In early February, in a small L.A. venue called Love Song, Taleen Kali debuted her EP, Covered, a few days before its Valentine’s Day release. Every detail reflected the holiday theme. The EP, which includes versions of songs like “Ava Adore” and “#1 Crush,” was available on heart-shaped flashdrives at a merch booth decorated with cupids. The listening party was followed by a live set where Taleen Kali, the person, morphed into Taleen Kali, the band, as more and more musicians joined the singer/guitarist on stage for a set that included live rarities and music from Covered.
It was a killer night, and I’m not just saying that because I happened to be the DJ for the show or because Taleen and I have been pals for a few years. I mean, it was a very well-planned and well-executed show.
“Once every three or four years, we’ll start to crave something a little different,” Kali says. “We’ll get into these fun patterns with an album cycle. We’ll draw from the same pool of songs and we’ll get into patterns with these songs, not just how much we play them but with our bodies.”
Recently, the band needed a reminder of what it was like to play songs that weren’t committed to muscle memory. Guitarist Royce Hsu had left the fold. Kali and bassist Miles Marsico wanted to keep playing, but rehearsing for a tour or album would have to wait, as they were auditioning new guitarists. “We decided that we needed a reset, a hard reset,” Kali recalls. “We need to get back to the basics, get back to our roots.”
So, they plotted a set that would include songs they rarely played live, tunes from Kali’s previous band, Tulips, and covers from their new EP. Kali opened the set solo, gradually bringing more musicians on stage until it became a full band performance with Marsico filling in on drums and new guitarist Genevieve Quiquivix, as well as Josephine Shetty of Pride Month Barbie on backup vocals. The highlight of the night— at least according to me— was their cover of “Cupid Come,” the My Bloody Valentine song. I mean, how often is it that you hear a band cover MBV?
“I always wanted to do ‘Cupid Come’ because it’s a song that people don’t really talk about when they talk about My Bloody Valentine,” says Kali. “I would always sing that song when I was in college and stuff because the melody would get stuck in my head because I thought it was such a beautiful song. I always wondered what it would sound like in this femme-gazey, wall of sound universe.”
Hear the Verttigo remix of Taleen Kali’s cover of “Cupid Come” on the February 2025 Beatique mix
There’s a similar story behind the cover of “Ava Adore,” which also appears on Covered. Kali would sing the Smashing Pumpkins song often before she ever joined a band. “I remember a friend of mine told me that I sounded like PJ Harvey and I didn’t know who PJ Harvey was at the time,” says Kali. “I was just a fucking Valley kid singing Smashing Pumpkins. I had access to Smashing Pumpkins, for some reason, but not so much for PJ Harvey.”
Covered is comprised of songs that the band began recording back in 2017, while working on debut EP Soul Songs. With extra studio time on hand, they recorded “Baby Love” and “#1 Crush.” With “Baby Love,” Kali revisited a song that she would sing as a child, but it took some time to make it work for her grown-up band. “It would sound too sleepy in the beginning and then it was sounding too grungy. We couldn’t figure out where it wanted to sit in the Taleen Kali universe,” she says. “That one took a while. Then our drummer and producer came up with a sick beat that locked everything in.”
Several years later, a fan commissioned Kali’s version of the Depeche Mode song “I Feel You” and the band was able to knock out “Ava Adore” and “Cupid Come” at that time as well. “It was a set of very personal choices,” says Kali of the EP.
Not long after the Love Song performance and EP relief, Taleen Kali hit the road. The lineup shifted from the February performance, with Marsico back on bass and Anthony Schillaci stepping behind the drum kit, as they headed to South by Southwest in Austin, with gigs in New Orleans and Houston during the same stint. This month, they’re set to play Permanent Records Roadhouse in Los Angeles. In May, they’ll head back on tour, this time as support for Ringo Deathstarr.
After the return from tour, Dum Dum Fest, the dark indie extravaganza presented by Kali’s zine and label of the same name, goes down at The Echo. This year’s line up includes Male Tears, Cameron Romance, Twolips, Flatwaves, Izzy Outerspace, Scimitar, Glitter Ghost and Spiral Teeth. Unlike previous years, Kali won’t be playing live. (She will be DJing alongside Ann Eliza.)
“It’s the third year in a row of the fest and it was really fun to play the first two years, but if I want to make this sustainable,” says Kali. “I want to make the festival sustainable, but I also want to make my own artistic path sustainable. Could I do it? Absolutely. Could I play the festival and book the festival and run the festival? Yes, I can, but I feel like if I take a step back, I’m just going to be a better festival producer, curator, programmer.”
One of the reasons why I wanted to talk to Kali is because of the DIY path that she and the band have taken. When I ask what’s the hardest part of working DIY, she answers that it’s “the grind.”
“Sometimes, I think it’s easy to lose touch with the point of DIY,” says Kali, “which is to do it to build community and art for art’s sake, to be a part of a larger cultural conversation. I think the hardest part is balancing the desire to do that with also living your life and paying your rent. You can’t DIY every single thing.”
That’s where collaborators come in handy, whether it’s to figure out social media strategy or post flyers around IRL spots. Yes, the band still flyers for shows too.
“Every time we meet a promoter or have a show, people get surprised that we do flyering,” says Kali. It helps get the word out about shows, even if she does see a lot more people who found the band through the Spotify algorithm.
Kali says that she’s learning that the little things do help make meaningful connections. It’s refreshing to hear that at a time where, even on the extremely indie level, the emphasis can be on numbers rather than community.
“I know we could get away with not flyering. It’s the most analog promo,” says Kali, “but when we do flyer, there’s always at least one fucking cool person who saw that flyer who came to the show.”
Taleen Kali plays Permanent Records Roadhouse on April 24 with Izzy Outerspace and Waverly Drive. Tickets are available on Eventbrite. The tour with Ringo Deathstarr launches on May 26 in San Diego and concludes on June 8 at the Echoplex. Dum Dum Fest III is June 28 at The Echo. Tickets are already on sale.
Liz O. is an L.A.-based writer and DJ. Read her recently published work and check out her upcoming gigs or listen to the latest Beatique Mix. Follow on Instagram for more updates.
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Taleen Kali Covers Smashing Pumpkins and My Bloody Valentine at EP Release Show in L.A.