Microwave Buddha :: Pink Stiletto :: Kontrol :: DJ Shrimp Ripper

with visuals by Zachary Rodell

(12/29/23)

Shot and Written by Fiestaban Photography (Esteban Allard-Valdivieso)

This 80s electro-punk supergroup composed of David Javelosa of Los Microwaves and Baby Buddha, Greg Langston of No Alternative and Tuxedomoon, Lx Rudis of The Units and Tuxedomoon and featured singer Scarlet Microwave, showed that they can still kick out the jams, featuring songs from Baby Buddha and Tuxedomoon.

Pink Stiletto

It’s pink, it’s punk, it’s party time! Pink Stiletto is the newest New Wave ingenue, rocking a signature carnation skirt, mile-high electric blond Beehive and a matching fringe jacket. Her debut show proved that in another era, you would have seen her in every B-52s video on MTV, however being from another era doesn’t mean that you can’t create some of the most creative synth-pop out there. Joined by Kyle Borodkin, Denis, Mark Triese and dancer Kelsey Patnoude, this show was as every bit entertaining as it promised, especially to hear her first single “Synthesize” performed live for the first time. We sat down with Valery Kvochkova (previously of Deux Nomiz) about music, art and the debut of Pink Stiletto.

Esteban: Hi there Valery, nice to meet you! And congratulations on your first show as Pink Stiletto! How long have you been writing music? Do you come from a musical family?

Valery: It’s quit ironic actually! No one in my family plays music, but I’ve been surrounded with great music taste since Day One. My dad is a sound/radio engineer, so I grew up around rare analogue gear. I would watch him build tube amps from scratch and fix tape machines when I was a kid. It was fascinating, so I started assisting him and it progressed into my own gear obsession. Which is how I started to test and learn how to play instruments! He’s also a huge record nerd, so I’m eternally grateful for his music collection. I grew up listening to the best, sexiest Italo-Disco bangers, rare new wave from around the world, obviously some dad-rock (lol) and lots more! So yeah, access to cool gear and tasty record gems highly inspired me to start writing music! I played in small bands for fun since I was a teen, but never had the guts to start my solo stuff up till 5 years ago!

I saw that you are not only a singer/songwriter, but also an audio engineer. How did you become interested in that? How did you learn?

Back to square one: My dad! He never forced me to follow his lead, I just genuinely wanted to know what the hell is he doing with all those resistors, transistors, tubes, etc.! Eventually I started helping him solder up parts and got confident enough to work on my own stuff later on. I got a degree in Sound Engineering in Canada and opened a studio/venue called Static Jupiter with my friend Artem afterwards. It was a blast, but unfortunately it closed down due to my immigration situation and pandemic.

Your music and look seems very steeped in New Wave, 80s punk and maybe European disco. What are your major music or visual influences?

Uff! Don’t even get me started here! I was born in Kazakhstan, which is a post-Soviet country, and my family is Russian. 80s Italo-Disco and New Wave was and still is a huge thing for post-Soviets. I would literally wake up to my mom blasting Soft Cell, Bobby O, or Depeche Mode in the mornings and then go to school thinking about all those crazy synth tones! So yeah, New Wave, 80s Punk and Italo-Disco are my holy grails! Especially French bands like Taxi Girl, Takenoko, Casino Music, but I also listen to a lot of garage and mod rock like Nuggets. I also love the Japanese 1970-1980s scene: Plastics, P-Model, YMO, Hikashu, Takeshi Terauchi! Some of my idols: Daniel Ash, Gary Numan, Rowland S Howard.

Where does the name Pink Stiletto come from? Anything in particular?

I love a cut-thru feeling in music. It can be any genre really. It’s that feeling when you feel music on a very deep level. It’s almost physically tangible. So I wanted to emphasize what New Wave/Synth music feels like to me. Also it’s a reference to Link Wray’s “Switchblade”.

If you could describe your sound as a marriage of two or three bands, what would they be?

Devo, Tubeway Army and Tones on Tail.

Moving even further back, when did you move from Kazakhstan? Are there any Russian musicians, artists or literary writers that influenced you as a child? Was there anyone that you remember leaving an impression on you? Do you speak/write Russian? Are there things you wish Americans knew about Russia?

I graduated high school in Kazakhstan and moved to Canada a month later.

Oh absolutely! To name a few bands: Electroclub, Picnic, Eduard Artemiev, and Bravo! I absolutely love Soviet cinematography and highly recommend people check it out. There’s so many good movies you can watch on YouTube with subtitles like Courier and Diamond Hand.

Russian writers/poets is a whole another universe. And there’s nothing like Russian beatniks—Mayakovsky, Brodski and Bulgakov were my biggest inspo’s when I was in school!

And yes, I’m still fluent!

Hmm…I guess I would say…be openminded and don’t judge people by stereotypes. There are beautiful things about every culture, as well as history, traditions and hidden gems. Just dig deeper.

What is your process for writing? Do riffs or lyrics ever come in dreams? Is it collaborative?

Pink Stiletto is my solo project, I record everything in my bedroom. Riffs come from my heart, memories, dreams and nightmares too. It’s personal and reflects a lot of my emotional state when it comes to lyrics.

However I recently released a single “Synthesize”, which was originally written for my previous band Deux Nomiz, and it was written together with my very talented friends Chris Wilson on drums, Billie Trujillo on synth, me on synth bass, Kyle Borodkin on saxophone, Eric Acosta and Jimmy Bronson on additional drum/analogue effects and mixing.

It’s exciting to have your first show at Thee Stork Club in Oakland. What are some of your favorite Bay Area spots to see music? Do you have any favorite places to hang out in Oakland or SF?

I moved to The Bay in March, so I’m still new to the area and slowly discovering places.

I love local venues though, they have such an amazing community presence. To be honest, I don’t really party or go to bars. I prefer to spend my free time working on music or art! But you can catch me thrifting with my friends a lot and sometimes I go to The Legion of Honor. That place inspires me a lot!

What’s next? Writing? Any more shows? Are you signed to a label? Are you looking for one? Is there an EP coming? A full album?

Oh absolutely!

NEW WAVE DUTY NOW FOR THE FUTURE!

I have a whole album worth releasing, but I’m gonna start with singles. Hopefully I find a label to work with! I cannot wait to release more music into the world as well as physical copies!

What did you do for New Years?

Goth Dance party at Thee Stork Club!!!!!

What is something you wish people would ask you?

Ask me to breakdance together, let’s make a dance gang!