?
Woodstock, Coachella, Burning Man
If you could do collaboration with anyone in the UK who would it be?
Tinie Tempah, he just has that vision
If you could do a collaboration with anyone in USA who would it be?
Rihanna for all the wrong reasons lool
Can you give any smaller or local bands looking to get gigs and airplay some tips?
Just be yourself, don’t try to emulate others too much, just because someone has a winning formula, it doesn’t mean it’s the only formula. There’ll always be a market for your own brand of music, no matter how obscure it is.
If you weren’t doing music what would you be doing?
Probably being a beach bum somewhere, trying to woo sexy natives with my guitar and penchant for rhyme.
What are five things you need whilst on tour/at a gig?
Mobile phone
Mac book
Food
Guitar
Daiquiris
If you got asked by a tv show or film to have your music played on, which show or film would it be?
Any Tarantino or Wes Anderson films
Do you have a website, social media pages and music pages for your fans?
Yes.
www.facebook.com/streetsmadeinnovators
www.smiproductions.com – this has links to all of our social media pages also
