Danny Harley — aka The Kite String Tangle — wonders why his life of rental car companies, potential Russian spies and inconspicuous meat in mushroom pies isn’t a movie.
Car rental agent in the daytime; musical wonder in the night. Harley — best known as the frontman of Brisbane electro-pop outfit Pigeon — has found a new sound in his ambient solo project, The Kite String Tangle.
“I quite like describing it as third wave soul. I listen to a lot of artists that are inspired by soul but I am not necessarily inspired by soul. So I call it second or third wave soul. I really like to be in control of a song. That's half the appeal of production to me, is that you get to write the song and every part in the song. It's almost control-freak-esque.”
However, this controlling tendency does not extend to his room, which he proclaims is “the messiest it’s been in [his] whole life.”
Being the vegetarian that he is, the latest tour has presented some real obstacles for Danny, especially in regional areas. “They have things like mushroom pie but there's an implied meat there. Just inconspicuous meat.”
That is not to say, however, that he didn't have a few good vegetarian meals.
“I have cooked a sick lentil dhal in Sydney. [Lord of the Fries in Melbourne serves] vegetarian and vegan food only but in a fast food sort of way with Belgium fries and, like, chutney and crazy stuff. It's awesome! I went there this time, it was so good. Expensive but super good.”
And though Danny has just returned to Brisbane, he is excited to be on stage again at Red Deer Festival.
“Oh man, I got to play [Red Deer Festival] last year with Pigeon and this year with my own project and I'm super stoked. Last year it was just so much fun. I don't know if it's because it was the last day on a tour or what but we just had so much fun and it's such a good festival with a good vibe.”
As busy as he is with music in real life, The Kite String Tangle also maintains a strong online presence, collaborating with international producers that he hopes might turn out to be "Russian spies". Anything to make that biopic more exciting.
“Soundcloud is a great medium for producers and artists who live in the electronic world. I've actually had a huge amount of collaborations come out of that. I might be doing some vocals for some guys in Russia soon. It's so bizarre. It’s crazy. I actually found him on an accelerated playlist and really liked the track so I followed him and he followed me and then all of a sudden I'm going to collaborate with this artist that I actually really like.”
Listen to The Kite String Tangle's new single, Hype Machine favourite 'Given The Chance':
