Q&A: KIKI ROCKWELL

BORN IN SAN FRANCISCO & RAISED IN BONN (GERMANY) AS WELL AS AUCKLAND, KIKI ROCKWELL IS A FORMER MEMBER OF LOCAL BAND THE LEERS WHO IS NOW TAKING HER FIRST STEPS AS A SOLO ARTIST. DRAWING INSPIRATION FROM THE GRIT OF THE WILD WEST, THE ALLURE OF MEDIEVAL FOLK TALES AND THE WORLD BUILDING SOUNDS OF DYSTOPIAN VIDEO GAMES, HER DEBUT EP ‘BLEEDING OUT IN A FOREST’ (THAT SHE WROTE, PRODUCED AND MIXED HERSELF!) TAKES YOU ON A SHORT TRIP AWAY.

WE’D LOVE TO KNOW A LITTLE BIT ABOUT YOUR MUSICAL JOURNEY SO FAR FROM WHEN YOU FIRST STARTED SINGING AND MAKING MUSIC!

So I’ve been playing piano since a kid and would write songs here and there but my mum is a therapist and would psychoanalyse my lyrics so that put me off songwriting for a while haha. Then two years ago I had my itty bitty heart freshly broken and was forced to go camping with my family. Instead of dragging the whole mood down, I went and sat under this big oak tree in a field and it’s like a song, fully formed, came rushing at me across the meadow and lodged itself like an arrow in my chest. I wrote my first song in one big, hot burst and they have been aggressively entering my mind like that since. I then taught myself how to use GarageBand and didn’t do anything or see anyone for pretty much all of 2020 while I built my skills and sound.

AMAZING! WE ARE LOVING YOUR LATEST CAPTIVATING TRACK ‘SAME OLD ENERGY’ FULL OF FOLK HARMONIES, EERIE INSTRUMENTATION AND SUCH A POWERFUL MESSAGE. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE MEANING OF THIS TRACK AND THE INSPIRATION BEHIND IT?

I had spent 6 months writing about the same damn guy. I had covered every emotion in every key and one night at 3am I was over it. 3am. Witching hour. I read the crucible in high school and what gripped me most was it wasn’t even important whether or not a woman was guilty of ‘witchcraft’ or not. It was about control and fear. That high frequency female energy that terrifies some men. And that need to contain and control lead to tens of thousands of women (and some men) to die. The song was my way of trying to honour them. And it was a way to put into words that strange and beautiful power that they cannot understand, and so must try and control. We’ve come so far but we still have so far to go. The lyrics are pretty straight forward to be honest and I hate over explaining my art or meaning but this one isn’t hard to figure out. It still feels like my most important song.

IN THE MUSIC VIDEO WE’RE TRANSPORTED TO A TIME INSPIRED BY MEDIEVAL FOLK TALES. WHAT WERE YOUR FAVOURITE PARTS ABOUT FILMING THE MUSIC VIDEO FOR ‘SAME OLD ENERGY’?

Filming ‘Same Old Energy’ music video was a real challenge. And that’s kinda what I loved about it! We had a tiny little budget (just my savings lmao) and no experience. But something about limitation has always made my creativity go through the roof. Honestly, the entire shoot my crew and I would look at each other and go “is this, like, working?? Is this gonna flop?” It was only when we came to edit it did we realise we had something really incredible on our hands. Also, not to be soppy but all the dancers and extras and I became real life friends. We were all so wild and chaotic and excited on set. The power you feel at that fire scene is real. That really was women of all different walks of life dancing and feeling their own power and beauty together around a (dangerously hot haha) bonfire and I’m getting goosebumps even just thinking about it now!

SO INCREDIBLE! AND YOUR DEBUT EP “BLEEDING OUT IN A FOREST” IS AN ABSOLUTE MASTERPIECE WITH A MYTHICAL AESTHETIC UNLIKE ANYTHING WE’VE HEARD BEFORE! CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT WHAT THEMES YOU DELVE INTO IN THE EP AND HOW YOU LANDED ON IT’S NAME?

I was a massive classics geek in high school and was raised on some pretty dark German fairytales (my mum is German) so I’ve always liked using fantastical methods to talk about very real things I’m experiencing. It’s nice to be able to take a step away from myself like that, to romanticise things like being cheated on. Sounds a hell of a lot more appealing to say I was left for dead haha. This EP talks about all the seasons of love. From that blood-lust obsession of first bite, to the anger and bruised pride of unrequited love, to that howling sorrow of betrayal and then to quit and unshakable confidence of coming home to yourself. I called it ‘Bleeding Out In A Forest’ but its less about death, and more about reinvention.

WHAT WERE SOME OF YOUR MAIN HIGHLIGHTS WORKING ON THE EP AND STARTING YOUR OWN SOLO JOURNEY? 

My highlight was improving as a producer and getting brave enough to call myself one. It’s still such a male dominated world and there were certainly people that said I should be working “with a real producer” but I got so bored watching other people push the buttons. I wanna push the buttons.

WHO ARE YOUR BIGGEST INSPIRATIONS IN MUSIC?

My biggest inspirations in music are the women who wear all the hats like Sevdaliza and FKA Twigs. They’re not just the face of what they’re building, but they are the builders, the architects, the foremen and the security guards.

WHO ARE SOME OF YOUR FAVOURITE NZ ARTISTS RIGHT NOW AND ARE THERE ANY SONGS IN PARTICULAR THAT YOU ESPECIALLY LOVE OR CONNECT WITH?

I’ve been in my feels to Neil MacLeod ‘Come Down’ a lot lately ...

WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT NEW ZEALAND? DO YOU HAVE ANY FAVOURITE PLACES TO TRAVEL TO OR LOCAL SPOTS YOU LOVE VISITING? 

Travelling was just a big love letter to home. Coming back I realised that there is nowhere that makes me feel so utterly wild and alive. I’m a bit of a hermit so having so many beautiful places to be alone in was a songwriters dream. Also I practically live in a pirate film set (rough sea, fog, dark cliffs etc) and I am so grateful …

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE BIGGEST LESSONS YOU’VE LEARNT IN YOUR CAREER SO FAR, AND WHAT ADVICE DO YOU HAVE FOR OTHER KIWI ARTISTS OUT THERE?

The biggest lesson was to trust myself. Trust my abilities, trust my instincts, trust my taste. You’re gonna be pushed and pulled in so many directions so make sure you have nice big hairy feet to plant firmly on the earth.

LOVE THAT! LASTLY, IF YOU COULD SAY ONE THING TO EVERY PERSON IN THE WORLD, WHAT WOULD IT BE?

Be kind to everyone you meet but take shit from no one. And to women especially, you have an immense and ancient power inside of yourself that they don’t want you to tap into. Do it. 

THANK YOU SO MUCH KIKI! MAKE SURE TO KEEP UP WITH HER ON INSTAGRAM, TIKTOK, SPOTIFY OR APPLE MUSIC.