Interview: Kissy Sell Out

Hi there! You played a show in Greece last night, so coming to somewhere like St Andrews must be quite a change of pace for you? I came here about […]


Hi there! You played a show in Greece last night, so coming to somewhere like St Andrews must be quite a change of pace for you?

I came here about 2 years ago, and I had a good time. I was a bit more ambivalent and nervous about that one, just ’cause I thought, how do they even know who I am? But I had a good laugh, I had a great time. We all ended up at various after-parties afterwards, which was nice. It’s good to be here again.

As you know, it’s Freshers Week here. Have you got any tales from when you were a student?

At art college we didn’t really get a Freshers Week like you do here. I’ve got quite conditioned to these things, I’ve done quite a lot of these parties. As a DJ, it takes a lot to shock me now. I remember walking into Brighton University Union once, and there was a condom on the floor just as I walked in the main door. I just thought, ‘Holy shit, it feels like I’m entering the gates of hell!’ But maybe I’m catching up on the stuff I missed out on when I was nineteen.

What was it that drew you to pursue music as opposed to sticking with what you had done at college?

It was kind of the opposite way around. All I ever wanted to do was design record covers. When I was at art college I thought I’d meet loads of people who wanted to do that too. But when I got there, nobody was interested in music at all, they couldn’t care less. I couldn’t empathise with these people. So I did a design project called ‘Record Label’. It was never supposed to be about my music but I didn’t know anybody else who made music, so I had to make it. I made music under five different names, the sorts of things I thought people would like. Then I made one thing which was a bit more serious, inspired by some gothic 80s records I was listening to at the time. I called that ‘Kissy Sell Out’ and that was the start.

One of the debates that’s going on just now in music asks if artists who ‘just press play’ when they perform live are really DJs. What’s your take on this?

It just depends what you want, I guess. I think the crowds that people like that play to, they’re not the same crowds I play to. I always try my hardest and I just try and do what I can do and test myself a bit, but if you want to go and see someone who just presses play, then that’s cool. If I can’t persuade you otherwise, it just says more about my DJing than theirs.

It’s a bit like when dubstep producers kick off ‘cause loads of Americans are making dubstep now and making loads of money, but the thing is it feels like you can just give those guys an ultimatum: What would you rather be? Would you rather be the guys that started it and you’re from the underground and what you do is really credible and cool and you’ll have a legacy, or would you rather be famous for a year but have made a million dollars? A million dollars sounds cool, but…Mind you, the exchange rate is probably a bit crap.

Electronic music is having a bit of a moment just now. Do you think the genre is genuinely expanding, or is it just becoming more accessible?

I think it’s been breaking in and out of the mainstream constantly. It’s a very British thing. I like that a lot of boundaries have been kicked in now. People just want to hear everything at the same time, and I think that’s cool. It works well for me because I tend to genre-hop by nature. I’ve got quite an eclectic taste in music anyway, so I like it.

I think it’s funny that America have made it such a big thing, it’s only dance tracks over there. I’ve been going over there a lot this year, and the hip hop scene’s a forgotten-about thing now. But it’s different over there, and the crowds aren’t quite as discerning.

You support up-and-coming, unsigned artists through your own record label. Is there anyone you’re particularly excited about right now?

We’ve had quite a few success stories come through, Zedd’s Dead in particular, very big in America now, same with Dillon Francis. They’re all over the world now, those guys, making loads of money, which is great. I like that those guys all still remember where they came from, and I think that’s the nice thing about San City High, the record label.

At the moment, I’m just on a new batch of people, and there’s so many. We’ve got loads of new remixes coming out. There’s an Australian guy called Northie, he’s got a really good attitude. He’s doing his stuff with a live band, which I didn’t think was happening any more. The whole moombahton thing I think is great. I was saying that for years. There’s Etc, Etc, who I’ve been pushing the shit out of for years, he’s an American guy who’s making loads of moombahton. I’ve got DJ Gold to do a remix for me recently.

It’s a pleasure, I really do help all these people with their mixdowns and masters and stuff, I was doing it last week, making all this really cool music, so I like that. I like being part of the scene as a bit of scaffolding sometimes, it’s a nice feeling.

Lastly, have you got any tips for the Freshers?

Pace yourself, ‘cause Freshers have the habit of just going home at like 12:30, don’t be doing that. Try and be a bit polite to the girls, I’d say the girls need to be nice to the boys, too. I think the whole bigger bit of advice is simply just to enjoy university as a whole and make it the best years of your life. It’s the last chance you get to have fun without getting into too much trouble or having too much responsibility. Unless you become a DJ, of course.  

 

Image: Ben Goulter