Kayex Interview: Warrior Games
Kayex pour their focus towards flipping fear into self-belief on their newest single ‘Warrior Games’. In their first release since last September, the electronic duo gave the “record extra TLC”, and fine-tuned their contrasting personalities to formulate the several wavelengths that exist in the track. We chat to Kayex’s Palassi and Tom on their incremental development as musicians and the unity they hope to champion through their music.
Hailing from Perth, the duo relocated to Sydney to advance and immerse themselves in the heart of music.
Has it been a big shift from making music in Perth to going to the more music central in Sydney?
We were literally just talking about it. It’s so quiet here. We’ve been over in Sydney for a few years and you just get used to it. When you get back here, you notice it straight away. It makes Sydney feel so crazy. We do love it though.
‘Warrior Games’ was born alongside the guidance of long-time friend and writer/producer Lionel Towers in Melbourne.
Had you ever worked together on a music project before?
We’ve worked with him a fair bit. We worked on our first single ‘My Friends’ with him, other bits and pieces of music and we’re probably going to work with him on an album at some point this year. He’s a really close friend of ours and somewhat of a mentor at the moment.
There has been an exponential realisation that by making music you love, all the streaming and consumption will happen organically.
Is that something you’ve grown to believe?
Big time. We’re pretty impatient with some things and we’re getting better at that. That’s partly what ‘Warrior Games’ is about. Just trusting the process, because there’s been so many internal back and forths about when things are going to happen and if we’re good enough. We have all these questions, but ‘Warrior Games’ is about facing all that and backing yourself and the projects.
What do you think has been the main thing getting you to grow your self-belief?
We think it’s just over time, not a flick of a switch type thing. Each song, we expected a little bit less and we were slumming it out a bit in terms of lifestyle. At the moment, we’re both working again and putting our energy into Kayex and enjoying our lives outside of Kayex. [We’ve realised], it’s not the be all and end all. It’s just loving the shows.
Looking back over the couple of years we have been doing it, we like to acknowledge and be grateful for what we have achieved. Even if things haven’t moved as quickly as most artists would want, we’re super grateful for the support we’ve received so far. We’re super positive and [now] we’re being grounded and managing expectations.
The production on ‘Warrior Games’ reaches a middle ground, without being too solemn or being too overbearingly energetic.
Can you talk about how living more carefree has helped you construct the sound in ‘Warrior Games’?
It’s maybe a reflection of our lifestyle and the people we are. We’re both very different people and our music has a bit of both of us in it. Some parts of it are kind of wild and other parts are more relaxed. If we went and did solo albums, they’d be very different. [The sound] is a reflection of the people we are and a reflection of our lives in Sydney.
The duo details that Tom’s album would be progressive, heavy metal rock, whilst Palassi would explore intense rap and hip-hop.
Do you think that you draw on the contrast between the two of you in writing too?
Definitely more in writing on a personal sense. We’ll push each other to areas we didn’t know were possible. In the studio, when we’re writing lyrics, we work really well together, because overall, we’re on the same page. We [know] what we want to get as an end result. We respect each other’s music tastes and feed off each other. There’s a big trust and there’s no bad ideas.
Because there’s so much trust in each other, is your approach to working through a song based on collaboration or delegating responsibilities between each other?
We write on our own in our home mini studios and bring our ideas together. We’ve got hundreds of songs that never see the light of day, and ideas that branch into songs, like ‘Warrior Games’. Most of the fine tuning is together.
We genuinely love working together as well. Something happens [working together], that’s usually quite interesting. It’s always unpredictable and there’s a weird energy when we make music [together]. Different ideas come together. Collaborative is more the approach and because we trust each other, if one of us is struggling, the other will find something [to fit].
The song serves as a reminder to take risk and own the decisions you make, particularly in the quirky lyric ‘the higher the stakes, the sweeter the grapes’.
Is the belief you’ve gotten in being bold something you’ve found internally or externally?
Probably external. It’s hard to get a sense of belief without watching someone else succeed. Not necessarily following their path, but taking note of how they got there and acknowledging their successes and struggles along the way. Whether that’s watching a football team or an up and coming musician.
Our conversation is briefly, yet hilariously interrupted by external noise from a surrounding park, that is “notorious for heavy shit going down”.
Palassi continues, taking over from Tom, accentuating the fluid dynamic between the two.
Like Tom was saying, we’re surrounded by such a solid group of mates and people we’ve worked with previously who are doing really well in whatever field they’re in. That’s what that line is about, that what you put in is what you get out. The more you put on the line, the more that could come out of it. We really liked the word grapes. It was pretty funny when it happened, we were like ‘has that been done?’ We were googling it. It was very Prince or something. It seemed too perfect and we love it.
The track is one that becomes more deeply invigorating with each listen because of its original lyricism.
How important is it to develop a balance between getting inspiration from the outside but keeping that aligned with your tastes?
Our taste is modern music and we want to make music that not only we like, but think people will like. Putting some sort of twist [on modern music] to make it original, we always do. From day one, [we’ve had] the Kayex flip. If it sounds too done, then we just flip it on its head. If any part of the song was sounding to familiar we used to flip it on its head and try something completely different and it was working.
Do you think that’s getting harder with the saturation of music?
In the current climate, you have to be original with your music, unless you’re a superstar. We heard it was 40,000 songs a day on Spotify and going up. Cutting through that and somehow remaining original whilst pleasing the majority [is hard]. We’re not out to break all the rules, we just want to put on shows for people and make people happy and inspire.
The song tugs at the listeners own experiences in taking plunges into foreign territory. It pertains to each listener, allowing them, with each listen to uncover the way it translates into their life.
Is that something you felt with this one?
Even though we made the song, as we listen to it, we’re finding other things. Especially with the sample and how that came about. We feel like it’s a grower. The more you listen to it, the you [enjoy it] from the lyric and music sense. It’s cool that you think that too because we used to say that.
In the end we just love making music that can be enjoyed by everyone. We’re not trying to shock people or break rules. Maybe in some way, but overall, we just want to make cool music.
Similar to their relentless drive in constructing ‘Warrior Games’, the duo use the same ambition and diligence to temper their live show.
How much do you appreciate the live setting, despite being higher production oriented?
We love pushing ourselves in that sense. Our first few shows were pretty basic. It was barely even live, we just had decks up there. Now, we’re playing bass and we love challenging ourselves and feeling the nerves of challenging ourselves. We’re more live [now]. That’s why you go see live music. Eventually, the plan is to have a fully live band. It is fun taking the electronic stuff into the live setting. Live is where we love. We love watching bands and we want people to love watching us.
We didn’t even plan it, but we play Enmore Theatre with Crooked Colours the day the song is out. That’s pretty cool. It was a complete coincidence. The Saturday and Sunday we are doing two more shows in Melbourne.
Kayex preaches the message they delineate in ‘Warrior Games’ through broadening their musical ventures. The duo embarked on assembling a fictional abstract visual world that mirrors the song that is set to release on May 30.
It’s essentially what the song is about and overcoming fear. We came up with a pretty weird way of illustrating it. It revolves around a character who turns into a kung-fu kid and is in a dream. The kung-fu kid represents an alter ego of a boy pushing his limits.
It’s directed by Lionel. We spent the weekend shooting and then the video was born. It came out of nowhere, but we’re glad we did it. It turned out pretty cool. [The video] is pretty left of centre.
Kayex present the perks of wearing your heart on your sleeve and “back[ing] yourself”. Their goal of creating community, rather than challenging the mainstream allows for more voracious, united consumption of their music.
Kayex is “happy with where [they’re] at”, and the confidence they ooze is magnetic. As they declare that “all good things take time”, their pride and appreciation for their music is encapsulated. One listen to ‘Warrior Games’ will certainly entice you into the world of Kayex and the feel-good power of their music. The ‘Kayex flip’ isn’t disappearing anytime soon.
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