There’s always one of these shows at Sónar. In the last few editions, concerts like the one from Arca or Bad Gyal, even Rosalía in 2018, have been completely filled up purely thanks to word of mouth. Barcelona’s own festival of advanced music usually includes in their line-up a show that everyone seems to agree will be an absolute revelation… And, in fact, that’s what ends up happening, marking one of the first big moments of these artists’ careers. There’s no doubt that this performance at Sónar 2019 has been K Á R Y Y N’s.
K Á R Y Y N, CHANGING ONESELF TO CHANGE THE WORLD (WITH MUSIC)
There’s no doubt about it, K Á R Y Y N’s performance has been one of the most talked-about from the recent Sónar 2019 festival. And nobody was taken by surprise, as the album The Quanta Series has been adored by the critics and by the public (and each time even more) for the past few months. She’s been compared to Arca and Björk… But let’s leave the comparisons aside because we’ve come here to talk to her and only her.
The buzz came from long before. The artist has been talked about for a few years now thanks to the songs she’s been releasing little by little. With a (great) Malayan touch. And, when nobody was expecting it, her début album appeared under the name The Quanta Series, compiling what we had been listening to and broadening it with a group of perfect teammates that have helped her catapult directly towards the orbit of the aforementioned Arca. Yes, Arca again. But also other artists that focus on abstract electronic yet powerfully emotional music like Holly Herndon or Björk. Björk, by the way, has stated that she’s a fan of K Á R Y Y N. Marina Abramovic too.
And the buzz confirmed it. Indeed, the artist’s performance at Sónar 2019 was a magnanimous confirmation. The confirmation that we find ourselves facing one of the most unique personalities in the current electronic music scene. A personality whose roots have gone through some troubling experiences, as her family has Armenian and Syrian blood. This Yankee and European duality complicates itself even more if we take into account that K Á R Y Y N grew up in Indiana until the age of 10, she then moved to Los Angeles and, from there, in 2013 she went to Berlin to end up in London, where she currently lives. The sounds of these places can also be felt in The Quanta Series, which is the excuse that takes us to talk with her during her stay in Barcelona.
Trousers UNDERCOVER, sweatshirt ARIES ARISE, shoes NIKE.
How have your first ten years living in the American Midwest impacted you?
When I was a little girl, I spent a lot of time playing in the woods in the middle of nowhere, completely alone. Having so much time to be introspective with myself turned me into a deep kid who spent most of the day thinking in things that weren’t usual for someone that age. Having not spent my childhood in the city, but in the countryside, made me have to use my imagination in a creative way that I keep doing even today. So, yes, I believe my childhood had a great impact on who I am today. I was bored, so I had to find ways to entertain myself. I did everything by myself.
The change from being a girl in the woods to dropping directly into the streets of Los Angeles must have been very shocking.
It definitely was. And I’ll tell you something: I was completely depressed. Imagine: I had a really magical childhood and, suddenly, everything was girls in shorts and diamonds. I was going through a tomboy phase. And so when I was 15 years old, I spent most of the day playing with my game console. When we were in the countryside, nobody thought of buying me one. But, when we reached the city, seriously what was I going to do without one? So I pleaded my parents until they bought me a Nintendo 64.
How did music enter your life then?
Everyone on my mother’s side is very musical. They love everything artistic. My father’s a scientist, a surgeon. My cousin’s a quantum physicist. That’s why my vision of music is also influenced by science. For some reason, all of my sisters sang. And, when we moved to Los Angeles, I started to study music as a part of the process and I discovered that I had a hard time relating to people. So I started making music because I felt alone.
But, where you alone because you wanted to be alone?
No, no. Initially, in the countryside, it was because there weren’t that many kids around me, and those that were there were much older than I. My town had a population of five thousand, and we actually lived in the middle of nowhere, without anyone near us. I didn’t want to be alone, but I was forced to.
I was just asking because of the eternal mystery of the egg or the chicken: what came before, being a solitary person that became creative and introspective or being a creative and introspective person that looked for solitude?
I believe that, in my case, it was a bit of both. I’m a bit of a hermit. I’m an extroverted introvert. I like to be social but, when I am, I need time for myself, to rebuild.
Going deeper into your family tree, your family has Armenian and Syrian roots. And, in fact, songs like Aleppo explore that heritage… Do you believe that an artist should use their voice to create conscience around problems like Syria?
The starting point of my whole project is empathy, relationships and interconnections. I feel interconnected with the world. The centre of my project is myself, so I have to work on myself, my mind, on how I interact with the world, on how I see the world, on how things affect me… The feelings I feel and the experiences I accumulate whilst I’m living is what my music’s all about. My goal has always been and continues to be that every platform that I have, I’m going to use it to do good, whether people know it or not. For example, I’m going to play for ten thousand people soon, and 10% of the price from each ticket sold will go to an organisation that fights to end world poverty. There are other causes that I’m interested in, like education or combating water pollution. And so, when I have a platform, I naturally just give back that help. It can’t all be about me, me, me. Look at me, look at me, look at me. That part of the music can be fun, but it doesn’t represent me. What represents me much more is connecting with people and moving them. If they’re moved, the size of my platform will be bigger. And that’s what I’m going to do: change the world. First I’m going to change myself, then I’m changing the world.
Sweatshirt ARIES ARISE.
In that respect, then, what has been the people’s response to your new album?
Honestly, I’ve gotten so many really intense messages about how my album has affected some people. And that’s what it’s all about. That was my intention. I’ve been powerfully and intensely changed by what I’ve gone through, and that’s what I’ve energetically put into my album. The final result has not come out of luck. It’s been hard work. That is the great question when it comes to art: art is the process of making art. In this case with music, you compose it, you record it, publish it, you live it live. Funnily enough, I’m recording what will be my next project and it sounds completely different, but it’s because it comes from completely different life experiences. It comes from another place. It will be interesting to observe how, when I continue to grow as a person, my public will also grow. Because, when I start going through other life experiences, I’ll also attract different people. The curious thing is that I’m saying this and, at the same time, when someone tells me that they’ve listed to my album, I’m surprised, I find that amazing.
It shouldn’t surprise you: people usually connect with honest human feelings…
The thing is that, for me, what’s important isn’t to say that I’ve felt this. What’s interesting is to say that I’ve felt this… and, on the way, I’ve learnt this other thing. That’s why I took so long to release my first album: because I had to live life. I needed to explore my feelings, learn from them and, then, have something to offer to whoever listens to it.
So that’s why it’s been so many years since your first song until the release of your album?
Well, the truth is that in no way was I trying to make an album.
Well, it the end it all became totally homogenous.
I guess that it sounds coherent because I am the guiding thread to all of the songs. What’s curious about is that I’m totally obsessed with each song sounding totally unique and that no song sounds like any other that I’ve written before. If you stop and listen to the music of the tracks, they all sound really different. I never use the same idea… And the only thing that connects them together is my voice.
Will it be the same thing for your next album?
Most likely. I’m already producing it with James Ford, from Simian Mobile Disco, and Steve Nalepa, who already helped me with the production of The Quanta Series.
And why were you saying that it was coming from a totally different place?
Because the songs have nothing to do with The Quanta Series, which is an album that happens at the same time in the past, present and future. It happens in space, in a spaceship that is being commanded by a collective conscience. There are no people. And that conscience reflects on how humanity was like. In The Quanta Series the sound was metal and gravel. It was black and brown. Also white and warm pink. There were many atmospheres. However, this new album which I’m working in will be… Well, I can’t really tell you. I can only say it will be totally different. But also totally me.
Trousers UNDERCOVER, sweatshirt ARIES ARISE, shoes NIKE.
Trousers UNDERCOVER, anorak THE NORTH FACE BLACK SERIES, shoes ADIDAS Y-3.
Trousers UNDERCOVER, anorak THE NORTH FACE BLACK SERIES.
Trousers UNDERCOVER, sweatshirt ARIES ARISE, shoes NIKE.
Trousers UNDERCOVER, sweatshirt ARIES ARISE, shoes NIKE.
Trousers UNDERCOVER, anorak THE NORTH FACE BLACK SERIES.
- Photos: Viridiana Morandini