By John Bonus, Transcript Reporter
The Campus Programming Board has planned a concert for students during homecoming weekend featuring Cardiknox, an indie-pop band from Seattle, Washington.
The group consists of vocalist Lonnie Angle and instrumentalist Thomas Dutton, who formed the band in 2013.
Cardiknox performed at Ohio Wesleyan on Oct. 8.
The Transcript: How did you come up with the name?
Angle: Cardinaux is Dutton’s mother’s maiden name. It’s a French name and Americans have a tough time pronouncing it, but we thought it sounded cool, so we poached it and made it Cardiknox.
The Transcript: How did the band come together?
Dutton: I was in a band before called Forgive Durden and we had made a kind of rock opera album. We were working to make it into a musical in Seattle and that’s where I met Angle. She was helping us with the musical and we started writing pop songs together. After working together for a while, we decided we wanted to form a band and that’s how Cardiknox started.
The Transcript: You released your first album in March. How did it feel to release your first studio album? Angle: It was wonderful! We spent a very dedicated six months writing and recording music and in the process of doing that we signed a deal with Warner Bros. When you sign with a major label like that, the timeline can be delayed so we weren’t able to release the album for an entire year after writing it. We were so ready to get the songs out into the world and now that it is, it’s been amazing touring and having people know our songs.
The Transcript: How do you describe your music to people, especially in regard to your album? Dutton: I usually tell people it is like electropop, but it incorporates a lot of indie sounds as well as pop from the 80s.
The Transcript: What artists/music has inspired your sound?
Dutton: We’ve been inspired by a lot of music, especially what we grew up listening to. We draw influence from artists like Madonna, Michael Jackson and Cyndi Lauper. As far as production, I also draw a lot of intuition from hip-hop artists like Drake and Kanye [West]. So it’s pretty much anything we are into or that has moved us.
The Transcript: What is your music about and is there a theme to your album? Angle: When we were writing it, we didn’t go into the studio saying to ourselves, “We have to write an album that sounds like xyz,” but in looking back now, we can see that it really is a reflection of where we were at in that moment of our lives both personally and professionally. I had issues with a big family trauma as my parents split up after 39 years and heartache really wove its way into a lot of the songs. Also, Thomas and I have been fighting for this dream of making this band into a reality and that’s not an easy task, as much as it may seem from the outside. So we see these themes of perseverance and believing in yourself unintentionally because it’s what we were thinking about when we made the music.
The Transcript: Are you working on any new projects now? Dutton: We actually were just able to start writing again about a month ago, but now that we are on tour, it might be difficult to start making music. Some people like making music on the road, but to me, touring and making music are two very different things and I find it hard to be in both of those head spaces at once.
The Transcript: How is life on tour? Angle: It’s been great. We’ve only been on the road for a couple days now and this is a shorter tour than we have done before, but it is a lot of fun. This year we’ve done three national tours already with different artists and we’ve seen a lot of different venues and audiences. This tour is different because it is all colleges, which is rad.
The Transcript: Is there a difference between playing regular shows and college shows? Dutton: Yeah, totally. Often times when you’re playing a normal tour and hitting big cities you’re usually in dingier parts of town and there isn’t much to go and do. But playing at colleges means you get to go to these beautiful campuses with amazing buildings and landscapes. The students also make a huge difference and are really energizing, especially since we are at the beginning of the school year and there is some of that fall college magic in the air. It’s a really refreshing change.
The Transcript: What are you both into outside of music? Angle: I love food and wine and I love cooking with friends and having dinner parties. In general, I just love spending time with family, friends and dog.
Dutton: When I’m not on tour, I play in a soccer league, which is really fun. I’m also really into football and I’m a huge Seahawks fan.