New media gurus always talk fervent bullshit about online personal branding, which leads many impatient bands to equate fan-cultivation with Facebook worship instead of writing kick ass songs. Local Wizards, the solo moniker of 19-year-old ASU film student Kendall Humbert, is not promoted through the usual channels of SEO bait and annoying posts. Humbert is immersed in the surreal world of off-beat Twitter humorists, where actual stand-up comedians (@RobDelaney) and real-life poets (@TriciaLockwood) traffic absurdities and anti-humor with bizarre characters (@dogboner, @famouscrab) and cool ponds (@cool_pond). Humbert's Twitter account, @dankherbmullet, has more than 2,000 followers which he's earned through surreal quips about topics like Shaq and Cash Cab. He, like local punks Playboy Manbaby, got his band name from a Brad Neely web cartoon.
Though his Twitter account is an absolute crack-up, Local Wizards is a dark mélange of post-rock nuance and rhythmic clamor. Humbert's vocals have the ethreality of Deerhunter's Bradford Cox, presiding over heavily-processed guitars and hypnotic bass lines. When he's not making jokes, he's tweeting Bandcamp links to new tracks with a refreshing amount of self-effacement.
Either way, we decided Twitter would be the best medium to discuss his songwriting process, tired joke material, and how he got so many followers.
If you like this story, consider signing up for our email newsletters.
SHOW ME HOW
