INTERVIEW: In A Year Where No-One’s Dancing, Kye Grant Wants People To Move

Kye Grant. Photo supplied.

Gold Coast producer Kye Grant has released his latest single GO, the second of five tracks he’s got planned for this year. Dancefloors aren’t open at the moment, but that doesn’t mean you can’t dance. GO is a bass-heavy, hip-shaking track you can dance to in your lounge room without any fear of judgment. A perfect situation, if you ask me.

I spoke to Kye about how he’s handling 2020. He’s had to adapt his mindset to deal with being unable to feed off the energy of the dancefloor when writing new music. Kye’s got a lot more new music on the way - and I found out what’s in store.

Firstly, can you introduce yourself and your music?

Hey hey! My name is Kye Grant. I’m a producer and DJ from the Gold Coast, Australia. I make trap/bass music similar to that of Skrillex, What So Not & Slumberjack. I’ve been producing for years now but 2020 sees me move away from my previous chill music aesthetic into this new darker sound which I am super excited about making. 

Creating ‘dance’ music in 2020 seems more difficult than ever – how did you get yourself in the mindset of what people would react to given that for much of the year, that’s been off the table?

This is a tough question to answer. These first few songs were written before COVID-19 hit and clubs all closed. They were originally set for a March release but given the state of the world we made a decision to pause hoping for some normality to return.

After six months I realised we weren’t ever going to know how long until we had “normality”, so I just had to make a move. With no clubs, festivals and shows, releasing looks very different. I am just trying to use social media as best I can and pray when shows return people will still be vibing these tunes. 

With touring off the table in 2020, how have you channelled your creative energy into other outlets, both within music and outside it?

Again, another tough question. At the start, like a lot of creatives who had jobs or gigs cancelled, I carried a lot of anger. Not at any one person or thing, but just at the situation. All these big plans and shows locked to accompany my releases were now gone in a matter of days and it was truly heartbreaking. From there though, I realised there was no point sitting around sulking, and I began doubling down on the internet side of things.

I asked myself ‘how could I use my socials and other platforms to interact with people in the same way I use to with live shows?’ On top of this, I have been working a lot on new music inspired by these feelings of sadness or disappointment, but also with the viewpoint to hopefully bring optimism and hope to people in similar positions, or in many cases, much worse situations than me.

GO follows on from RUN IT UP, and is the 2nd of five tracks you’ve got coming out this year – is there a common thread tying these tracks together, and if so can you tell me a bit more about what that thread is?

There is a consistent theme between these five songs. Texturally I have used consistent sounds throughout all of them. The earlier releases are more “hype” trap songs, and from there it bridges into a trap/pop fusion inspired by Skrillex and Diplo who incorporate elements of hard trap, but also pop sensibilities.  

You’ve listed inspirations for GO such as Skrillex, What So Not and Slumberjack – what is it about these artists that you associate strongly with, and how did you go about developing your sound?

Frankly, I am just a huge fan of all three. I think they are both incredible artists, but also incredible people. Specifically, when it comes to their music, it is definitely their ability to capture a listener quickly with enchanting melodies, wheel them in, and then bang. They’ve got a big drop guaranteed to get you pumped up. All three of these artists have incredible sound design. The synth sounds they use and the processing of the drums and leads is so tight. That’s something I am always chasing. I definitely feel GO is my best sound design to date.

What emotions are you hoping people feel when they listen to GO, and your music in general – and are these emotions you yourself experience when listening to music?

GO is a hype record. It’s for when you need that instant pump up, whether that be at a festival, in the gym or just when you wake up for a big day. I like to think the whole collection of music though tells a story. I think this will be conveyed much clearer in the vocal releases to follow GO, starting with THE FEELING ft Rome Fortune next month. 

GO lays the foundation for your next release – can you tell me a bit about what listeners can expect from that track?

THE FEELING features Atlanta rapper Rome Fortune who I first heard on a What So Not record Demons. Something about his voice just captivated me and I just knew I had to try get him on a track. THE FEELING is the first of my new work that features vocals which I am super excited for, especially to have someone of Rome’s calibre involved

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Finally, cast your mind forward 12 months – where do you think you’ll be, and what will you be doing?

Ah man, I wish I knew. If COVID ends tomorrow I’d like to say touring and ideally living between here and LA. Who knows when borders will open. At the moment, I am just taking it a release at a time and trying my very best to build my brand and deal with the hand we have all been dealt.

Thank you so so much for your time!