After spending the last few years building and cultivating his distinctive sound, emerging producer Koto Kill now returns to deliver his diverse new single 'Téléphone Party'.
Lifted from his newly unveiled studio album 'Fromage Et Fashion', which is available to stream now, 'Téléphone Party' makes for an incredibly dense and driven listening experience. Blending a multitude of varied genres including electro-pop, EDM, and industrial rock, he is standing as one of the more adventurous names currently on the rise right now.
So with the new single available to stream now, we sat down with him to find out more about his background and what has been inspiring him most lately.
-
What was the first instrument you fell in love with?
Definitely electric guitar. I was too young to appreciate synthesisers and drum machines when I was super young but guitars were something you could see - it was just as much part of the performance. Alas, I cannot actually play guitar. There is a saying that if you learn, you should strike a power chord - if that doesn’t fill you with joy then you should quit. My parents made me learn acoustic before letting me play electric. It didn’t fill me with joy, and so I quit.
What kind of music did you love when you were younger?
Absolutely Michael Jackson. I feel my generation was spoiled for good music growing up, which isn’t to say pop music for kids is necessarily bad now, but I don’t think we ever got someone on the level as MJ, he was truly phenomenal as a performer and artist. I did grow into loving rock acts like Meatloaf and Aerosmith before the British rave scene was truly taking over and acts like The Prodigy were scratching an itch I didn’t even know I had. So this melting pot of pop, rock, dance and electronica really led the way to my production style.
What was the first album you remember owning?
Again, Michael Jackson. I think it was my 9th or 10th birthday and my dad took me to buy my first record. ‘Dangerous’ had just been released and I was debating whether it would be on vinyl or ‘Bad’ on cassette (we couldn’t afford a CD player). In the end I settled on Bad and probably wore the tape out.
What is the one song you wished you could have written yourself?
Half the songs I write start out as songs I wish I wrote myself, but one in particular that comes to mind is ‘Talk Show Host’ by Radiohead. It inspired a track I wrote with Plastique called ‘Apocrypha’, which I still feel became very much my own track. In an ironic twist, one journalist picked up that song as “a song that Thom Yorke would have wished he’d written”. I felt very satisfied with that.
Do you have any habits or rituals you go through when trying to write new music?
I’d say it changes album-to-album; much of ‘Fromage Et Fashion’ was written during the pandemic so it felt like time was standing still. I’d just order a pizza and a bottle of wine and just put myself into a zone where I had nowhere else to be, nothing else to do and I became incredibly prolific. Equally I find going for a long run or walk before writing can exercise the need to feel I’ve been outside.
Who are your favourite artists you have found yourself listening to at the moment?
I’m really excited about Tigercub’s new album and listening to their opening tracks. Other recent plays I’ve really enjoyed include Debby Friday’s album ‘Good Luck’, Paris Pamola, Sleep Token, Dora Jar and have also been re-visiting the Beastie Boys lately.
If you could open a show for anyone in the world, who would it be?
I’m not sure how Koto Kill would ever work as a live event unless I did it as a DJ set and I don’t really know how to DJ outside of some basic Ableton Live. Which is to say I have absolutely no idea who I’d open for and if I’d even want to.
What do you find is the most rewarding part about being a musician?
When you try out a new idea on a demo and you suddenly realise this is actually gonna be a song. Everything slots into place and it’s Dopamine Central.
And what is the most frustrating part?
Absolutely everything else.
And what is the best piece of advice you have received as a musician?
All you need to break into the industry is luck (or contacts). However, all you need to remain in the industry is talent (or money).
-
Koto Kill's new single 'Téléphone Party' is available to stream now. Check out the new video for it in the player below.