Kimyan Law is a name that has only recently appeared on the scene, but he’s already making a significant impact due to his innovative approach to making electronic music. At 19 years of age, he already has a comprehensive understanding of music production – having started experimenting at the age of 12.
The praise he has received from Blu Mar Ten is reminiscent of how ardently they supported the music of Frederic Robinson ahead of his debut release. It is no surprise that he is now set to release his debut album, ‘Coeur Calme‘, on Blu Mar Ten Music. We caught up with Kimyan Law to discuss his formative childhood years, the album, and the use of his own recordings in his music. He is also giving away a free track, ‘Glow’, which can be streamed and downloaded below.
The guys at Blu Mar Ten have been singing your praises for several months in the run- up to your debut release. Where did the journey begin with them?
Back in my hometown, Vienna, there’s a drum and bass event called ‘Vollkontakt’, who booked Chris Blu Mar Ten and by meeting there and talking with him things got in motion.
As well as producing music, you have a deft hand for several other creative disciplines – painting, graphic design, and video directing. Is it an aim of yours to have creative control over all artistic elements of your releases?
It definitely is. Creating art is a passion, which kind of got suppressed in our society nowadays. Everyone is just ready to be entertained. Not that there’s no art, but you can tell things are ‘controlled‘ and ’throttled’ in most art forms… nevertheless, I really enjoy producing pieces of art in ways that allow me to decide and manipulate the whole process, from beginning to end.
Can you give some insight into some of the experiences of your childhood, and how they shaped the person you are and the music you make?
Well, my childhood was quite bipolar. On the one hand my loving and caring parents who taught me respect, thankfulness and always worked hard to make my life as sweet and beautiful as possible.
On the other hand, a wide net of racism in my environment, a series of pain and sickness and the inner reflection and question of being. Despite the fact that I was brought up well I had to deal with depression and worse, and all of that at a very young and unusual age.
What were the inspirations behind the new single on Blu Mar Ten Music, and how did you get Robert Manos on board to provide a very fitting vocal for ‘Run Ames’?
This single contains two tunes, one of them being ‘Eclairage‘. This is my mother tongue (French) and it basically means ‘lighting system‘. I once worked as a cook, and always had to get up very early. The contrast of the still midnight-dark sky and those lights all over Vienna got me inspired, and so I wrote the melody for this before entering the kitchens.
The second track, ‘Run Ames‘ with Robert Manos, is more gentle and smooth. Robert’s dynamic voice made the track complete, exactly what I was looking for. How I got him to feature on this tune? What can I say, Chris Blu Mar Ten is a magician. Obvious.
As of yet, we haven’t heard a great deal of music from you – albeit what we have heard has whet our appetites. What can we expect from your album, ‘Coeur Calme’ on 10th November?
You can expect an LP full of emotions, stories – maybe goosebumps. I think it’s always a lock-and-key principle – depending on what kind of person you are, it will affect your emotions differently. To me, the album seems to be very melancholic and I think of it as some sort of ‘auditory childhood flashback’. It’s a collection of portraits. That’s all I can say.
With the strong presence drum & bass has in Austria, have you found it easy to share music and ideas with fellow producers?
I’ve made my way into to our drum & bass scene, got to know loads of DJs, producers and underground-music-appreciators over the last four years now, although I must say that at first, I kept on trying and trying to find my own musical style; differentiated from the mainstream and zeitgeist of the drum & bass culture in Vienna. So for a long time there weren’t many ideas that I wanted to show anyone.
However, over the last two years I had a few pupils and was teaching them ways of making polyrhythmic music. At the same time I started to show and share more and more of my tunes with a few other producers.
You’ve collaborated with another Vienna based artist, Summit, on several occasions. What is your history with him, and do you intend to collaborate with him or any others in the near future?
Summit and I first met at ‘Vollkontakt’, one of the best and purest d&b events in my opinion. By that time, he had evolved into an extraordinary DJ. I wanted to learn from him, he wanted to learn from me, one thing led to another, and we started making music together. Right now, I’ve got a mental list of producers I’m planning on collaborating with, but who knows what the future holds.
I’ve seen you like to incorporate your own recordings of instruments in your music. Generally speaking, how much of your tracks are made up of sounds you’ve recorded?
I would say, the ‘average tune‘ of mine has got eighty to ninety percent of my recorded sounds in it. Not that I don’t like other samples but sometimes, there’s just one certain sound missing. And all of a sudden you realize that you just have to slam a broken drumstick against a bowl full of dry rice and Mikado sticks. That’s the resourceful and often amusing part of it.
That type of approach to making music could provide an exciting concept for a live show. Have you given any thought to live performance, or is it early days?
A concept for a live show can definitely take its time. Working out the details and the combination between analogue and electronic (re-) creation of music is a topic that I already thought about, but again, let’s see what the future holds.
What can we expect from you in 2015?
Expect the unexpected.
Download Kimyan Law’s track ‘Glow’ here: