A little over a year ago, no one knew Black Kids, a dance-pop quintet from Jacksonville, Florida, who many people mistake for being British. Now anyone with a passing interest in popular music has at least heard of them. They are the latest indie band to have become famous even before they released a record.
"Actually, we've been wondering that ourselves," says the group's drummer, Kevin Snow, over the phone from his apartment in Jacksonville, when asked how the group secured a deal so quickly with Quest Management, which also handles The Arcade Fire and Bjork. "Our first year as a band, we only played in Jacksonville and nobody heard about us. Then we played a music festival called the Athens Popfest in Georgia. It was the first time we gave away our demo, and the people who saw us there started blogging about it. Within a few days, Vice magazine in the U.K. called for an interview, and then NME. Not long after that we were contacted by a management company."
Snow sounds exhausted just recalling these events. The band is finally home after traveling almost nonstop for a year, and he says he's savoring the time by himself.
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