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Music

NXNE Hot Seat: K.Flay

Alternative rapper K.Flay, born Kristine Flaherty, has a way of distilling all those hateful, painful feelings that come with a breakup into tough but sensitive rhymes and hummable hooks that occasionally bring Liz Phair to mind. “I met your fucking girlfriend / she was looking perfect,” she says on Wish It Was You from her moody, melodic debut album, Life As A Dog – and we can relate so hard. A woman of the world but largely based in Brooklyn, Flaherty plays the Mod Club (722 College) with Betty Who and Hya Li on June 18 as part of NXNE. She took a moment to answer our summer-fest-related questions. 

What’s the best thing about the festival experience, as a musician?

Well, it’s awesome getting to play for new fans and random people who wander past your stage. It’s always cool when people who are trying to buy beer or burritos or whatever accidentally stumble upon the show and then don’t throw those beers at you. Burritos fans are good. But probably the best thing is having the opportunity to meet other bands and check out shows. Festivals are kind of like real-life twitter.

What would make performing awesome for you?

I don’t need much to be happy. Some tortilla chips are always good. Maybe a machine that makes delicious coffee.

Which one of your songs translates best to a summer crowd?

Can’t Sleep. People get restless when it’s hot out, and that’s a song about being restless, never wanting to miss out on any of life’s moments. I think more crimes happen in the summer. Am I making that up? In The Stranger, by Albert Camus, the dude kills that guy -because the sun is in his eyes.

What are you looking forward to doing while in Toronto? 

Toronto! I’m very excited to be there! We’ve only played in the city twice before, so it’s still a relatively new place for me. But I’m going to be in town for, like, five days or something for promo – the deluxe edition of my record was released in Canada just a few weeks ago – so I will hopefully find some haunts. And then next time I’m in town I will legitimately haunt them.

If you were to add a cover song into your set specifically for your Toronto audience, what would it be and why?

305 To My City. Like many other human girls, I love Drake.

Best comeback you’ve ever used on a heckler? 

I’ve luckily not had many hecklers. I’ve definitely had some drunk people say confusing things, though. Sometimes people ask me questions that I can’t understand and I pretty much respond with a non sequitur that then confuses everyone.

Stage-diving and moshing during your set: yay or nay? 

I’ve only ever crowd-surfed during other people’s sets. As a girl, it can sometimes be scary and weird to let strangers (even if they have the best intentions) touch you in a million places. But during my set I stay onstage and get wild up there. Moshing doesn’t usually happen, I think because a lot of my songs are sad, and being sad doesn’t make people want to smash against each other. It makes people want to smash their own heads into a pillow and cry in their bedrooms.

Get more info about NXNE here.

carlag@nowtoronto.com | @carlagillis

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