Selected By Bassment - EP. 2: KÉDU CARLÖ

Unstoppable duo KÉDU CARLÖ (Carly & Jess) are full of surprises in their unapologetic style, punching into the scene as tastemakers and one-to-watch creatives.

Recently dropping their debut EP ‘Let’s Get To It’, a strong reference to Chicago house, acid, techno, electro and breaks comes through in their music, and their bold live sets. Their use of intricate afro, latin and cuban-inspired rhythms, melodic experimentation, ethereal vocal layering and irreverent lyricism defines their irreplicable sound.

We’d love to know a little bit about your journey from when you started making music together!

We both met in high school and became best friends through forming an indie rock band together. So we got into songwriting and making music together in tandem with building a really tight friendship. We definitely bonded over sharing music that we were vibing with each other. 6 years on, nothing’s changed.

We always knew we wanted to work together before our tastes and goals aligned, so then it was a slow process over the course of years of aligning our aspirations and choice of craft. Us being a team was always going to happen really, the fact that we make electronic music came about accidentally.

Your debut EP ‘Let’s Get To It’ has such an eclectic & captivating vibe! Can you tell us about the concept of this project and what the writing/production process was like for it?

‘Let’s Get To It’ was kind of an encapsulation of all of the different subgenres of electronic music that we were digging at the time. Within each song there is a different concept and writing/production process. We didn’t necessarily have an overall concept for the project; we just wanted to showcase our skillset and diversity. Our sound is quite varied and we wanted to lay down that expectation with our first project. 

What were some of your main highlights working on this EP?

There are so many fond memories that come to mind from the creation of this EP. Writing the lyrics to ‘2005 GTO’, the initial session when we created ‘Mating Call’ felt really magical and fun and getting our friend Liza in to record the lead vocal in ‘Let’s Get To It’ was a really special experience. 

Do you have any new music on the way soon? And if so, what can we expect from it?

Yes! We have so much new music on the way it’s a little ridiculous. We have just wrapped up our second EP which plays on our love of Acid - we made this EP with the dance floor in mind so she grooves hard! We have made a bunch of DJ edits as well that we are looking forward to sharing along with a music video and we may or may not be working on another project … hehehe. 

We can’t wait to hear all of it! Who would you say are your biggest inspirations in music?

There are so so many!! We feel like every week we stumble across someone new that inspires us to try different things and keep developing. For Carly, Steve Gadd is a biggy for drum inspiration as well as N.E.R.D for general production and snazz. For Jess, Etta James has always been a huge inspiration vocally and lyrically. As well as Lianne La Havas, Aldous Harding and Kimbra.

Who are some of your favourite NZ artists and DJs right now and are there any songs in particular that you love or connect with?

We love Vanessa Worm, Nganeko, Church & AP and Eden Burns. Currently we have been bumping ‘MUSTBE’ by Church & AP a lot. 

What do you love most about living in New Zealand? Do you have any favourite places to travel to or local spots to visit?

New Zealand is such a beautiful country and it’s where our family is which is important. It’s been a really good base for us to grow and develop. Some of our favourite spots include Ohope, Raglan and the Bay of Islands.

What are some of the biggest lessons you’ve learnt as an artist so far?

Stay true to your vision! It can be so easy to be swayed by other people's opinions of what you should be doing or what your music should sound like. But at the end of the day what is going to make your music great is your own personal experiences and point of view. So lean into it and try not to be swayed, every decision you make should always be to serve the music - not to serve someone else's agenda!

Lastly, if you could say one thing to every person in the world, what would it be?

Blow your nose with a tissue not toilet paper. 

Hahaha 100% agree. Thanks so much KÉDU CARLÖ! Make sure you keep up with them on Instagram, Facebook, Spotify & Apple Music.