Fine Life

Fine Life is a musical duo made up of Elise Levin and Kritty Kesoglides. Yielding an authentic and unique sound, Fine Life combines alternative, indie rock and electronic elements with a vibrant, yet pensive songwriting approach. Their music often acknowledges the layered complexi­ties of life and encourages introspection, while their live shows are dynamic and driven with high energy. They are also big advocates for the local music scene, often putting together benefit concerts, show­cases and curating events that brings to­gether artists from all walks of life. Having originated in Queens, this was inevitable. (www.finelifemusic.com)

NB: Other than the amazing diversity, what do you love most about living in Queens?

K: I love that even though Queens is part of a big city, it still tends to feel like a real neighborhood. There are local mom and pop shops, friendly bodega cats, late night conversations on your stoop; a real sense of community. It’s a comforting place to be. I love that no matter who you are or where you’re from, Queens will always make you feel like you’re home.




E: I definitely can attest to the bodega cats. I’ll specifically walk down the blocks in Astoria where I know I can visit my cat friends. There are plenty of friendly stray cats as well, roaming about and getting fed by the locals. I also love how close we are to the water. Also coming from Hawaii, which is a melting pot itself, I feel very at home in Queens.

NB: What are some of your favorite places to be inspired in Queens?

K: I’ve been going to a local rehearsal studio, Astoria Soundworks, ever since I was in high school. It’s such an amazing space right in the heart of Astoria that caters to every type of artist, amateur to profes­sional. Even if you have writer’s block, just having access to equipment you might not have at home in a small NYC apartment helps significantly.




E: Yeah, we’ve written some of our best songs at Astoria Soundworks. A lot of the outdoor spaces are beautiful and inspiring as well, especially when Sing For Hope places their pianos out in the summer.

NB: How important is daily practice as a musician?

K: If you’re in a band, being as tight as possible makes such a huge difference to your audience. Besides practicing, there are other things you should be doing daily if you’re trying to make it in the industry – Reaching out to venues, social media, shows, networking, shooting videos, writ­ing, recording, making cover art, etc.

E: My vocal coaches used to tell me that practice makes permanence. I think perfec­tion is subjective, but permanence is objec­tive. If you practice, you’ll continue to learn and evolve as a musician. The more you practice, the more confidence you’ll have in your abilities, and the more freedom you can take with your instrument.

NB: What are your favorite Queens venues to perform in?

K: We love playing at the Wolfhound, Sanger Hall and LIC Hostels. They all try to cater to whatever type of performance you’re bringing in, and I love that open and welcoming energy.

E: I love that Queens has plenty of quaint spots for acoustic and more low-key performances, but I would love to see even more venues with bigger capacities..to sat­isfy the creative demand of our borough.

NB: What are your musical influences?

Both: It’s always fun to see people try and pinpoint them when they listen to our originals. Between the two of us, we grew up listening to everything from old school hip hop to musical theater, pop punk and old jazz standards, classic rock to reggae, and electronic to R&B. It’s great to have a wide range of music appreciation because we are able to pull from different places when we create our own sound.

NB: Do you have any upcoming events or projects that may be of interest to our readers?

Both: We recently released a brand new single, “First Degree Murder.” The song fo­cuses on how past generations have left the planet and environment in peril, thus com­mitting first degree murder. For this song, we circled back to our rock roots while adding some exciting alternative sound­scapes.

We also curate fundraisers for nonprofit organizations, mainly specializing in animal conservation. We have raised over $10,000 collectively for these organizations, and are in the process of establishing The Fine Life Foundation as an NGO, so we can continue our work in creating music for the greater good.

—Nicollette Barsamian - Queens Scene

Have lunch or dinner with the fast-rising star of the New York music scene: singer, songwriter, and musician Elise "Noelani" Levin and Kritty Kesoglides of Fine Life.


Elise Levin's father is world-famous shark photographer Wayne Levin - No surprise that she cares deeply about sharks and works tirelessly to protect them!


Fine Life (Elise Levin, vocalist/songwriter from Hawaii and Kritty Kesoglides, producer/instrumentalist/ songwriter, from Queens, NY) have created a new style of music yielding an authentic and unique sound, combining alternative rock and electronic elements with an honest and forward thinking songwriting approach. "It's important to acknowledge that life is a layered complexity; a variety of hues. We strive to illuminate these colors through our music," says Elise.


This New York based duo also produces benefit concerts to help those in need. Fine Life’s Shark Show: A Benefit Concert for Shark Conservation, raised over $1,200 for the Shark Research Institute’s mission in shark conservation and preservation.


Fine Life continues to write and perform their music in hopes that it will continue to benefit the greater good. - Shark Research Institute

La parte bonita de éste playlist es la conexión musical que existe detrás de cada canción, en sí es la forma en que los artistas llegan a nuestras vidas de una manera tan especial, es por ello que decidí que la canción de ésta semana sería "Morning After" de Fine Life, un dúo, un par de chicos de Nueva York, a quienes tuve la oportunidad de conocer y ver una de sus presentaciones en vivo, recuerdan que les conté de aquella noche especial en Noviembre del año pasado? pues éstos chicos son la razón por la que yo viajé a Nueva York, ellos son Kritty Kesoglides & Elise Levin, quienes además de hacer música y presentarse en vivo, han organizado una serie de eventos sin fines de lucro y benéficos, involucrando e inspirando a mucha gente, incluyendo artistas de muchas partes, como el famoso "Shark Show" del cual han recaudado fondos para el "Shark Research Institute", no es grandioso? sin duda éstos chicos tienen una chispa tan grande que nos inspiran y nos hacen ser parte de algo importante y honesto que es "Apoyar" y que mejor que sea para la naturaleza del globo el cual nos permite seguir haciendo música, como parte de una energía que alimentamos y devolvemos a donde pertenece, justo como Kritty y Elise lo mencionan "Es importante reconocer que la vida es una complejidad en capas", "Una variedad de matices", ellos se esfuerzan por iluminar éstos colores a través de su música; una combinación de Rock Alternativo con elementos Electrónicos...

Actualmente Fine Life cuenta con 5 sencillos y 3 videoclips, el primero de ellos es "Built To Burn" y en éste video se les ve tocando en una azotea, mediante un atardecer, Elise en la voz al frente y Kritty como su mano derecha y mancuerna en la notable producción en Piano y Sintetizadores, además de que ésta canción tiene una poderosa batería que se ve ejecutada por un chico que los acompaña en éste video producido por Ron Geffen de Rockland Studio, lo cierto es que éste sencillo fue lanzado en 17 de enero de 2018, lo que captó mi atención ya que es un día antes de mi cumpleaños, emocionado al respecto continuamos con "In My Head", un sencillo solido y bien definido que nos hacer ver que Elise y Kritty aman el Rock Alternativo, ésta canción expresa nostalgia a través de una combinación de percusiones que siguen siendo poderosas y una base armada de guitarras y riffs, lo que me hace recordar aquella noche de Noviembre donde vi que Kritty conectó su guitarra a su amplificador, activó la distorsión y comenzó su grandioso show, algo que me ha gustado mucho de este video son los colores y la fotografía, en sí la producción y el trabajo es un conjunto de esfuerzos de Kritty, Elise, Ron y Daniel James, creo que la parte escénica y esencial es Elise y los pétalos que caen alrededor de ella, siendo al final del video donde éstos pétalos van en dirección contraria, es decir hacia arriba, es sin duda un excelente video que nos da pauta para seguir con su actual sencillo "Morning After" el cual han publicado el 25 de Noviembre del año pasado, es decir una semana después de haber tocado en Muchmore's, justamente donde los vi tocar, mientras Kritty tocaba su poderosa guitarra Elise nos sorprendió y encantó con un juego de luces realizado por ella misma, fue un performance bastante original, creativo y claro profesional como ya sabemos que lo son, al finalizar su presentación creo que todos los espectadores, mas que aplaudir gritamos de emoción, fue algo muy grandioso, la culminación del su evento "Open Mic, Open Mind, Open Heart" del cual quiero pensar que ya se viene una tercera edición y me encantaría estar ahí, cuando yo vi el flyer de su primera edición decía algo como: favor de llevar "comida enlatada o ropa" y fue cuando supe que ellos estaban organizando un evento sin fines de lucro, pero lo mas cool fue invitarnos incluso a tocar un par de canciones, donde conocí además a Will Giam, Ancient Posse y al comediante y actor Dane Curley, una noche especial...

Continuamos con "Insane" & "Missing You" canciones con las que Elise y Kritty comenzaron a expandir su música en linea, tienen una página oficial como "finelifemusic" en donde pueden encontrar todos sus videos musicales, fotos e información sobre todo lo que hacen con los eventos que organizan sin fines de lucro, ellos manejan 4 conceptos que son Empoderar, Crear, Educar y Colaborar, además de que Kritty lleva a cabo un Bloq llamado "Fine Line" dedicado a voces emergentes en el ámbito creativo, algo que captó mi atención ha sido que Kritty menciona que ha tenido problemas para establecer límites entre ser músico y periodista de música a la vez, y definitivamente muchos debemos entender lo difícil que debe ser tener dos diferentes perspectivas al mismo tiempo, pero que pasa cuando traspasas aquella linea? aparte de disfrutar lo que haces, comienzas a amar y a forjar tu espectro creativo, forjas una pasión, Kritty se graduó de una licenciatura en periodismo en el colegio "Baruch" estudió en la escuela de música "Garnish" y actualmente continua su preparación en producción y diseño del sonido, no es grandioso!? y esto es algo que sin duda se ve reflejado en el sonido de Fine Life, claro está que tenemos a un dúo que viene con muchas sorpresas y mucha música nueva, Fine Life se ha presentado en lugares como Bushwick Public House, Pianos, The Well, Muchmore's y The Footlight, en Brooklyn, Queens, y Manhattan, así es que estén atentos para su próxima presentación, y para quienes estén de paso en NYC, tómense la libertad de asistir a uno de sus conciertos, por ahora me complace anunciar que ésta historia continuará con "Will Giam" a quien conocí aquella noche en Muchmore's un excelente músico y cantautor del cual les platicaré en una próximo episodio.. Estás en la Zona, estás en Music To Follow Dreams... - Hiram Lopez

Concert hosted by Elise Levin and Kritty Kesoglides of Fine
Life was held this year at the Bushwick Public House in
Brooklyn, New York on July 13th The concert also featured
Juander, Chris Keys, Flying Machine Collective, and SRI's
own Dean Fessler. The event included a raffle, silent
auction, and visual artists Ash Showler and Wayne Levin.
(Elise’s father is a world-famous shark photographer). It
was one of the hottest nights of the summer, but the crowd
was huge and enthusiastic! It was a night to remember and
treasure! - Shark Research Institute

Tarot cards are known to be used for divinatory purposes, and usually your first deck is supposed to be gifted to you. But I had been hoping to find a tarot card deck for quite a while and I believed that if I ever came across one that felt right, I'd consider it a gift from the universe.
Though I currently live in Astoria, Queens, I was born and raised on the Big Island of Hawaii until I moved to New York City in 2012. Fast forward to 2018 - I was exploring the vibrant neighborhood of Greenpoint, Brooklyn one afternoon when the comforting smell of Nag Champa, my favorite incense, lured me into a nifty little shop that was filled to the brim with crystals, chimes and beautiful Pagan trinkets. It was then that I caught a glimpse of a tarot deck. I edged in closer for a better look, and to my amazement, it was a Hawaiian tarot deck, entitled Hazel Moon’s Hawaiian Tarot. As fate would have it, the store owner told me that he had just gotten these tarot decks shipped to him a couple of days ago. It was in that moment that I knew I was meant to find this deck; It was my gift from the universe. After purchasing the deck, I spent months studying the cards and began to learn the art of tarot. It helped me to connect with my subconscious, and embrace a future I was otherwise uncertain of.
Interested in their origin, I researched Hazel Moon’s Hawaiian Tarot, and found that the creator, Katalin E Csikos, had made these tarot cards while she lived on the Big Island, my birthplace. I then came across it’s Facebook page, and learned that these cards had been featured on season 2 of Hawaii Five-O. Not only did I play the role of Angela O’Hara on the same show, but we also appeared in the same season. I was in awe of how this story began to unfold, and whether it was mere coincidence, or the fact that destiny decided to manifest itself. I continued to scroll through HazelMoon's Hawaiian Tarot by Katalin E Csikos when I discovered what I now know was my reason for entering the humble shop in Greenpoint: All of the money made from this tarot deck went to the Rosegate Retirement Home for Dogs and Cats, Katalin’s sanctuary for senior dogs and cats that her and her husband founded on her farm in Minnesota.
For my entire life, I have been an immense animal lover, and have always been deeply concerned for their welfare. My band, Fine Life, consisting of my partner in music and love, Kritty Kesoglides, and myself, had just thrown an event called “Shark Show: A Benefit Concert for Shark Conservation,” in which all proceeds were donated to the Shark Research Institute. We raised $1,200 for the sharks, and because of this success, we decided we should continue to throw events throughout New York City that will benefit the greater good.
When I came across Rosegate Retirement for Dogs and Cats, I knew we had found the perfect organization to partner up with for our next benefit concert. I understood why the universe had gifted me with this amazing gift. I messaged Katalin and asked if she would be interested in Fine Life throwing an event in New York City for her incredible non profit organization that was doing so much for our senior citizen K9s and felines. She messaged back with all the enthusiasm I had hoped for.
We have been hard at work planning this event for the past couple of months, and so without further ado, it is my absolute pleasure to invite you to Fine Life Presents "Black Cat Ball": A Halloween Paw-ty for Senior Cats and Dogs. Proceeds will be going straight to Rosegate Retirement Home for Dogs and Cats, and will take place on Friday, October 26 The Footlight in Ridgewood. Admission is $10, which includes a free raffle ticket for a chance to win one of Katalin’s beautiful paintings. Attendees will also enjoy an incredible line up of local up and coming musical artists and bands. The night will consist of performances by Loveless (Ashley Brooks Peden), HelloOshay & The Nu Sound (Ol' Soul), From The Concrete, and our band Fine Life. The evening will also include a Halloween costume contest, in which the audience will choose the best cat and dog costumes, and a silent auction consisting of artwork by Ash Showler, Justin Frabby Frabasile, Yael Pnt, Katalin E Csikos, Em Ilia, Kristie Nelson, Rebecca Eden and Susan Nagy. You will also have the opportunity to receive a Hawaiian tarot card reading and go home with your own Hazel Moon tarot deck. It’s going to be an extravagant Halloween paw-ty for a great cause on a fun-filled night with fantastic music. We will see you there. - Hazel Moon