Q&A With Musician Leilani Patao

What’s the most treasured album in your collection and why? 

This is technically a CD but I include that in my collection, hope that’s alright. When I was in the 6th grade, an artist called Mr. Little Jeans had a show at the El Rey in Los Angeles, and she needed a children’s chorus. A friend of mine’s mom got me on the gig, and I got to sing “Oh Sailor” and “Good Mistake” with the band on stage with a bunch of other kids. At the end, Mr. Little Jeans gave me a signed CD of the album she was touring, Pocketknife, and I listened to it so much. That album really made my taste. It’s such a perfect album, and I can see the influence it had over me to this day in my own music. I still listen to this album often to this day. I hope one day to thank Mr. Little Jeans for making me want to become a musician :)

What’s the weirdest record you own?

I have a promotional single of “Sweet Okole” by the band TNG. I got it in the discount section of Freak Beat Records in Los Angeles, and I honestly bought it just for the jokes and because I’d never heard of the song. I thought it’d be a cover of “Sweet Okole” by Keola and Kapono Beamer, but it’s actually a 90s rap song with a similar refrain. For context, okole has come to mean butt in ‘Olelo Hawai’i, and boy, this track doesn’t disappoint. It’s not The only other place I’ve ever found this song is on YouTube.

Who/what got you hooked on records?

I’ve been buying records for so long, I don’t remember what first sparked it. I got my first record player in 2012 when I was 8 or so, thanks to my parents and months of bugging them. I think it all started when I went to a garage sale at my neighbors house, and she was selling a Disneyland record of Alice In Wonderland. It came with a picture book, and a record that would play the story to read along with. I believe I got it for about a dollar. Then after that, I got my record player, and I’d get more records from garage sales, and the rest is history!

Tell us a little about your favorite record store

Jacknife Records in Los Angeles. This was the closest record store to my house growing up, and I would spend so long in there. They’re tiny, smaller than the size of my living room, but they fit so much in there. They have a really cool selection of local artists and older stuff, and they’re pretty fun to talk to. One time, I went in and got a Bee-Gees kids suitcase record player. I think they were having a giveaway no one had entered, and I happened to ask what it was at the right time. I’ve actually never checked if it works, but I have it now, so that’s cool I guess!

How has your record collection and appreciation for vinyl evolved over the years, and what has influenced your tastes?

When I first started buying records, I would go to my local thrift store, and I would buy whatever was cheap, just to listen to it and to have it. I was a theatre kid, so I started with the old musicals and movie soundtracks. My favorite was the 1961 soundtrack of West Side Story. I really think having a record player so young let me explore my tastes and learn what I like. And the good news is it got me to stop listening to Radio Disney.

Then in high school, a friend and I got really into music from the 70s. We would get recommendations from our parents, and go to the record store, and listen to hours and hours of music in her car. Around this time, my collection got massive. I was going to proper record stores now, I was really discovering my own tastes, and who I loved, and who of those people had records I could find. 

And now I think having a vinyl collection keeps me grounded. I got rid of my Spotify subscription, so physical media is mostly all I’ve got. 

Name the top three records you own that could describe you or your vibe

Hawai’i in the Middle Of the Sea by the Brothers Cazimero

Live at the Greek Theatre Los Angeles by MUNA

Sports by Huey Lewis and the News

Do you have a definitive album of choice for spring, summer, autumn and winter?

Autumn always will feel like Rumours by Fleetwood Mac. Winter feels like Holiday by America or Heart of the Artichoke by Bloomsday. Summer is either Belladonna by Stevie Nicks, or Random Access Memories by Daft Punk (even though I only have this one on CD). Spring is for sure either songs by Adrienne Lenker or Water’s Here in You by Babehoven (I don’t have this one in my collection though, I just love it so much :)). 

What’s the last record you played?

Blue Moves by Elton John. Always. I play “Idol” off of this record every time I walk alone at night. It just feels so different from a lot of his other albums, and there’s so much variety. I play this every few weeks, it’s a total comfort album to me now.

Leilani Patao is trying to figure it out, and they want out of streaming. The Los Angeles born and Brooklyn based singer-songwriter is a recovering jack of all trades, and they’re ready to share all of their secrets with you now, but only if you’re willing to chase them down. daisy, Leilani’s latest EP is pure experiment. Their voice is transformed, nearly unrecognizable through effects and chopping. Surrounded by whistling synths, distorted guitars and all sorts of bells and whistles, Leilani’s honest, painful lyrics are there, but they’re guarded. They’re only half telling you the truth. But despite their ambivalence in their sound, Leilani was adamant: They don’t want this music on Spotify, they don’t want their story to only live on social media, and they wanted to stand on their morals with this release. With CEOs treating our art and our livelihoods as data to be traded, AI contributing to the destruction of our planet and the commodification of art, and any money made seeming to still end up funding genocide and systemic oppression, filling the pockets of those who Leilani speaks against, they wanted out. This release is just as much of an experiment of sound as it is an experiment of sharing this music.