levi kitchen - Using the tools he's given

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Article Featured in Eguide Magazine in 2017, By Johnny Griffith

Technology has at times been simultaneously loved and hated by musicians and fans alike over the years but there is no question that it is easier for musicians to do more on an individual basis now than ever before. One East Texan who has embraced technology on his quest to share his love of music with the masses is Levi Kitchen.

Born into an artistic family in Arlington, Texas in 1985, Kitchen’s family moved to Kilgore when his father became an art professor there. Growing up in Kilgore through school and college, he started tinkering with the guitar around age 10. Heavily influenced by his dad and brothers musical abilities as well as their eclectic taste in performers, Levi quickly went from tinkering with music to full-fledged mastery as he started writing and performing in his teens and eventually majored in musical performance in college. Later he branched out from guitar and is also capable on drums, bass, piano, trumpet, and djembe but dabbles with other stringed instruments like ukulele, mandolin, and others. Now, as a solo act with several albums and production credits to his name, Levi performs on stage with his guitar, a loop pedal, and his imagination. Levi took a break from his current schedule to answer a few questions about what it’s like to be Levi Kitchen.

Johnny: You are known for taking control of the creative process and utilizing technology when you perform to create a virtual backup band through loops and imagination. What drove that choice?

Levi: I didn’t start using a loop station to do a one-man-band show until about six years ago, but the solo idea was certainly built in from the start. I produced my first album at the age of 15, on which I wrote and played everything myself, including the guitars, drums, bass, keys, and turntables. From that point on I knew that I preferred the creative process of writing the songs and building the recordings entirely by myself, but traditional methods die hard, so I spent the better part of a decade playing in about a dozen different bands. When loop stations first started coming out I largely ignored them for years, not realizing the potential. Once again, one of my big brothers influenced me by giving me a very rudimentary loop station that I began to tinker with. It wasn’t long then before I realized that I could build an entire performance around the concept of looping sounds live.

Johnny: What are the challenges of using the loop pedal during the gig, and how receptive have audiences been to your style in this area so heavily dominated by country and rock?

Levi: The challenges are many. For one, getting your timing right is crucial. If you miss your loop timing by the tiniest fraction of a second the song is essentially ruined. Doing all the complicated timing with your feet, while playing and singing or beatboxing at the same time can be mentally taxing. It requires a honing of intense multitasking. It took years of doing this process repetitively to get to the point that I don’t ruin at least one loop per show.

As far as how receptive audiences in this area have been, I’d say they were not very interested in it at first. Some people still don’t understand what I’m doing when they watch me. The people who do get it are always amazed when they realize what’s happening. I’ve made it a point to usually explain the process as part of my show. This seems to help people snap into the groove. As technology advances and more people get exposed to the art of looping, the response has changed. I’ve seen a more positive response recently as people’s understanding catches up with the technology.

Johnny: You’ve been at this for about 15 years, yet you’re still young. What has been the biggest lesson you’ve learned over the first decade and a half?

Levi: “Love, love, love! That is the soul of genius!” – Mozart

Do music because you love it, not because you want attention or money. Do music because you love it, and those other things might follow, but above all, if you’re not doing it because you love it, you will eventually fail or be miserable. I love music more than food. I can hardly bring myself to do other things most of the time. So, love is the biggest lesson in the first fifteen years, but also in the next 15 years. Love will always be the biggest lesson.

My personal goal in life is to bring people joy through music. When I accomplish this task at shows, it gives me a sense of fulfillment and purpose that little else ever has in this life.

Johnny: You’re all over the board with your cover tunes selection for your shows, but how would you describe your original music?

Levi: My original stuff is also all over the board. I write everything from rock to reggae to pop and R&B. There are even some original country, and praise and worship in there. I’ve actually had a hard time being able to categorize what I do, which is part of my problem as an artist. When you can’t be placed in a category with other similar artists, then you are more difficult to find. People will stumble across your music more often when there’s other fan-bases to cross over with. It’s easier to catch traction with audiences of one certain, established style, but I threw caution to the wind on that subject since day one. I never allowed myself to be boxed in by any traditional methods or styles.

As a result, I may be one of the weirdest artists in East Texas, and I’m proud of that. Not that I pursue weirdness for the sake of weirdness. On the contrary, the reflection of my soul emerges as different sounds at any given time. I’ve actually never fully understood how somebody can just be a country artist. Or how they can only be a rock artist. I find that view to be extremely closed-minded. I love music so much, I like to play with it all, in every way I can.

Johnny: How much of your material during your shows is original?

Levi: This will vary greatly from show to show, but I like to keep it at least 20% original or so. I have so much original material that I could easily do a full three hours of it, but people delight in the familiarity of the covers. When faced with an audience that’s never heard me, the balance will shift more towards covers for that reason. Their initial impression will be greatly enhanced by allowing them to hear songs they’re already familiar with. When faced with a crowd that pays attention to my albums and requests original songs, I will lean more heavily on original, of course. It’s all about them and bringing them joy, in whatever form they request it in.

Johnny: You have several albums on your website. Did you self-produce all of these? If so, how has that process helped you hone your live show quality?

Levi: I do produce all of my own recordings, but it doesn’t stop there. I produce other artists as well. I’ve had the privilege of having artists drive here all the way from Los Angeles and Nashville to record in my little studio. If I had to guess, I’d say over the years I’ve been the engineer/producer for literally thousands of original songs for myself and other artists. The knowledge of production helps tremendously in understanding how to manipulate frequency ranges in the live setting. I can tackle sound issues in a heartbeat because it’s never confusing. Recording and producing for so many years aided in the understanding of all things musical and sound related.

Johnny: What are you most excited about coming up in the new year?

Levi: I’m very excited about putting out a new album, but also about playing more often in Dallas. I’ve played Dallas many times before, but for some reason, Dallas seems to be getting more interested lately. I’ll be performing in Dallas five times next month, compared to the two or three times per year I’ve played there in the past.

Johnny: How big of a role has your family played in your success so far?

Levi: The biggest role in my journey has always been my family. They are what started it all, and wherever I end up, it’ll be because of them as much as anything that I manage to do on my own. My parents allowed us to turn their garage into our first recording studio when I was 14. That was one of the biggest decisions to ever affect my life. My parent’s amazing ability to cope with unreasonable volume and noise for so many years just blows my mind.

Johnny: Do you consider yourself a full-time musician or are you still working a day gig to fund the process?

Levi: I have been a full-time musician for 7 years now. I own my own house and studio that I support 100% through musical endeavors. Before I went full-time music, I was also a radio DJ for two years, so in a way, you could even say music was already paying my bills full time as of 9 years ago, just in a different way.

Johnny: What do you try to leave the audience with at the end of a Levi Kitchen performance?

Levi: Joy! My primary focus in life is to bring people joy through music.

Aside from that, I try to leave them with an opportunity to rethink the stereotypes our society has attached to music as well as allow them to walk out with undamaged ears. I want to stimulate their neurons with one of the finest brain stimulants ever discovered: music! (Seriously, do some research and read the studies if you’re not familiar with the myriad of brain benefits of music.)

For more info on Levi Kitchen and to listen to his music go to levikitchenmusic.com.

This article was published in Eguide Magazine in 2017.

Article Featured in Eguide Magazine in 2020, By Johnny Griffith

It’s always fun to check back in with people we’ve interviewed in the past and see what they are up to a couple of years later. This month I got to sit back down with Levi Kitchen and check back in with him about 3 years after our last interview. If you’re not familiar, Levi is a veritable one-man band. A multi-instrumentalist who utilizes looping technology to lay down his own background music on the fly, Kitchen has been bringing his unique brand of entertainment to stages around East Texas for almost 20 years now. A man of many talents and constantly creating, Levi took some time out to catch us up on what’s been going on lately:

Johnny: It’s hard to believe, but it’s been 3 years since we last did an interview. What are some of the more significant events for you during that period?

Levi: Being hired to perform for political fundraisers for district judges, state representatives, and even the Longview Fire Marshal’s retirement party were a few proud moments. That last one resulted from the Fire Marshal being called to my house because a neighbor thought my studio was on fire, but then he obtained my business card and later hired me to play his party. I was shocked to be hired by several different Chambers of Commerce, including Lindale, where I performed for Miranda Lambert’s friends and family. I had the opportunity to do several radio interviews and had original compositions placed in different video and film productions. Seeing your name in movie credits is a cool feeling and my music was the background in some national television commercials.

Johnny: I’ve been able to catch a couple of your shows this past year and they’re still as impressive as ever. Has the technology improved or evolved that makes the process a little easier?

Levi: It’s not getting easier. The technology is advancing, of course, but it gets more complicated as it advances and that’s not always a step in an easier direction. I have a newer, “better” loop station that I’m still currently not using at shows because it’s taking me quite a while to learn the new one as well as I know the old loop station. The familiarity with the equipment during the performance is crucial to the success of a looping performance. When performing, I still use the old faithful BOSS RC-300, which has been top of the looping heap for a decade. The next step up from this pedal has traditionally been looping programs that require you to use a computer. But now I practice with a newer, more advanced loopstation regularly to achieve the kind of familiarity necessary to perform with it. It’s called a “Headrush” and it’s going to be a big leap in technology for me when I finally decide to bring it into my live performance. Practicing a new loop station is like learning a new instrument, to a certain extent. It might take me over a year to implement the new loop station to a satisfactory level of smooth operation.

Johnny: About how many shows a month are you playing these days?

Levi: Within the past few years I reached a point where I was getting hired to perform so often that I had to cut back. The grueling pace I set for myself was beginning to wear me out. I was holding down 5 or 6 shows per week for several years, which left very little room for other things in life. I have intentionally cut it back to doing about 3 performances per week these days, but I pick and choose now which venues or events I actually want to do where previously I used to just play anything I could get my hands on.

Johnny: Last time we spoke, you were looking forward to playing more shows over in the Dallas area. Have you made any progress playing more shows out of the greater Tyler area?

Levi: As far as Dallas, I have been invited to play all kinds of things over there that I have avoided on purpose. In the past few years, I have traveled to Dallas at least several times to perform for weddings, mostly. I will just be honest here and say, ironically, I’m very introverted and prefer quiet, peaceful environments. When I go to Dallas, all I can think about is getting back to a comfortable setting like East Texas. I have played nearly everywhere there is to play in Tyler at some point over the years, as well as the Longview area, and just about every small town within an hour or two of Longview. I prefer it out here in East Texas over the chaotic frenzy of large, busy cities. Staying here is intentional at this point. I’m not looking for more attention or trying to expand my range or anything. People just keep hiring me to jam all around East Texas so I keep on jamming. I’m happy playing my little shows around here and I never saw much happiness down the path of the nationally touring artist, but that’s just a personal preference. 

Johnny: You were also about to put out a new album at that time as well. How did that turn out?

Levi: I’m still fiddling around with hundreds of recordings in my home studio. I have been working for almost ten years now on a musical, spoken word audiobook in the epic sci-fi fantasy genre as well. I have created hours of this wild, unprecedented thing, but it still needs years of work before completion. This illustrates what is likely one of my biggest problems as an artist. I get distracted by interesting projects that never see the light of day because I don’t care much about what people are expecting of me. If I get caught up in the joy of creation, I don’t waste much time worrying about what is trendy or in-demand. I just dive into it and bask in the joy of disappearing completely into the alternate universe I’ve created with this music and story. So I’ve been somewhat distracted from making a new album. Aside from this, the need to combine songs into an “album” isn’t quite as applicable as it once was. Digital distribution has allowed artists the ability to cheaply publish singles as often as they want or, like me, they can choose their own method of distribution. Personally, I make very little money off of original works, but I make almost my entire living off of performing shows which consist mostly of covers. People are using music streaming services now more often than making purchases, so musicians these days are living in a rapidly changing landscape. 

Johnny: So in addition to your music performance, you have been producing music for several years as well. What are some of your more memorable projects in that area?

Levi: I’ve been producing music for twenty years now. Those early years, my brothers and I were just kids with a garage studio, but we still had customers paying to have us record and produce them, so it still counts. It was probably about 1998 when my brothers and I spent one summer painting these massive banners for the Rangerettes to use at their Cotton Bowl half-time show. By painting these banners, and also painting some fireworks stand signs in Kilgore, we earned enough money to buy the best recording studio gear we could get our teenage claws on at the time. The first time I ever earned money as a studio engineer was in 1999. I was 14 years old. Some notable mentions and really good times were had by all over many years when I had the opportunities to produce and record Ally Venable, Lulu and the Black Sheep, Darby Warren, Andrew Beason, 3WeeksPlay, Daniel Foster, Jasmine Nyvall, Lane Rogers, David Smith, Biff Rushton, Allen Wayne Nichols, King Richard, and the Bayou Boys, Gypsy Rebel – lots of great artists and too many others to mention have recorded in my humble shack!

Johnny: As 2020 rolls in, what is on your radar this year that has you excited?

Levi: I intend to buy land this year and build my next studio by some water where I can create an aesthetically pleasing environment for musicians to create and record in. My little south Longview shack has lived its life as a studio and it’s time to take these creative energies to a pleasing new environment soon. Aside from this big dream, it’ll be business as usual in 2020 I suspect. I’ll play a lot of shows and spend the rest of my time hiding from everyone, tinkering with robots and strange invention ideas. I’m also getting married on Leap Day, Feb 29th. My fiance and I suspect we’re about the weirdest people we know, so we picked the weirdest day we could think of to get married on. We’ll only have an anniversary every four years and there’s no possible way I could forget the date. 

Johnny: What do you feel is your best memory of your musical career so far?

Levi: I remember a moment ten years ago when I jumped up in joy and danced around my studio because I had booked 3-5 shows per week for four months in advance. Up until this point in my career, I had always worked another job. The realization suddenly dawned on me that I could do this full time. I guess you could metaphorically call it the day that I “quit my day job.” I felt at that moment that I had finally achieved a lifelong obsession that started when I was ten years old, dreaming of earning my living with music someday. I danced like I knew nobody was watching, and thankfully, nobody was watching. Strangely, and to my ongoing surprise, things continue to proceed in much the same way ever since.