Black Kites Loki CD

Black Kites first began in the fall of 2001 as a side project for Amy Burmeister (formerly of Jet by Day). She recruited Susannah Barnes, a college friend, and Michelle Cox, a high school and college acquaintance, to join her on violin and keyboards, respectively. After practicing once or twice, the trio decided that the bass/violin/keyboard line-up did not provide enough rock power for their desired sound. Amy picked up a guitar for the first time, Susannah made the switch to bass guitar, and Michelle made use of her limited guitar experience - all striving to propel the band forward in the arena of complex, guitar driven rock.The trio met sporadically throughout the first half of 2002, hindered by Amy's rigorous touring schedule with Jet by Day and Michelle's out-of-town job. In August of 2002, Brody Boyer (former drummer of Your American Math) joined forces with the girls and the group began solidifying a then-instrumental set of dark math-rock influenced songs. After their first show in December 2002, Joie Hoke (of 3d5spd) rounded out the line-up as lead vocalist/keyboardist, introducing an upbeat pop element to the group's sound.Black Kites' self-released debut album, Loki, blends creative, math-influenced rock with pop vocal sensibility to create a sound that at once challenges and satisfies the listening ear. It was recorded on a borrowed 1/2 inch reel-to-reel 8-track by Chris Hoke, Joie's husband and 3d5spd band mate, in the Hokes' East Atlanta home. Though Chris had never recorded a CD before, his production talent and attention to detail soon became obvious to the band. What started out as a three song demo quickly snowballed into an all-out recording frenzy, churning out an album that has elicited comparison to material from the Breeders, Lush, Luscious Jackson, Fugazi, Erase Errata, and Blonde Redhead.