Skye Corewijn chats to kidkanevil about inter-planetary experiences, taking a mix for a musical walk and the rather eccentric Sergeant Keroro.
kidkanevil's music is weird and wonderful and about as unconventional as his choice of superhero. I manage to ask him a question or two before his gig at CAMP this weekend. In all honesty, kidkanevil's answers were delightfully unexpected; I'm educated with regards to space frogs and cyborgs and left under the impression that the variations found in his music are a collation of otherworldly ideas and an incredibly open musical mind.
In almost every internet article featuring kidkanevil, you'll peruse two questionable words; Tokyorkshire and kidyuki. What is Tokyorkshire and who exactly is kidyuki? Well, apparently the first is his home town and “the best place not in the world” and the second “is like mischievous snow” – a fair explanation I suppose. His love affair with music began in the realm of jazz and funk – from there, his aural senses journeyed to the likes of the Beastie Boys and Tribe and soon enough found hip hop. When asked why hip hop in particular, he replies, “I think I connected with its bizarreness a lot...also the creative potential really spoke to me, how you can do and explore so much with just an MPC for example...and it's mad dope of course”. Music “is the place where I feel truly happy...nothing else is relevant in that moment, everything stops except this crazy little world you're creating. That's Tokyorkshire really”. It's an honest and profound picture, almost a literal sketch of his his music.
He enjoys working with Double D Dagger – they're apparently the funniest people to work with, “they just get high as hell and go nuts”. It's also “always an honour to work with Andreya Triana – her voice is so beautiful” and they share a love for '80s comedies. Interestingly enough, if he could pick one person from anywhere in the world to work with, the answer is like chalk to the previous question's cheese. It's Arvo Part, the Estonian classical composer. “I've no idea how that would work and I'm far from worthy, but hey”. Well I'll be jiggered.
Inspiration-wise, he just follows “the sounds really, they kind of lead the way themselves, bit like taking a dog for a walk”, a walk that seems to take kidkanevil to multifarious destinations: “I've never been one for sticking to one style or vibe, the cosmos is so diverse I just don't understand why you'd do that”. I find myself in absolute agreement. And the proof is in the pudding: his sounds vary incredibly, from delicate bleeps and ticks to heavy beats, smooth sounds, thundering bass and warm vocals – it's all pretty diverse. He loves the “sense of community, and a desire for the new, for progression” that London clubbing has, and it's so true; we're continually spoilt for choice and innovative artists.
I reckon you can tell a lot about a person with regards to their two favourite superheroes. Usually it's Batman or Superman, so when I'm told Gally and Keroro Gunso I'm stumped. He picks Gally, a cyborg and bounty hunter from Battle Angel Alita, plus Keroro Gunso, a frog-like alien invader. The victor if they undertook the ultimate battle? Well, “Gally should win, being a cyborg bounty hunter, but Gunso has that eccentricity edge so you never know” – interesting. Lastly, if he were stuck on a desert island I wonder which one superhero he'd have join him, one song he'd have on repeat and a beverage; “ I'd pick Gally, because I don't want to be stranded with a cranky space frog, I'd go with 'Spiegel im Spiegel' by Arvo Part – I pretty much listen to that on repeat anyway – and I'd rock a Rubicon guava juice”. I sense a serious soft spot for Arvo Part.
Most things discussed in kidkanevil's world of Tokyorkshire seem to revolve around the imaginary and the superbly bizarre and surreal. His music is space-like, his sounds are inexplicable and if he were hypothetically banned, he swears he'd continue to make it in secret. His songs create beautiful images of the possibilities sounds allow, each song its own galaxy in dire need of exploration.
Check out kidkanevil at The Doctor's Orders present 9th Wonder on July 3rd and at Soundcrash Presents The Glitch Mob on July 17th.
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