Kaela Sinclair Readies to Hit the Road With M83, With a Pit Stop in Dallas

A little over a month ago, Kaela Sinclair's world got turned upside down — in the best way possible. Anthony Gonzalez, the mastermind behind French synth-pop band M83, announced via Twitter that he had handpicked the Denton musician as the band's new female vocalist and keyboardist.

Now, after weeks of rehearsing in Los Angeles, Sinclair and company will kick off the Junk Tour in New Orleans on Wednesday, with the second stop being right here in Dallas. 

Shortly after our last story covering Gonzalez’s Twitter announcement this past March, Sinclair was off to LA to begin preparations for her year on tour with M83. According to her, everything has been swell; from the crew, to the band — even her AirBnB was the most adorable thing you’ve ever seen. “Well, basically in LA it was wake up and go to rehearsal, then go back to the place I was staying,” Sinclair says. And that’s not even taking into consideration her preparations for the release of her second solo album, Second Skin, which is due out later this year on her label, DEFDISCO.

“I’m still doing my stuff,” she assures us. “It’s definitely double-duty.” But, for someone who had to leave her gig as a music teacher to hit the road full-time, the strenuous schedule is no bother. “It’s also what I love to do; I’m very fortunate,” she adds. “I wouldn’t say there’s anything negative about it at all. It’s a lot of hard work, but I’m used to that.”

Sinclair and the rest of M83 are currently posted up in New Orleans — a city which has special significance to the singer. A couple of weeks before the world knew the identity of the newest member of M83, Sinclair was in NOLA recording her own music when she received an unexpected phone call from Gonzalez. “The Sunday that I was in New Orleans recording was when I got the call from him [Gonzalez].” According to Sinclair, it was during this phone call that Gonzalez, in addition to being impressed with her musical talents, told her she “got it.”
Since the news broke, Sinclair says she’s received a lot of positive feedback. She even jokes that several members of her family now want to be M83 roadies. One thing she stresses about her experience is how encouraging the whole of DFW has been. “The DFW area has been really supportive [of me] and there are a lot of people here that are really, really good to the arts and good to musicians,” she insists.

Sinclair also feels that Dallas is becoming more well-known for brewing up all sorts of creativity; and with good reason. “A lot of great things are coming out of here — like with Leon Bridges, Sarah Jaffe and Midlake,” Sinclair says. “Those people are really inspiring to me. So, it’s really cool to think that now I can go out also and be like, ‘Yep. I did this in the DFW.'”

New Orleans will be the first of many sold-out dates on the Junk Tour, and Sinclair is excited to experience all the crowds and never-before-seen venues. “Everything’s been perfect so far,” Sinclair says. “I just can’t wait to play shows in all these amazing places.” She does add, though, that before leaving Dallas she'll need to make a pit stop at Deep Ellum's Glazed Donut Works, because, as she puts it, "Oh, hell yeah. That’s it.”

An all-new M83, featuring Kaela Sinclair, will play with YACHT at 7 p.m. Friday, April 8, at The Bomb Factory, 2713 Canton St., Sold out