Acclaimed Munich music duo KIDSØ has shared the official remix of their track ‘Childhood’ by renowned Russian music producer Long Arm. The original ‘Childhood’ single will feature on KIDSØ’s highly anticipated forthcoming album, set for release later this year. The pair are widely known as percussionists, and make use of felt pianos, strings such as cello and viola, analogue synths, and electronic drums in their music, which results in a light and playful atmosphere in the process along with children’s choir.
We find out more about this duo that are making waves in the conservative German town of Munich!
Where do you find any ideas for music?
For our debut EP Apart, we spend weeks at our temporary studio in a small cottage at the lake Schliersee not far from Munich. The environment with its mountains and the lake close affected very much the mood of the songs. This sets the foundation for our music and the feelings we try to express.
Since then, we focused on our live shows, the live instruments and sounds. It was a period of testing and experimenting with numerous synthesizers and very organic sounds. Many samples were recorded in video and audio hence shaping the sound of KIDSØ even further.
The LP Childhood we have been working on the past year pretty much has all these influences in it. It is based on the fundamental mood of ‘Apart’ but comes along with all the influences we collected while playing live shows and sampling new sounds around our hometown Munich.
Why did you choose the electronic style? How did you come up with using organic sounds?
We both have been playing electronic music for a while already. Being close friends, we have been musicians in bands already before KIDSØ. And the more we experimented with a laptop and software, the more we were hooked by its possibilities.
We finally formed KIDSØ, as it 100% fits our personal attitude and feelings. The piano and strings are part of its foundation, whereas organic sounds are the perfect fit to combine the electronic elements like drum and bass with fragile elements like classic instruments.
What are the trends in electronic music? Нow do you want to write your next songs? In which style?
We definitely see a positive trend in electronic music at least here in Germany. It’s important to say that we are based in Munich – which is not Berlin and not that colorful as Berlin in terms of diversity and openness. For us, the electronic music culture in Munich is getting stronger. We see more and more events with electronic music and artists evolving. It feels like this is also driven by new and young people moving to Munich. Festivals we have seen in Munich years ago get more used to electronic acts and dare to open stages for new genres and styles.
This can also be seen on Spotify. Electronic artists and labels are prospering. Playlists are growing, new genres are formed. We definitely are very happy with the development.
In terms of our style, we do not intend to change anything for future releases. We are 100% into the sound we produce and love the scene we are moving in.
Who do you listen to mostly?
We both use Spotify and SoundCloud most to listen to music and to find new artists and styles. Spotify is very strong in finding artists close to the sound we are used to and love. Once one of us found new artists, we share them in our KIDSØ playlists with each other and some listeners on Spotify. That might be the reason why our musical taste is very common.
If we look into that playlist for the moment, we see well-known names like Recondite, Monolink or Kiasmos, but also a bit more unknown artists like Worakls, Slow Meadow or Floex.
But if we reflect on the last year, we must mention artists like Christian Löffler, Parra for Cuva, Ólafur Arnalds, Niels Frahm or HVOB as some of the artists we listen most frequently.
How do you choose themes for music videos?
When being outside, most of the time we have our camera gear close. Most of the videos we share on Instagram (@kidso.official) are recorded just randomly. We spend a lot of our time in the mountains or at the numerous lakes around Munich. Due to this, most of our videos are based on nature, water or the forest. It fits very well with the mood we try to express with our music. And it fits our personal preferences anyhow.
The official music videos we share on YouTube also emerged out of these video clips. We try to combine these videos with a story. Sometimes based on sketches or drawings like the “Apart” or “Father” videos.
What inspires you in everyday life?
We were asking the question ourselves sitting in a café in Saint Petersburg just a few months ago. What’s inspiring us is the current global drive for a green planet and environmental protection. This also gave us the inspiration for the title track of our upcoming LP Childhood. But it is easy to say without participating or taking action. Definitely have some plans for 2020 to get these things changed.
You have songs without lyrics. Do you think sound for listeners is more important than words?
There is definitely a difference in mood and the message between tracks with lyrics and without. With all our tracks we start producing the melodies and beats before the vocals – if any. Tracks like ‘Silent’ from our EP has a very deep melody and would be overfull with additional lyrics and vocals. Some other tracks like ‘Scandia’ or ‘Apart’ have a few vocals. It is something we decide from track to track individually.
From the listeners’ point of view, it is much easier to put the track into a context with the lyrics. But on the other hand, listeners have more room for interpretation if the track comes without the lyrics. That is one of the reasons we love to use just short phrases or to crop the vocals in a way, in which the message is faint and more unclear. It allows everyone to interpret our music in her or his individual way.
Follow KIDSØ:
Website – Facebook – Twitter – Soundcloud – Youtube – Instagram – Spotify
Follow Long Arm:
Facebook – Soundcloud – Youtube – Instagram – Spotify
