A Catch up With Kusmo

InterviewsWritten by Kieran May onJuly 22, 2018

Upcoming Latvian producer and illustrator Kusmo has consistently been on the radar with his SoundCloud uploads, taking heavy influences from hip hop, trip hop and halftime to construct his signature sound.

Over the weekend we asked Kusmo a few questions on his visual representation, inspirations and creative workflow.

How do you go about making (and finishing) a typical Kusmo track?

“I usually lock myself in my room and put my phone away as far as I can from my vision, because I can get distracted easily.Then I just mess around with random sounds until I get an idea and just go with the flow.I sometimes struggle with finishing a track because my ears get so used to it, so I end up starting a new project.Sometimes I combine 3 projects in one track, for example my track 'TIME'S UP!'. I wanna make similar stuff like that someday.“

Your illustrations and visual representation for ‘Kusmo’ is wicked. What inspires you to create your musical & visual art?

“Thank you! I follow a lot of digital artists on my Instagram account and just get inspiration from there.I also watch a lot of Adult Swim cartoons that really inspire me to draw and create stories in my tracks.I watched a lot of cartoons as a kid and I 'd just draw random characters in my free time or in school.It was difficult for me to pay attention in school as I found it really boring, so that 's why I have barely any notes in my notebooks from high school or college, just doodles (haha).“

Your newest upload ‘Off Brands’ shot me into hyperspace.. Loved the track bro!

“Thank you, I'm not really happy with the track myself because I've been struggling with art blocks a lot lately so it was kinda rushed, but I'm happy people enjoy it!“

What is the future for Kusmo? Anything exciting planned you could tell us about?

“I really wanna start playing shows and DJ'ing because it looks really fun playing music to a crowd of people.I also wanna experiment and explore other genres, because I get tired really fast from making one genre all the time, that 's why I'm kinda on an art block with half-time (haha). I have a lot of plans in my mind, if I 'm honest, but I like to do the work first before talking about it.“

And finally.. Three favourite tunes at the moment?

Flying Lotus - 1983 - Fly Lo has been inspiring me a lot lately, he's a pure genius when it comes to sampling.

Tsuruda - Tierra Prima - I've listened to this track countless times and I think I'll never get tired from it, when it comes to half-time, Tsuruda is the one that inspires me the most.

Quasimoto - Microphone Mathematics - I listened to 'The Unseen' album through all my 3rd year of college, I'd listen to it while waiting for the bus in the morning, doing work in college and walking home. Madlib has inspired me to create music and visual art without a doubt, which inspired me to create kusmo.