Munich duo and live act KIDSØ play music that you want to hear and feel at the same time. It is what could perhaps best be described as danceable melancholy. Or, as Moritz Graßinger (analogue synths, piano, percussions) and Martin Schneider (drums, e-percussions, video installation), sometimes say with a smile: “electronic music for people who otherwise don’t listen to electronic music that often.” Both somehow hit the mark. And somehow also not, only insufficiently. Because what the two of them produce as KIDSØ can hardly be squeezed into style pigeonholes or pinned down by euphonious adjectives. It is electronic music at its core, that’s for sure.
We caught up with KIDSØ to talk about the release of ‘Fir’, the inspiration behind the album, his own origins in the dance music scene, and his hopes for the future.
EG: Hello Moritz! Martin! It’s great to have you here with us today. How have you been? Where are you right now? How’s everything over there?
KIDSØ: Hello all. We are here in Munich, sitting in our home studio. We are happy that our album has been released a week ago. It has been the first huge milestone since producing as KIDSØ. Besides that, we of course are very shocked with the overall situation in Ukraine. Just to give you an impression of how our mood is at the moment. Many thanks for the invitation to this interview!
EG: Congratulations on the release of your debut album, ‘Fir’ on the new Embassy of Music sub-label esc/ctrl! What was the initial reception been like so far?
KIDSØ: Thank you very much. We have received a lot of positive feedback, have given a handful of interviews, and read some lovely articles in magazines and on the web about the album. We still receive feedback via social media or with direct messages. We really much appreciate every single comment we read about the release (and we do read all of them).
EG: What is ‘Fir’ all about? Is there an underlying concept tying all of ‘Fir’ together? What does this album mean to you?
KIDSØ: The album is a homage to Nordic and Alpine landscapes, which we love very much. You can also hear the calm tones from the album, which were created by the fact that the world stood still for months due to Corona and life also became very calm and quiet for us at times. Our album also reflects the feeling that every now and then it’s important to stop and think about what do I really want in life and what really matters.
EG: How long has ‘Fir’ been in the works for? Was this your first attempt at a full-length studio record? Were there other iterations of ‘Fir’?
KIDSØ: We worked on ‘Fir’ for about one and a half years. After our first EP ‘Apart’ and a few singles, we wanted to release a longer album for many months already.
But yes, ‘Fir’ was our first attempt for a long-player. While releasing tracks like ‘Father’, ‘Sparkle’ or ‘Path’ in the past, we realized that an album would be the next step for us. At that time we drafted our first thoughts about the album.
“Our album also reflects the feeling that every now and then it’s important to stop and think about what do I really want in life and what really matters”
EG: What will listeners find in ‘Fir’? How would you describe it sonically?
KIDSØ: ‘Fir’ is a varied mixture of electronic elements, polyrhythms, organic instruments like violins and cellos and again and again our beloved piano, which in the end holds the songs together. Nevertheless, some songs are danceable and suitable for clubs. This is important to us because we also perform all the songs live and play with live instruments even in clubs.
EG: Martin, you’re also responsible for the visual component of ‘Fir’. What is the importance of visual aids in a sonic medium? What did ‘Fir’ trigger in you guys, visually speaking?
KIDSØ: The visual can greatly intensify the auditory impression. For us, the visual and the music were inextricably linked from the start. I take a lot of photos and videos on trips or hiking journeys, which we then use in music videos or during our live shows as video installations.
EG: What would you guys say is the perfect setting to listen to ‘Fir’ from start to finish?
KIDSØ: Definitely somewhere in nature. Like in the mid of a hiking trip across the Alps, cloudy weather, sunset. Something like that. Alone on the freeway at night would be also an option.
EG: Are there any plans to present ‘Fir’ in a live setting? What are the most common complications of the endless studio possibilities clashing with the ‘limits’ of live performance?
KIDSØ: Absolutely. We have already integrated the songs from the album into our live set and will continue to play them live in the future. Technically, it is actually not easy to bring complex songs with live drums, analog synthesizers, effects, and sound generators to the stage. It took us some time until this worked technically and synchronously. Especially linking all gears together and making them sound like we want them to sound within the songs was the biggest challenge of creating the set. But also the most fun (and frustrating) part to be honest.
EG: What else can we expect from KIDSØ in the near future? What new milestones are you looking out for in the coming months?
KIDSØ: We are currently working on new songs and collaborations, have met with other artists, and already recorded some vocal lines or samples for the upcoming releases. The first to come out will be a remix by a London singer-songwriter next month. After that, we are planning a release with a Swiss singer and producer. It’s all going to be very exciting. Stay healthy and all the best for Electronic Groove.
KIDSØ’s lastest album ‘Fir’ is now ready to stream and play here.
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