Kissy Sell Out - Kissy Fit
Self-deprecation might be one of Kissy Sell Out’s charms, but as 3D’s Scott Henderson discovers there’s something to be said for not fitting in.
“I’ve always felt rather lonely,” says Kissy Sell Out, simultaneously bursting into laughter. “For all my life I don’t really see how I fit into the world.” The visually and musically flamboyant DJ/producer isn’t feeling sorry for himself, not for a second, instead he’s exhibiting a nervous reflexive action that seems born of compulsive honesty and earnest nature. Besides, who cares about fitting in anyway-
Kissy burst on the London scene in late 2006 and 2007 unleashing a litany of bonkers synth remixes of everyone from All Saints to Groove Armada and Sugababes to The Human League. Each one firmly in sync with his eccentric sound of complex harmonies and driving tempo from the funky Things That Dreams Are Made Of to the sublime Chick Fit. It all comes quite easily to him says Kissy.
“I love remixing pop songs because the parts are always recorded really well. That’s why I’ve had so much fun doing stuff like the Sugababes, All Saints and Groove Armada – those singers also have pitch perfect voices, which is really cool and there are loads of really cool harmonies. It’s when you do a remix of a track with loads and loads of parts, those are the interesting ones because that’s when you can literally make a new song.”
New songs are the order of the day with the imminent arrival of Kissy’s original artist album Youth, due for release in June. With the most personal bio of any artist you will find on MySpace (his press bio likewise) it is hardly surprising his debut album would be even more so, charting his years growing up as an out of place kid in Essex.
“The album is definitely very me,” promises the contagiously cheerful producer. “I’ve actually gone out and firstly written songs, and also recorded lots of different instruments and ambitious soundscapes, but everything Kissy about it is all there. The compressions are there, the tempos are there, the complicated melodies are there, the synths – it really isn’t a million miles away.
“I think when people hear the album it’ll explain things a bit more, because The Kiss sounds like a bit of a jump from previous stuff and actually when you hear the album, which first of all is autobiographical, the whole thing is about my childhood and stuff, but it is very much like an album album. If you listen to it from start to finish it goes somewhere and there are instrumentals on the album as well and a very big finale. It’s quite an epic album really, it’s not all pop songs.”
WHO: Kissy Sell Out
WHAT: Plays We Love Sounds, Entertainment Quarter
WHEN: Saturday 6 June
MORE: welovesounds.com.au
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