For Kid Bloom, it’s all about the journey. This past summer, the Los Angeles native released his debut album Highway, a synth-laced, 80’s pop-inspired LP that he worked on through the pandemic. “There were great collaborators that I was blessed to work with, but for literally 90% of it, I was in my room, fresh in the pandemic, just trying to figure it out,” he says. “I didn’t sit there and say to myself, ‘Okay. I’m going to make an album.’ I literally said ‘How can I push myself?’ and also, ‘How can I make music? What’s this going to sound like right now?’ And it all came together.”
Bloom remained grounded and experimental in his creative process, piecing the project together through exploration of various rhythms and chords. He cites his dad as his entry way into music. His father, a producer in his own right, would constantly play The Beatles, Elton John and Toto (“a lot of Toto”) around him as a kid. But today he incorporates a lot of hip hop in his musical diet, including Travis Scott & Don Toliver – both artists he’d love to work with in the future.
And that’s why he’s so grateful to be part of Marshall’s program, with the incredible legacy that Marshall has and being a major supporter of his creative process. “I was a little boy seeing the massive Marshall amps behind bands like AC/DC and [to me], it just meant power. It meant rock and roll. So for them to just be able to be a part of this now is so cool for me,” he says. “They’ve been so supportive in letting me do whatever I want. I sent them back the videos and they’d like, “Whoa. Okay. Yeah. Do more of that.”
And he swears by the versatility of the Marshall products. The high-performance sound from the Monitor II A.N.C. headphones have become a staple within his daily routine. “I rock those headphones in the gym and then immediately just be like, ‘Oh shoot! I gotta go home and try something like this.’
He’s also a massive fan of the powerful Emberton II speakers. “The speakers are such a lifesaver. I have them set up and I’ll just walk around outside, getting lost in it,” he explains. “ You pull up at the beach and you put one speaker behind the blanket and one in front of the blanket, and you’re sound bathing. I take two of them often because you can link them together, which is super sick.”
Since their inception in 1962, Marshall has been there for it all: from blues to hip hop, grunge to glam rock. Their expressive sound combined with their iconic stage presence has been distilled and fused into every part of Marshall headphones and speakers. To learn more, visit their Never Stop Listening page.