Interview: NWMS Chats With Kimbra
Kimbra will be stopping by Seattle on February 11th to perform at Neumos and we had a chance to chat with her about her career so far. Her debut record, Vows, released in 2011 created buzz with singles “Settle Down,” and “Cameo Lover,” followed with two Grammy Awards in 2013 for her mega-hit collaboration with Gotye “Somebody That I Used to Know.” Her third album, Primal Heart, is set to be released in April, and we can’t wait to hear it.
NWMS: Where am I catching you at the moment?
Kimbra: Currently rehearsing in New York, getting the last pieces together to start the tour.
NWMS: What can your fans expect coming out to one of the shows?
Kimbra: This is a very new set for me because as the band sounds bigger than ever, and we’ve invested in the electronic side of the show. It’s a bass hitting record this new album and it’s really registering well live, so I’m excited to share. We have a very integrated visual and light show as well, and a lot of the set will be new music. It’s going to be fun to showcase the new record for people live, and I like the idea of people hearing it in concert even before it comes out.
NWMS: It’s nice to be a part of hearing the songs first, almost gives it a very exclusive feel.
Kimbra: That’s what I wanted, and we just added a whole bunch of new dates in May to catch more of the cities we’re not getting to this time around.
NWMS: What is the biggest difference between this record and your previous one? What was going on in your life that inspired you?
Kimbra: A lot of things happened, I drove cross-country in America, I moved from LA to NY, built a studio in my apartment, went to Ethiopia twice in the making of the record, wanted to have some experience that were removed from the LA bubble that was immersed in. I came into myself in a new way, I grounded myself, I was more interested in confronting reality rather than running from it. I wanted to make a record that felt very, very personal, I wanted it to feel intimate and that I was reaching to people. I was proud to do that, because it was scary at times to be so exposed but I’m happy, it’s a reflection of where I’m at. Accepting myself more, 27 is a big change from 22, you learn a lot and you’re ready to share more of yourself.
NWMS: How did the collaborations happen? I know you worked with Skrillex and famed producer John Congleton.
Kimbra: I met Skrillex at Coachella and we talked and then I heard a beat he had going which became “Top of the World.” I feel that the people I worked with are friends, people I can connect with in order to create. Many of the collaborations are born from mutual friendships and meeting people of the road.
NWMS: Speaking of collaborations, how did the one with Gotye change your life? Or is that something that you can’t get away from now?
Kimbra: I definitely recognize the impact it had on the world, and it was quite surprising and unexpected to me. I am very honored that I got to be kind of a portal into people’s hearts. It’s given me a lot ability to be more courageous with my career as well in terms of having that kind of audience from that song and being able to elaborate and morph that into a musical career. When I first met Gotye I had a debut album that was just coming out, but it hasn’t been until this record that I feel I’ve established what I do, by doing a lot of touring and growing into my own skin. A collaboration like that can either define you or it can kind of set you on a trajectory of even more great music, and that’s the one I’m hoping for. I’m very proud of that song and what it did as it was very personal to both of us and I’m happy to have my name beside it. It was such a big song for the mainstream, it kind of resurrected my faith in pop music, it made me believe a very weird song can be huge. It made me think, “I’m just going to do what I want then,” because it worked.
NWMS: How did music start of for you? Did you have an musical background?
Kimbra: Not really, I came from an artistic father who likes to do photography, great black and white photographer. He’s actually a doctor by trade and my mom is a nurse, but they were very supportive in taking up music. They let me leave at 17 to go make a debut album. I was recording myself at 8, picked up the guitar at 12, and playing by 13 so they could feel that it brought me great joy. After moving to Melbourne and having my manager suggest moving to a new country and making a record, that’s when it became my career.
NWMS: I know you’ll be travelling a lot to tour this record, do you find yourself writing on the road or do you need more space?
Kimbra: I think I’m going to be writing a lot, because there is only one main thing to do every day. Now my life is so much about preparing, for the tour, for TV press, thinking of so many things, and on tour your job is get on stage each night and do a great show. People don’t bother you as much because you’re on tour so I think it gives you this isolation to be in the back of the bus in your sacred space coming up with new ideas.
NWMS: What is your favorite thing about touring?
Kimbra: I like that feeling of getting off the bus in the morning, being in a new city. I like to just go walking, no idea where, find the nearest park, getting immersed in the culture for a couple of hours before I have to hit the soundcheck.
NWMS: What do you like the least?
Kimbra: I miss having the normal, domestic life sometimes. The simplicity of getting up and making your own coffee or breakfast. Having that independence of a routine to keep you grounded. After a few weeks on the road it feels a little like you’re in limbo, like you don’t have any real roots down but that’s part of life I guess.
NWMS: Do you have any hobbies you have outside of music?
Kimbra: I really love to paint actually, I’m really into watercolors, and I’ve inherited the black and white photography love from my father. I really like to take my camera out on tour and develop them when I go back home to New Zealand with my father. It’s good to have a couple of other things to get inspired by when music is a bit too much.
NWMS: You should have him come out on tour with you to take some photos
Kimbra: I would really like that but he’s more of a landscape guy but I do have the dream to collaborate with him on some photographs aligned with poetry, because I write poems too.
NWMS: Do you have any other plans this year besides touring?
Kimbra: It will be my focus for the year. I am going back to New Zealand in February to work on a film project. I’m writing some music for the film among other things. It’s nice to be involved in that and to be back in my home country for a little bit.