Nai Palm Hiatus Kaiyote What's Underneath
Genuine emotion and vibrant originality is what makes Hiatus Kaiyote such a captivating group, and much of that is due to one woman in particular. Lead vocalist, guitarist and songwriter Nai Palm is very much the driving force of the band--from her wild lyrics to the dense arrangements of songs like "Mobius Streak" and "Jekyl," it is Palm's creative work that makes the Kaiyotes' howl a thing of true beauty.
Palm has also become known for her ornate and wild personal style and has made her wardrobe a kind of treasure trove collage of punk, victorian, tribal and futuristic wares. But clothing, for her, is more than just another means by which to be funky, and in a new video interview for StyleLikeU's What's Underneath project, Palm explains how adornments have become a very real form of armor for her and created a kind of mobile sanctuary that empowers her everywhere she goes. Palm, we learn, lost her mother to cancer when she was only a child and was separated from her five siblings shortly after. "The way I dress myself is memory. A lot of the jewelry that I'm attracted to comes from cultures that are essentially nomadic, so they have that sense of moving and interacting with nature. And I find comfort in that."
"Sometimes when you're at rock bottom, you only have two directions. One is to stay in your present situation and wallow, or do something about it," Palm says.
Out of the pain of moving around and shouldering loss at such a young age, Palm found a real comfort and connection in animals. "Animals are so much more empathic than humans. They feel everything and they're with you, but not because they expect to get anything out of it. It's the most primal form of nurture." As Palm tells her story, viewers will surely gain a whole new understanding and respect for her as an artist, and as a person. Watch the video below.
Warning: Nai Palm does remove much, though not all, of her clothing in the video clip. Discretion is advised.
