George Clanton

About

George Wayland Clanton Jr. (born January 12, 1988), also known by the monikers Mirror Kisses, ESPRIT 空想, CHINA, and Kid’s Garden, is an American electronic musician and singer-songwriter that emerged from the vaporwave music scene in the early 2010s. He established his independent record label 100% Electronica in 2015, and in 2019 launched the first vaporwave music festival, 100% ElectroniCON.

George Clanton was born in Ridgeway, Virginia. He grew up going to punk rock shows. His career began when he accidentally downloaded a misnamed Brian Jonestown Massacre song, which led him down an Internet rabbit hole where he discovered “a whole new world of music” which inspired him to write and release his own under the pseudonym Mirror Kisses, and later ESPRIT 空想 (“fantasy” in Japanese). He decided to start using his real name before releasing his 2015 album 100% Electronica, because “[he] didn’t want to release one more album as Mirror Kisses”, and he “hated saying ‘Mirror Kisses’ every time someone asked [him his] band name.” He tried to make a sequel to 100% Electronica for three years but felt that he failed, because he wasn’t able to find the sound he wanted for it. After…