Kingsley and Perdomo

The collabo project can be tricky, especially when the key cogs of the two separate sides seem to come from different places. Sometimes it works, and other times it doesn't. In the case of Kingsley and Perdomo, the thing is a total success. The end result of this pairing between Vic Kingsley, guitarist and lead vocalist of The Westar, and Fernando Perdomo, the mastermind behind Dreaming In Stereo, known simply as Kingsley and Perdomo, is magic, pure and simple. "Vic and I met when our bands...

The collabo project can be tricky, especially when the key cogs of the two separate sides seem to come from different places. Sometimes it works, and other times it doesn't. In the case of Kingsley and Perdomo, the thing is a total success. The end result of this pairing between Vic Kingsley, guitarist and lead vocalist of The Westar, and Fernando Perdomo, the mastermind behind Dreaming In Stereo, known simply as Kingsley and Perdomo, is magic, pure and simple. "Vic and I met when our bands played a show in the Grove together seven years ago," says Perdomo. "We have been fans of each other's music since then. I played on his old band's record and he played on my production of Grammy-winner Jorge Moreno's single "Thank You.'" It was inevitable the two would end up working together on a preoject of their own, he says. "We are best of friends and we have that brother-like chemistry." Of the resulting sound, Perdomo explains, "Kingsley and Perdomo is Americana in the tradition of The Eagles, America, Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young, and Wilco." The talented musician recognizes it's all a bit distant from Dreaming's prog-pop stylings, which he relates more to acts like Todd Rundgren, Klaatu, and Flaming Lips. However, they don't abandon their individual trappings completely on the recently released album Fake Smiles, a brilliant, vibrant middle ground somewhere between Kingsley's balladeering and Perdomo's progressive production. "We do two Dreaming in Stereo songs ("Smile" and "Lazy") in a different style with the rest of the material mostly coming from Vic," Perdomo says. And of their wildly popular BeeGees cover, "'Staying Alive" was an idea both of us had simultaneously without even knowing it, and it is maybe one of the finest recordings I have ever been a part of."