When I interviewed Cynthia von Buhler back at NYCC, she mentioned something that really stuck with me. I asked her about the difference between art in Boston and art in NYC. Essentially, she said you just need to be a little weird to breakout in Boston where NYC is filled with weirdos. "Look around you," she said, as she pointed at all the cosplayers waiting in line for a comic artist's signature. So how does that play out for Karmin, a pop duo that's starting to get some mainstream recognition? Simple: they're from 4 miles outside of Boston. At least that's where they formed. They're Berklee College of Music alum with serious skills. Karmin does kitschy covers of Top 40 songs and they're clearly aiming for an oddball appeal. How else do you explain this "Super Bass" cover?
That might be one of the strangest and most effective covers I've seen in a long time. I like strange. Nick Noonan (keys) really gets me with the softly sung "bass, bass, bass, bass" on the bridge while Amy Heidemann (guitar, lead vocal) is far more coordinated than I am with the guitar/rapping combo.
On this edition of The Joy Factor, we look at how Karmin chooses to play around with music for kicks. Let's start for real with this acoustic cover of Eminem feat. Bruno Mars "Lighters."
Again, they do something very different with a song I'm a big fan of. Amy gets bonus points for flipping between that super-aggressive Eminem style of the verses and a much sweeter soprano harmony on the chorus. Nick has a pretty nice voice himself that he keeps very steady for someone bent over banging a box for a completely acoustic cover of a rap song. Nick, too, proves he's more coordinated than me. I can't handle more than guitar/singing or keyboard/singing. Drumming and singing? Guitar and rapping? Jealous.
So how, exactly, do you reconcile a pop duo with a proclivity for acoustic instruments with their debut single that is anything but? Simply. Karmin has a distinctive sound already. They play with dance grooves. Amy raps, sings, and plays guitar. Nick fills in with vocal harmonies and seemingly anything but the guitar. The instruments they play and the style they're drawn to--almost this strange jazz/dance/Top 40 hybrid--can easily go acoustic or electric. The important thing to remember is that they play with sound. Check it on their first studio single "Crash Your Party."
The first good sign? Amy sounds pretty much the same as the YouTube videos. You can even hear Nick's voice come through in the "oohs" at the chorus. That appears to be more of a layering effect (like how Adele's vocals are typically doubled or even tripled for effect on her tracks) that I'm rather fond of. That suggests minimal monkeyshines with studio magic for the album. Considering I've mentioned how well both members of Karmin sing already, that's a good sign.
Need another reminder? Here's Karmin singing Adele's "Someone Like You" over a track from Aston.
Just lovely. But I digress.
The second good sign from Karmin's single "Crash Your Party?" Even with a laundry list of collaborators (Heather Bright, Kelly Sheehan, Harr and Jackson, Kane Beatz, Oak, Diane Warren, Hit Boy, Audio Push, and that's not even half of them), "Crash Your Party" has all the fun elements of the YouTube covers on a new song. The sample from "The Choice is Yours" by Black Sheep brings that mixed-genre feel to the track almost in the opposite way of the covers. There, Karmin uses the cover as a way to insert original music content. Here, the original content is enhanced by the cover.
Third, and most important, is that joy factor. Amy and Nick are having fun here. This is not an earth-shattering, game changing song. It's a fun pop song with a lot of style and life. I can only hope it crosses over from YouTube to mainstream success. They could be the next Justin Bieber. Strange that I can't think of another YouTube-to-Top 40 act.
My dream right now would be a Karmin/PowerFox and PonyMane collaboration. Boston and NYC aren't that far apart, Amy, Nick, Jackie, and Jess.
You can find a bunch of Karmin's covers at, unsurprisingly, the Karmin Covers YouTube Channel.
Thoughts? Love to hear them.