Readers of my Twitter feed know that I’ve been on a mission to define a new genre of music called “house funk.” Until recently, I feared that this description only applied to songs I made myself. Then I heard the music of Kyle McLemore, better known as Tsokoti. He’s an environmental technician, producer, aspiring video game music composer, and all-around interesting cat. This is our recent conversation.
Uncle Funkbeard: To me, “house funk” means electronic house music with strong funk undertones; a solid, danceable beat with momentum, funky basslines and unusual (maybe even quirky) instrumentation and no sample loops. Does this sound fitting to you?
Tsokoti: Yeah, I think that is pretty fitting. Funny enough, I learned a lot of my production skills by becoming a fan of house music and watching house producers on YouTube. When you listen to most of my tracks, you will notice that hip hop and funk foundation. Every time I make a track, I am intentionally trying to give my songs a funky drum beat and a funky bass line.
UF: I hear a lot of video game vibes in your music.
T: My biggest inspiration in video game music is Nobuo Uematsu. His talent is out of this world and I often listen to music from Final Fantasy games. I’m a huge Final Fantasy guy. But when it comes to my own style, I love horror music. I’m a horror fanatic.
UF: So, who is Tsokoti?
T: Tsokoti is my traditional name that my grandfather gave me when I was born. It is in my Tribe’s traditional language. Translated to English, it means Wild.
As for my day job, I am an environmental technician. I love what I do. I do a lot of different work like collecting water samples, managing invasive plants, gardening, and a lot of writing. The writing never ends.
UF: How did you get into making music?
T: When I was 20 years old, I had a couple of friends who played guitar, but I didn’t play an instrument. They said, “You should play bass!” So, I went and got a $140 Dean Zone XM Bass and I never put it down. I genuinely fell in love with playing bass.
I had probably been playing bass for about six months before I got on a stage for the first time at an open blues jam in Reno, Nevada. I sucked. Bad. But I kept going back. Met a couple of other young musicians and I just kept playing and learning. I played every day. I practiced before work, after work. I kept going to those open blues jams and playing with guys who had way more experience than me and it made me a good musician fast. It was also a great way to play on stage without being in a band.
Fast forward to 2016. After many bands, I decided to make my own rock album under the name “Inactive Spaz.” I played all of the instruments and wrote all the lyrics myself and didn’t know a thing about mixing a song. So, if you listen to that music, especially those very first songs, they weren't very well mixed. But the music still rocks! I am still proud of it.
I just dove head first into the world of mixing about three years ago. I also wanted to expand the music I make. I didn’t want to just be a rocker anymore. I love all types of music. I would really like to produce music for hip hop and pop artists and that is another avenue I am focusing heavily on right now.
UF: Who have you worked with?
T: Matt Beard is a synthwave artist who I worked with recently; I mastered his album [Private Investigator] that was released on June 30. Matt and I do plan on collaborating more in the future. We really hit it off as producers and friends so I think he is someone I will work with plenty of times.
UF: Which songs have given you the most success so far?
T: Most of my streams have come from YouTube and on that platform, the most streamed track is “Crossing Rivers.”
It’s basically a childhood memories tune. I’m from Tule River, California. Whenever me and my cousins and brother were together at our grandparents’ house on the reservation, we were always in the river. The song is meant to convey that joyous feeling of playing in the river as a kid.
The video for “A New Day” is also really cool. I think it is one of my best tracks in terms of production. The funny thing about this track, though? I forgot about it. I had started it at some point about six months before I released it. One day, a couple of my friends came over and we were chilling in my studio and I was showing them how I made some of my tracks. I was surfing around and saw this project and opened it and was like “Ohhh yeah! This song.” So, I finished the track and it has become one of my favorites.
UF: How do you envision people interacting with your music? Dancing in a club? Driving? Lounging in their basement?
T: You need a cool song to drive to? Put on “Toward the Heat.” It’s literally about driving in the hot desert to a KISS concert with no A/C. Want a song to dance to? Put on “Violet Sun.” Want to make sweet love? Put on “No More Fear.”Ha ha!
UF: By my count, you’ve released eight tracks in 2023 alone. What’s motivating you to keep pushing music out? What do you have planned for the rest of the year?
T: Just eight? I gotta get those numbers up!
Nah, I just love making music. I have to make it, it’s what I do and who I am. My latest track was “Blackberry Sky,” but I have three singles releasing in July and one in August.
After that, I am going to start working on my first album. It’s going to be a lot more psychedelic and lean into my likeness for acid techno. To spill all the beans, it’s going to be a kinda creature feature album and I’ll probably do some vocals and work some foley sounds in there. It’s gonna be super weird and cool!
Also, I only recently started marketing myself as a video game / film composer. I have faith that I will land a gig in this area. I’m a persistent person and confident in my abilities.
UF: What’s your long-term goal?
T: I want to leave my mark as a musician and producer. I want to produce horror and action music for games and film, produce pop and hip hop tracks for artists, and make my own music. Those are my big goals. I want to be someone who people still talk about 30 years from now. When people look back and think about who brought a whole new originality to music in their time, I want people to think of me, now and long after I’m gone.
