Kid Fiction What Defines You Interview

A Bold and Forward-Thinking Artist

Still hot from his genre-bending self-titled debut EP earlier this year, Sydneysider, Kid Fiction (Producer/Vocalist/Performer) has wasted no time in delivering his follow-up single, "What Defines You". A tangle of sweetly sung melodies and provocative lyrics, "What Defines You" is a mature and patient electronic think-piece.

Kid Fiction's path to electronic music began in his first year of high school. At the time he was playing in punk/metal bands but also started experimenting with electronic music software, finding demo versions of ReBirth, Acid, and Fruity Loops. He found his artistic voice by blending a wide variety of musical influences, from Dub and Afrobeat, to Footwork, Future Beats and Warp-styled IDM. He has since created a discography of music that is full of animation, melody and memory; grounded in its roots, but with eyes to the horizon.

2018 has been a breakout year for Kid Fiction. His debut self-titled EP received widespread acclaim from tastemakers like XLR8R, Indie Shuffle and Kaltblut, as well as Double J and KCSS Radio in California. RNGLDR Magazine described it as "unlike anything we've ever heard... Kid Fiction is the sole designer of his own unreplicated sound".

On writing the track Kid Fiction said "What Defines You was like wrestling a gorilla. It's really big, the themes, the concept and production... it was actually quite intimidating. No place for half measures."

"What Defines You" slowly digs it's gentle musical claws underneath your skin, cleverly building tension and anticipation in the listener. It oozes confidence and comes from an artist who is one of the rising names in Australia's electronic music scene.

November 30 @ Subsonic Music Festival - Monkerai Valley, Australia
December 7 @ Rael Haus - Newcastle Australia
December 9 @ North Wollongong Hotel - Wollongong, Australia

Interview with Kid Fiction

Question: What inspired the track, What Defines You?

Kid Fiction: To be totally honest, I'm really not sure. Even though it's quite a wordy track it was very much an emotional experience for me. It was just a feeling that I was chasing. Sometimes songs just appear, and your only job is to get out of the way and let the music happen. This was kind of like that.


Question: What do you think defines you?

Kid Fiction: Does anyone have any serious answer to this question? I think it's part of the human condition that we don't... at least not in any serious way. Questions are more interesting than answers regardless. And that's kind of what the song is about.

Question: Can you share some highlights from your European tour, with us?

Kid Fiction: I got to play a really cool gig at Sofar Sounds in London. It was a charity event for the Royal Institute for the Blind, so the crowd were all blindfolded and listened to the music sitting down, and was a really interesting experience.


Question: How would you describe your music?

Kid Fiction: I'm just trying to give the world songs and sounds that it hasn't heard before. But to do that in a way that people can connect with.... Familiar but different. that's why I'm more attracted to synthesisers than real life instruments, but underneath all that I try to keep the basic songwriting as universal as possible.


Question: Which is your favourite song to perform live and why?

Kid Fiction: I think it's always the newest song I've written. There's nothing more fun that sharing something that you're really excited about with a crowd.


Question: What should we expect from your upcoming Australian tour dates?

Kid Fiction: I've had a lot of fun touring overseas. It's always a pleasure to be in front of new people and kind of liberating, because no one knows what to expect. So my performance has grown a lot... I'm really looking forward to bring some of that new energy for my peeps back home!


Question: If you could have anyone, in the world, attend a show, who would it be?
Kid Fiction: It would be a close race between Jordan Peterson, Richard Spencer (the white nationalist) and my high school principal.


Question: Do you prefer performing live or recording?

Kid Fiction: I am alive when the music is alive. It's kind of like pizza or pasta... there's a time for one and a time for the other. When the music is cooking it's just a pleasurable thing to be a part of, whether on stage or in a studio or in a crowd.


Question: What motivates you most when writing music?

Kid Fiction: I have a really strong interest in politics and philosophy, and I think that's underneath most of the stuff I'm writing... Even the instrumental stuff. I think good music should sound like revolution, in one form or another. I'm always trying to make music that reaches out of the speaker and shakes a listener a little bit.


Question: Which music/artists are you currently listening to?

Kid Fiction: I'm listening to a lot of "ambient" music at the moment (though I hate that word... sounds so hippy and awkward). Guys like Fennesz, Huerico S. I've also been rediscovering reggae... Kind of deeper artists like The Culture, Burning Spear, Linton Kwesi Johnson.


Question: What or who was your inspiration to go into the music industry?

Kid Fiction: Was a terrible idea I had at a very young age, before I was old enough to fully understand the consequences. I'd put it down to really irresponsible parenting.

Question: If you could collaborate with another artist, who would it be?

Kid Fiction: I'd love to spend some time at some point learning from some of my production heroes, guys like Clark, Oneothrix Point Never, Huerico S, Forrest Swords. I'd like more artists around me that can learn from.


Question: Was there a moment you contemplated throwing in the towel?

Kid Fiction: This happens every second day, and every other day I find some way of pulling through. I can't stand when people say things like "at least you're doing what you love"... Music is something I fight with on a daily basis; I can only hope that fight is worth something to the world. That's kind of what the song is about. The burden of dreams.


Interview by Brooke Hunter