- [Sahara] Ten four?

- [Pete] Ten four rubber ducky.

- Good evening and welcome.

It's KVCArts.

Arts and entertainment in our region as well as the people and places providing it.

I'm Sahar Khadjenoury.

Tonight is music and conversation with dark country musician and filmmaker, Pete Sands of Blackkiss.

And you can find his and other artists music videos on The Aboriginal Unity Experience, the indigenous music video series from FNX, fnx.org/theaux.

♪ Nobody hurt ♪ ♪ Another suicide ♪ ♪ That shh the worst ♪ ♪ Been through hell and back ♪ ♪ Fought all these demons to save your soul.

♪ - Save Your Soul.

We'll be talking about that video and more.

But first, we're going to start with introducing our guest, Mr. Pete Sands.

(Navajo) Yá'át'ééh.

Shí éí Pete Sands yinishyé.

Shí éí Motezuma Creek, Utah déé' naashá.

- My name is Pete Sands and I'm from Montezuma Creek, Utah.

Good to be here.

- And we're really excited to have you here.

So can you tell us what language you just introduced yourself in?

- I just spoke in my Native tongue, the Navajo Indian language, which I come from.

Come from the Navajo nation.

Utah portion of the Navajo nation.

- A cool little tidbit that I don't think many of our listeners might know is that you and I went to the same high school together.

We were the White Horse... - High School Raiders.

- Woohoo.

- Yeah, shot out to White Horse High School.

Hosts the Blackkiss show every once a year.

Annual Blackkiss show.

Montezuma Creek, Utah.

- Pete, our community is so proud of you.

And you have so much love and so much support.

And you've just developed this amazing fan base both within our community and even into a broader Native community and even non-Native.

So I'm really excited that you're on the show tonight.

- Thank you.

- Let's talk about your double role.

You are a musician, but you're also a filmmaker.

And your first short film project was a music film called Save Me.

Can you tell me more about that?

- Yes.

My good friend, Fernando, he's from Seattle.

I could have that wrong, but I think he's from Seattle.

He reached out to me asking me if I could make a music video, and he couldn't be in the area.

So he says, you gotta kind of, you know, do what you do with it.

And so I listened to the song, and the song spoke to me in a certain...

It just spoke to me in a way, in the way I made it, I guess.

And it's a short film about angels and demons, and a demon hunting an angel for a debt that she owed him.

And it was something that I did on the fly.

I like the fact, you know, guerrilla filmmaking, which is like you just go with what your gut instinct is and the whole handheld feel about it.

I really loved the way it came out.

Especially the film version of it, which is it has that intro, which I introduce the film and character.

And you were on it too, Sahar.

You're in it.

I got you in it.

(laughs) Filming outside of Salt Lake City, Utah in the desert and it came out really great.

That's where I learned all about editing and color correction, which is very important to any film is color correction.

- [Narrator] There's an ancient story of an angel who fell in love with a human.

But the heavens forbid such things, so she sought out the help of a demon.

And he granted her, her wish.

But the demon warned her, one of these days, I'll come calling.

You better answer.

That's the deal.

So she loved.

She got to love.

But life as we know it is unpredictable, and one day, the love of her life passed on.

And this death drove her mad.

So when the demon came calling, she ran.

Ran as far as she could.

And the demon chased.

Word is that the demon caught up with her somewhere in New Mexico.

Cornered her.

Some ancient hallowed grounds.

Don't really know what happened.

- Speaking of angels.

I noticed a trend or a reoccurring theme in a lot of your projects.

How do angels come into play in your life?

- That is a very good question.

That's something I ask myself all the time.

What's this obsession with angels?

I think it's connected to my whole thing with crows, ravens.

But, you know, as a kid, growing up on a reservation, you would go to Vacation Bible School.

Mainly just so you can have your free punch and cookies!

But you go there, and they teach you this whole new concept of what God and being is.

Partly separate from your own culture, indigenous culture, the Navajo culture.

But as I grew older, and I had people from both sides-- on the Christian side, the Catholic side, and my own Navajo side, which had shamans and medicine men and medicine women, they would tell me that all of religion's the same, a certain way.

We're all connected in some way.

So as I became more creatively intuitive, I just started making these connections.

It just seemed to fit so well together.

The idea of indigenous angels, it just seemed so out there.

That my first short story I wrote about angels back in college.

My professor was like, "Where did you come up with this?"

And to me it didn't seem that radical to think Native Americans can be angels.

And that kind of made me think like what's indigenous people categorized as?

Just who people see on TV?

And sometimes, Native Americans, we do it to ourselves.

We keep ourselves in a box.

But we have to branch out of there.

I wasn't trying to be different.

It just came out that way, I guess.

- I dig it.

And it works.

I also see angels in-- well, you allude to or you'll reference in a lot of your music that you play and that you perform.

And I like that idea.

And when you come out with a new project, I secretly I look for it like, "Okay, I wonder does this fit into that piece?"

Like that puzzle piece that is Pete Sands and his vision.

So the videos that we broadcasted here from The Aux on FNX, In the Dark, Helldorado, Indian Girl, and something that we shot here was "I'm On Fire".

- [Pete] Yeah.

- How did you gravitate toward that song?

Because you do it well.

- [Pete] Well, I always tell the story because people always-- last time I was in Flagstaff, Arizona, two months ago, I had a show out there.

I stopped at a Maverik out there in Flagstaff.

Putting in gas and some lady's like, "Hey, aren't you the I'm on Fire guy?"

(laughs) I've been linked to that song now, but I actually learned it from my good friend, Whitey Morgan.

After a show we had together, he told me, you know, "You need some Bruce Springsteen in your life!"

And so, he taught me how to play that song.

And then I heard the White Buffalo.

Another good friend of mine, I heard his version of it, which is more acoustic.

Because Whitey's version is more honky tonk.

And so, I was listening to both of them, and I was thinking somewhere in there-- it just feels right to try to play my own way.

So I spent a lot of time in my garage where I rehearse a lot.

It just came through.

You visualize something.

Whenever young people ask me about putting on a show and what songs they should cover, I always tell them you have to cover songs you can relate to.

You can't just cover something just because it's popular.

Because you will be linked to that song, and you have to be able to understand and explain why you chose that song and why it means something.

Because that song does mean something to the fans out there of that person who wrote it.

This is "I'm on Fire."

And when I sing it, it just, it just opened up something in me.

It just like, you know, it's hard to describe.

It's like you finally find someone-- a song someone else wrote that you could've wrote yourself.

I think that's the best explanation I can give for that.

♪ ♪ Well hey, little girl is your daddy home?

♪ ♪ Did he go away and leave you all alone?

♪ ♪ I got a bad desire.

♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh I'm on fire.

♪ ♪ Tell me now baby is he good to you?

♪ ♪ Does he do to you the things that I do?

♪ ♪ Oh no.

♪ ♪ I can take you higher.

♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh I'm on fire.

♪ ♪ Sometimes it's like someone took a knife, baby ♪ ♪ edgy and dull, and cut a six-inch valley ♪ ♪ through the middle of my skull.

♪ ♪ At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet ♪ ♪ and a freight train running through the ♪ ♪ middle of my head.

♪ ♪ Only you can cool my desire.

♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, I'm on fire.

♪ ♪ Oh, oh, oh, I'm on fire.

♪ ♪ Oh, oh, girl, I'm on fire.

♪ - That dedication to the lyrics and your delivery, I think that's what really makes you stand out.

Indian Girl is a new video that-- and a new song that you've released since your first interview on KVCArts.

Indian Girl really... it's really almost haunting.

How did you... where were you?

Where was your mindset at when you were writing these lyrics?

- I think when I wrote Indian Girl, I was in the beginning of kind of like finding your way into another relationship after being out of one for so many years.

And people ask you 'what are you looking for in another person?'

Everybody was always asking that question.

And I never had an answer for it.

So one day when I was at my house, and I was reading this thing on the album covers of a Waylon Jennings album.

It's called Belle of the Ball.

And if you ever heard of Waylon Jennings song Belle of the Ball, he talks about-- it's not about a woman.

He's singing about the industry.

But to me, I was thinking 'what if he was writing this about a woman?'

This is like a really romantic song from Waylon Jennings.

Kinda like Waltz Me to Heaven.

And so I went downstairs.

And people always ask about Indian Girl and how I wrote it.

I wrote that whole song at one-- at that moment.

Right there.

I was just playing along on the chords.

And I felt the rhythm.

Like I knew it was already there.

This was the rhythm I knew for some reason.

And then the words just came out.

So within the span of having that mere thought about writing a song, which took about five minutes, walked down the stairs, sat in my garage for another five minutes.

Within that time span, I wrote that whole song.

This one's called "Indian Girl."

♪ I'm sitting all alone taking care of the fire ♪ ♪ I see you over there dancing with the elders ♪ ♪ Moving your feet in your old moccassins ♪ ♪ Looking so pretty in that dress your mama made ♪ ♪ They tell me I'm lucky to have a woman like you ♪ ♪ But I've always known that since I first seen you ♪ ♪ With your big brown eyes ♪ ♪ And your long dark hair ♪ ♪ You take everything and make it much better ♪ ♪ I can't lie to you ♪ ♪ It's simply the truth ♪ ♪ My beautifully strong Indian girl ♪ ♪ ♪ I love how you sit right beside me ♪ ♪ When we're driving all alone through the desert country ♪ ♪ You fix your hair without a strand out of place ♪ ♪ You pull me out to dance at the old ceremonies ♪ ♪ They tell me I'm lucky to have a woman like you ♪ ♪ But I've always known that ♪ ♪ Since I first seen you ♪ ♪ With your big brown eyes ♪ ♪ And your long dark hair ♪ ♪ You take everything and make it much better ♪ ♪ I can't lie to you ♪ ♪ It's simply the truth ♪ ♪ My beautifully strong Indian girl ♪ ♪ ♪ I don't know what I'd do without you ♪ ♪ I wouldn't have a home ♪ ♪ Just a place that's cold ♪ ♪ With your big brown eyes ♪ ♪ And your long dark hair ♪ ♪ You take everything and make it much better ♪ ♪ I can't lie to you ♪ ♪ It's simply the truth ♪ ♪ My beautifully strong Indian girl ♪ - [Pete] So it's just one of those songs that just comes out of you, you know.

It's a song about truly appreciating the person you're with and what they bring to the table.

And that's something I would never have written five years ago!

(he laughs) But I think age catches up with everybody and gives you a different perspective of life.

I remember hearing Chris Cornell when they asked him when he wrote the Audioslave song Be Yourself, he explained it kind of like that.

He said, "10 years ago, "I would've never wrote a song like this.

"But I'm comfortable in my own skin now to be able to "really express the different parts of me "that no one's ever really seen."

It's very vulnerable to put yourself out there like that.

But Indian Girl has such a positive response from people, especially in the indigenous community.

They really like it.

And even at Slum Fest in Nashville, man.

People love that song.

So, there's something to it.

I just don't know what it is, but I keep playing it.

- So many of us relate to it, I think.

(he laughs) Or maybe we wanna be that Indian girl that you're singing about!

(laughter) - [Pete] I don't know, you know.

It is one of those songs where it was one of my easiest ones to write, but it wasn't easy to play in front of other people.

If that makes sense.

Yeah?

- I can see that.

You know, you're vulnerable at that moment.

- [Pete] Yes.

- Speaking of vulnerability.

I know that when you're producing, whether it's music videos or films or music, you're really putting yourself out there.

And I think your most recent project, putting yourself out there, with another video, another short film about angels.

(he chuckles) Do you care to elaborate?

And what is the title of your most recent piece?

And where did you submit it to?

- [Pete] I had this piece.

I had a friend of mine in Vegas.

His name is Alex.

He used to manage a cigar lounge out there.

And he found me on Instagram, and he's like, "Pete, man, I'm so enamored by your Instagram layout, "your pictures and everything.

"The way you see the world.

"You can bring other people into your world "just by a picture."

I said okay.

So he says, "Let's do something together."

So a couple months later, I came back through Vegas, and I had my camera.

And he said, "Let's go do something."

And I said all right.

Go buy yourself some clothes that you would like to see yourself in.

And he comes back wearing a Western shirt that I wear.

- [Sahar] Yes, I saw that.

(laughs) - [Pete] I was like okay.

And we went out to Red Rock Canyon.

And we went out there and we shot.

Which is a beautiful place.

And I didn't have a plan at the moment.

He just wanted some footage of him that was shot by me.

So I think maybe like instinctively or just subconsciously I was thinking about something already.

And I did these shots of him walking and smoking a cigar and I just kept it at that.

And he thanked me for bringing him into this world.

This guy has thousands of followers.

But he chose to come into my world.

So if you look into his pictures and his layout.

His name is Alex.

Alex 'Cigar' Dandy is his Instagram name.

But he has beautiful pictures of him from other photographers.

Then you see the one that we took of him and it looks nothing like he's ever done.

And it's a huge compliment to me when people ask me to bring them into my world.

Because I don't think my world's that exciting or anything.

But it's about freedom.

Freedom and creativity.

To be somebody you wanted to be.

So when I took the footage back and did LA Skins Fest here in Los Angeles, they asked me to submit something to them.

I told them, I said I don't have anything.

So they're like you got a week and a half.

Can you shoot something in a week and a half?

I say I got some footage of a buddy of mine in Vegas.

But he's just smoking a cigar.

So it's not really anything.

So I put together this script real quick, and I asked a friend of mine, Cassandra Begay, to be in it.

And Alex, I told Alex, "Yeah, I'm gonna get these "good actors to be in it."

he says, "No, I want you in it."

and I said "why?"

He says, "I came into your world, "and it won't be fair if you're not in it.

"So you have to be in your own world."

So I put it together, and I put myself in it.

Took a week to shoot it, and had you voiceover as well.

Sahar Khadjenoury, voiceover artist.

- It was supposed to be anonymous!

(laughs) - [Pete] And it came together really well.

'Cause when I showed it to the people who I was supposed to show it to, they're like, "Dude, this is like a comic book.

"Like you brought a comic book to life."

And somehow, the Sundance Film Festival people got a hold of it.

I don't know who sent it to them.

I didn't sent it to them.

But they wrote me back saying, "You gotta make "a feature length film with this.

"You got to.

"Because we need different filmmakers, "and this story you have here.

"There's something here.

"Native Americans and angels, there's something there.

"You gotta make something."

So the short film I made with Alex, Cassandra, Sahar, and I is called Dirty Wings.

It's about angels who are half-breed: half-human, half-angels.

And debts that need to be collected.

It turned out really good.

I made myself look good, which is good!

(laughs) - [VO Sahar] If you're reading this, then it was meant for you to read.

Let me start with this.

Angels are real, no matter what you believe.

I know.

I fell in love with one.

- [Pete] I love working with other people, especially people who come from different cultures.

'Cause Alex is Serbian.

A six-foot-seven Serbian guy.

And he wanted to be a cowboy his whole life.

And he got the chance to be a cowboy.

He was so happy and honored that I let him wear my hat in the video.

He was, like he was shaking when I gave him my hat.

I was like "dude, it's just a hat.

Dude.

You just wear it."

He says, "No, this is you.

"This hat is you and your power.

"You don't understand."

And I said, I think I'm starting to.

He was really good to work with.

It's always fun to try something new and challenge yourself.

You don't have to have the best equipment.

You don't have to have the thousand dollar cameras.

It's limitations that unlock your creativity.

And that's what I like about it.

- You mix it up.

You mix it up.

- [Pete] It's important to keep an open mind.

- That open mind most recently can be seen reflected in your music video.

You did a collaboration with Joey Stylez.

- [Pete] Yes.

- Save Your Soul.

Hello.

Wow!

Country music meets hip-hop meets visual artistry.

Wow.

How did this come about?

And what was that process like?

- [Pete] Joey hit me up last year.

Like, he found me on Instagram like everybody else does!

And he shot me a message asking.

He said he was a fan of mine, and I was a fan of Joey's for years before that.

And I was-- at the time, I wasn't really looking for to branch out from the country Americana scene I was a part of.

But Joey Stylez, he's one of the most prolific rappers in Canada.

He's an indigenous rapper, but he's more than that.

He's beyond the label of just being just an indigenous rapper.

He's a good rapper.

He's a great hip-hop artist.

And there's many of them.

Like the many indigenous artists who are undiscovered or people haven't heard of them yet.

And I was just very thankful that he chose to reach out to me.

And he reached out to me, and he asked me if I wanted to write a song together.

And I said "yeah, you know.

We'll try something together."

And so, I had a hook that I had.

I had a song that I had written, and he asked me to write a hook and just send some ideas.

So I sent his some guitar chords and the song with the chorus that I wrote.

And I sent it to him.

And him and his producer, they made a beat to it.

And they sent me just like the rough cut of it.

I said "all right, this sounds pretty good."

And just like any person who's ever done something for the first time that's completely out of the norm, I was a little nervous.

Because I didn't know how it was gonna come out.

And so, it took about six months to do.

Six months to finish the song.

Because we're both so busy.

But like a month before it was released, he sent me the final version.

I was blown away.

I was like this is... candy!

(laughs) This is a gem.

I was very excited to see how people would react to it.

Especially because, Joey?

He's worked with many different artists.

And I've never really worked with many others.

And so, I was really curious to how people would react to it.

And the response has been tremendously positive.

And we are on the Indigenous Music Countdown in Canada.

And last I checked, we were number 11.

So... getting up there.

Sirius Radio, satellite radio countdown.

(he laughs) - [Sahar] Bravo, bravo.

- [Pete] Started from 40.

Now we're at 11, so... - [Sahar] Wow, congratulations!

- [Pete] Thank you!

♪ How many other will it take to get me ♪ ♪ When I'm gone will my bros represent me ♪ ♪ I don't know ♪ ♪ Least not for sure ♪ ♪ Nail on the coffin ♪ ♪ This life's a blur ♪ ♪ So I foresee with a pocket full of trees ♪ ♪ My medicine bag and spirit of a G ♪ - [Pete] Can't talk about it just yet, but there's another hip-hop song that I'm working on with Joey and some guys that-- I can't even talk about anybody, so I can't mention any names!

I wish I could say who, but that's the part of the business.

You can't tell until they say it's okay.

- [Sahar] Oh yeah, I was thinking.

This would be a KVCArts, FNX all-exclusive.

(he laughs) But I guess we'll have to wait for that!

- I'll call in.

[laughs] ♪ Singing to the moon my lonesome song ♪ ♪ But if I knew you all the way ♪ ♪ Without even looking back ♪ ♪ I wouldn't be sorry to ♪ ♪