POINT OF VIEW INTERVIEW #15

PRODUCER: KID A

For the 15th Point of View Interview, producer Ben Spremulli, aka Kid A, introduces to us his mind on music and method. He produces music you can really only describe as mysterious yet enticing to the ear. From Connecticut and NYC, Kid A offers the world a diverse and peculiar sound. Tracks such as "They" , "No.2" , and "The Owls" ft. Duran Visek are some of my personal favorites because it arrests the idea of music having to be placed in no specific genre. He collides and experiments with all types of musical elements to give you a carefully narrative piece of electronic musical art. Below, check out the interview I did with Kid A and involve yourself with all the thoughts he has to say about his music and inspirations.

Keep up with Kid A on:

SoundCloud: kid a

Twitter: @benspremulli

http://www.ben-spremulli.com/

Question 1: What got you into making music?

I started playing guitar when I was 10, which more or less got me addicted to music. When I was 13 or 14 I started messing around with Garageband, mainly just to record guitar. Around then is when I heard Daft Punk for the first time & I immediately became immersed in electronic music and the way it was created. The next year I started to produce for the band I was in, and that's what really ended up getting me into production & electronic music composition.

Question 2: What people intrigue you or inspire you to pursue music? (Can be in any field i.e. music, writers, film, etc.) 

My biggest outside source of inspiration comes from being surrounded by peers & friends who are incredible at what they do. To get reliable feedback on your ideas as a producer is really hard, and working with people who are just as serious about it as you are is important for that. Musically, I grew up on a mixture of 00's pop, 80's, & metal, which shaped the way I create for sure. Some musical inspirations that I've been referencing a lot lately are The M Machine, Radiohead, Lemaitre, josh pan, "Does It Offend You, Yeah?", U2, Herzeloyde, Flying Lotus, Submerse, & Point Point.


Question 3: How would you define your style of music?

Generally speaking, I can't really define it all as one word, term, or genre. I'm always messing around with different styles & sounds. The sound on the "VOL. 1" EP is very much trap-based, plus some boombap drum elements, obscure leads, & glitches that leave the whole thing rhythmically heavy but almost barely musical. I like the hectic vibe that creates & definitely want to keep experimenting with it going forward. The CYP3 series (the tracks CYP3A4 + CYP3A5, and two unreleased ones) on the other hand, are melancholy, chord-based, almost drone-y tracks that I always create with that particular idea in mind. I also make a lot of pop-based tracks, those aren't usually for the Kid A project though. Recently, I've been working on creating a sound & some songs out of all of those elements.

Question 4: What influences your style of work?

Honestly, anything that sparks an interesting idea or vision that I can play around with is influential to me. It's almost always a sound or song that starts it, but I try to keep my influences pretty open, letting things like weather or mood get involved with the way something sounds.

Question 5: What is your favorite track that you have produced so far?

My favorite so far is one that's sitting in my computer called "No Sleep". I'm still not entirely sure what I'll be using that track for, but I can't wait to release it. As far as stuff that's already out, it's a tie between my remix of "Anata" by Creepa & a song that I produced for my last band, called "coast."


Question 6: How far do you plan to take your music, any plans? Who would you like to work with in the future?

I have no real "end goal" for music - I want to take it as far as I can and continue to work & learn & see where it goes. I'm moving to LA in June with some friends to pursue this full-time, and to work on another project based out there. I'd love to work with AWE, off.white, Djemba Djemba, EXPLORE, Lindsay Lowend, X&G & Tsuruda. Some dream collaborations would be Mr. Oizo, Flying Lotus, and David Lynch.