Kiki Rockwell on ‘Rituals On The Bank Of A Familiar River’
Bathed in blood and ready for battle, self-described “feral wench” Kiki Rockwell is back with her sophomore EP. As haunting as its title suggests, it’s a collection of medieval folk-rock “rage and fantasy”, unlike anything you’ve heard before. The sounds of clanging weapons, skin drums and campfire choruses battle with modern guitar riffs and 808s, making for a wholly incomparable sound underscored by Kiki’s utterly unwavering sense of self.
Hey Kiki, thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us! HUGE congrats on your latest EP "Rituals On The Bank of A Familiar River" - we are SO obsessed with your unique style of contemporary medieval-folk. What were your main artistic influences going into this project?
Thank you so much! With this EP I allowed myself to go back to the influences that have captured my imagination since childhood. Here's a list: old folk tales, my mother always having world music playing at home, singing in rounds, monastic choir music, folk/narrative style songwriting, and stories, stories, stories!
What do you think are the most important themes you delve into in this EP?
Reclaiming your power and autonomy and your unwavering sense of self, joy and pleasure, no matter whom that might make uncomfortable.
"Burn Your Village" is an absolutely incredible track full of delightful sonic surprises. Can you tell us about how this track came together from the inspiration behind it to the writing & production process of this song?
Thanks! I was actually quite nervous to show people the song at first, because it is quite a hectic one. Those songs that make me nervous to share though, usually end up resonating the most with people (the same thing happened with 'Same Old Energy'). I think it's usually a good indicator that you're pushing some boundaries. I had been playing with the idea of creating a 'sequel' song to my other song 'Same Old Energy', coming back to this universe I crafted, set loosely around the Salem witch trials. I consider 'Burn Your Village' to be the big sister song, she has more bite and she's learned to stand up for herself.
It started late one night at my piano, where I started writing these verses that slowly speed up, building the intensity. I then produced the song in my little bedroom studio, and it was one of those songs that almost produces itself. I truly can't recall the process, I kinda slip into a trance like state and then 12 hours have passed and I have a full song. It truly is magick. You can hear a lot of eastern European influences in the production, especially the viola loop at the start. For the chorus, the most natural thing to do was to almost yell the lyrics ('Touch me again and I'll cut off your hand!' definitely can't be sung softly haha). That line was actually inspired by the scene in 'Game Of Thrones' where Daenerys Targaryen tells her abusive brother 'the next time you lay a hand on me, will be the last time you have hands.'
My main thing was I wanted the chorus to feel like a huge coven chanting the words together, so I layered like 20 of my vocal takes, some softer, some really feral haha. I then got my sister to come and do some takes too so that there were some variations in tone. She's a slam poet so she added so much raw emotion to it. I was trying so hard not to cry while she was recording, I was so proud and started to understand how important this song might be to some people, especially women.
The outro is my fave part, it's so chaotic but somehow just manages to work. I recorded 3 different piano parts for it and when I was listening to them I accidentally had them all on at the same time and I was like wait ... this kinda slaps. I then chanted 'der Himmel ist mein Zimmer' over and over which means 'heaven is my bedroom'. I loved this idea of a young woman's bedroom being her church, her most private and sacred place. I also knew I wanted to have some German lyrics int here as I'm half German and also because Germany was the country with the most witches burned and executed.
Absolutely incredible. Plus, we love that EP is a mix of both self-written songs and traditional folk songs - and even more impressive that it's fully self-produced! How did you go about selecting the traditional songs?
I wanted to honour two of the most influential songs of my life. 'Hejo, Spann Den Wagen An' is a German folk song that is hundreds of years old. It is one of those perfect melodies that works as a 'canon' (round) and can have many voices all coming in at different points of the song and harmonising with each other. It wasn't until I tried to write my own rounds do I realise what a sacred and incredible feat that is. It sounds like such a simple melody but it's truly just perfect. It's about rushing to gather all the wheat from the harvest before the rains come and spoil the crops. Even as a kid singing this, I sensed the foreboding urgency of the lyrics, the importance of teamwork and diligence so that you can survive another winter (maybe it's my peasant farmer's blood hahah). It's a song that my mother taught me and my sister at a very young age, and we would sing it together, especially on walks or long car trips. So it naturally holds a very dear place in my heart.
The second song is 'Rise Up O Flame' which is also a round and is also hundreds of years old! I've also sung this song since childhood, especially during the winter solstice. The lyric in it 'rise up o flame' actually hugely inspired my song 'Same Old Energy'!
The outstanding visuals perfectly complement this body of work, and we are always so excited every time you drop a video for a song! What were you favourite parts about putting these music videos together?
Planning, styling, shooting and editing music videos is one of my favourite parts about being an artist. Whenever I write and produce a song, I see it as a little movie in my head. I can't help myself, it just forms itself in there. So when we get to actualise those visuals it's the best feeling in the world. My favourite part would have to be working with my best friend and director Oshara Ardelean and her partner (camera op, editor) Ben Williams. We have made almost all of my music videos together so we are just so in synch creatively. Also, having heaps of my friends come and act in it was so special, dancing dressed as pilgrims in the forest is a truly beautiful feeling.
What were your main highlights working on this EP?
Knowing that I was allowed to take it to a more strange and niche place sonically. On my first EP I was still concerned with being 'palatable' and appealing to a wider audience. Now that I have found my audience I had way more courage to make the music that truly excites me.
What was your biggest lesson or takeaway from creating this EP?
Trust your gut! Also, the value of a good mix and master.
THANK YOU SO MUCH KIKI! MAKE SURE TO KEEP UP WITH HER ON INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, SPOTIFY OR APPLE MUSIC.
