Vents MagaZine Music and Entertainment Magazine
Related Articles
Once in a while, an artist paves their own lane, no outside noise, no fabrications. With the overwhelming amount of music being released every single day, it is quite challenging to stay unique. UK newcomer Kwun is a phenomenal example of a new approach and coining new sonic atmospherics.
Hailing from Tulum, Mexico, where he currently resides, Kwun gives an exclusive interview to VENTS with a closer look at his tranquil surroundings and newfound healing practices. He also details his new single ‘Happiness, Part 2’.
Where did we catch you?
I’m in a coffee shop right now, just catching up on some work, having a coffee. Here in Tulum in Mexico. Here’s a live picture for you. It’s called Kaab.
What is keeping you busy these days?
Pretty much all the stuff around getting the album ready. So I’m working remotely with my mix engineer these last few days, who’s in the UK. And then there’s all the promo work with my team also in the UK. Getting video assets together. All this kind of thing. Takes up most of my time at the moment.
Could you describe the environment where you live in Mexico?
Yeah sure. It’s a town called Tulum which is on the Caribbean Coast of Mexico. It’s in the jungle. It’s lush and beautiful. We have lagoons. We have cenotes, which are sinkholes, or bodies of water which were, and still are places of spiritual significance. Tulum is a vortex, which means that it’s a high energy place which can be felt palpably by people sensitive to the energetics of a place. Essentially it has a healing effect, but not before putting you through the mill, for a lot of people anyway. All your stuff comes up to be purified, so to speak.
Why did you decide to move abroad?
I’ve always travelled a lot, since I was in my late teens. When I go abroad, I tend to travel and stay for many months. This time I just stayed for longer. I move between the UK and Mexico. But I just love travelling and being in different places and meeting new people. You discover other sides to yourself when you’re travelling, that you wouldn’t otherwise discover.
How would you describe your sound?
Eclectic. Real. Rich. Yeah it’s a whole mixture of styles and just all kinds of music I love. Everything on this album is really rich and layered. I sometimes call it “luxury music”, jokingly to myself. Never out loud. Until now, haha.
How does your writing process look like?
It depends a lot. Sometimes I start with the lyrics. I may have a line or two I want to work into a song. More often than not I have a melody and a few words here and there, which gets shaped into a song. I like the good old fashion process of writing with a guitar or a piano and then building the arrangement around that. But sometimes I like starting with a beat and then all kinds of ideas might come from that. So it really depends.
You expressed you experienced a heightened sense of clarity that connected you to a natural state of happiness and joy, would you be able paint a picture for us, what these meditations consist of?
If I’m to be really specific, I was working with some meditations with someone called Jacqueline Hobbs, who goes under the moniker of Oracle Girl. Technically they’re not actually meditations. I say meditation just for the convenience of having a word to describe them. They’re coded recordings that assist in the process of what she calls “purification”. What that essentially means in very simple terms is that it clears away anything that is not you, whether it’s environmental, ancestral or any other kind of influence. And helps you get to the truth of who you are. I mean, there’s a lot more to it than that, but that’s a very basic summary.
And you can reach these states through all kinds of natural means, through all kinds of different techniques. Jacqueline’s work just helps to accelerate that process. But I do all kinds of other stuff as well. For me, it puts me into what’s called the theta state. It’s a heightened state where you’re between being awake and asleep, though you’re anything but asleep. You can do a lot to affect your consciousness and personal transformation in these states.
Who did you work with on ‘Happiness, Part 2’ and what is the conceptual inspiration behind this track?
All the keyboards and programming were done by myself, and then I had a string arranger called Jonas Petersen who scored the strings. It’s a lovely arrangement, which I made an off-shoot track with, called ‘Happiness, Part 2 – The Frost Edition’. That’s on the single as a bonus track, which you can stream on all the regular platforms. Jonas does all the strings on my album – he’s also worked alongside Hans Zimmer. So I feel very honored to have him featured on my tracks. Then I have a couple of backing vocalists, multitracked, who sing in the choruses and make up the choir at the end.
Conceptual inspiration – it was just an expression of how I felt at that moment which I wanted to capture in a song. My parts were recorded very quickly, all in one or two takes.
Could you share more about the Light Language you used in your single?
It’s basically a way of sharing frequencies and codes that can have a very real and notable effect on your physical and energetic bodies. It’s a healing modality in itself. Like reiki or something like that. It can be spoken, sung, signed, drawn, written. I sing it in the song, of course. I also rap in it! I’ve been told by a few friends that they’d never heard anyone rapping in Light Language before. Neither had I, haha.
What other themes will you be touching upon in your forthcoming album ‘Ancient Ageless & True’?
That’s a good question. Let’s have a think. Truth, love, beauty, healing, transformation. That would sum it up.
Follow Kwun
