KIDSØ on their debut album and wanting to shape a melancholic atmosphere

photography by Bennet Henkel and KIDSØ

We have another electronic music tasty tidbit for you. Munich duo and live act KIDSØ, made up of Moritz Graßinger – analogue synths, piano, percussions – and Martin Schneider – drums, e-percussions, video installation, takes us on a melancholic sound journey. Corresponding to this thought is also their latest video release “Fall” which is also a track out of their just released debut album Fir. A business man´s dream in which he abandons his never ending work piles, escapes to the forest and takes of his bondages accompanied by their atmospheric sound.

KIDSØ had been wanting to put out an album for a long time, but as Moritz explains: “At times we had difficulties finishing the songs. Maybe also because we often kept pushing them in different directions in the live setting.” And Martin complements: “We always wanted to maintain this energy that a concert like this triggers. We’re not so much rave-goers – although our music would also work there by now.”

We had a chat with the talented duo about the meaning of the album title, how they complement each other and the best advice they would have given themselves some years ago.

Hey dear Moritz and Martin. Your debut album Fir is out on the 18th of March. What is the meaning of the album title and why did you choose it?

Fir is the very first album we ever released as KIDSØ. Therefore we really thought about what name would fit best. After a while and lots of weak ideas for a title we decided to choose the name of one of the songs. Fir in this case comes from the same-titled track. A fir describes our mood and the idea of KIDSØ pretty well. When we started to produce music we often thought of Scandinavia and Nordic influences. The nature, lakes, mountains and trees trigger those feelings right from the beginning. Fir in this case perfectly fit for the title of the album.

Your two know each other since childhood. When was the idea born to create music together? I know you had a band before called BEATNIKBOX – was that the start or before already?

Yes, right. BEATNIKBOY was the band we have started making music together with in 2013. And BEATNIKBOY was the band which brought us to electronic music – or towards electronic instruments and equipment. Since that band we experimented a lot with different tools and sounds and finally figured out that the music we really wanted to do did not fit into the context of an indietronic band any longer. That was the starting point for KIDSØ back in 2016.

How do you complement each other artistically and also character wise? In the sense what each of your strengths are so that you can work well together?

Definitely there is. Moritz is almost 100% focused on the music and music production. He is basically the engine of KIDSØ and puts most of his focus on the production. Myself on the other hand (Martin) focuses on the creation of photo and video content. We produce most of our music videos and photos on social media ourselves and do not rely too much on the support of others.

“I guess everybody tried to escape these boundaries or situation on their own way. We have had the music to deal with the global situation the past two years.”

Your sound is very atmospheric. One gets caught into a bit of a trance feeling quite fast. Is your music about escapism?

Most of the tracks of the album were created after the pandemic started. I guess everybody tried to escape these boundaries or situation on their own way. We have had the music to deal with the global situation the past two years. I am not surprised if this can be heard in our music and the songs we put on the album “Fir”. To shape a melancholic atmosphere around the music has been a fundamental part of KIDSØ since the beginning.

You said that you have wanted to put out an album for a long time, but at times had difficulties to finish a song. How did you bypass those difficulties this time?

Most songs were already available in 2021. We were thinking of a release in summer 2021 already. During that time we have gotten in touch with Embassy of Music (Monolink, David Guetta), EASE agency and the Initiative Musik. With such a team we developed a release plan and came up with a release in March 2022. This is sometimes how the music industry works, but it really helped us to push the tracks to its limits and work on singles, videos and stuff we released during the past months.

Who is doing the vocals on this album?

The vocals come from various artists. Some we know from friends here in Munich but often also from samples we discover during long researches through huge sample libraries. This keeps the tracks diversified and it makes lots of fun to work with all kind of sounds and vocal elements during the production.

“Best advice? Start mixing your tracks yourself. With KIDSØ we started to mix all our tracks. This brings in so much more flexibility especially in electronic music.”

The meaning of KIDSØ?

When searching a name for our band we spent days on sending us names which might work as a band title via WhatsApp. I remember very well these days in which we both spent hours in front of our laptops and sent names we somehow found on Google or in dictionaries. We wanted to have a name which is unique. Kidso was one of these terms. A few days after we found our name we put the dash to the Ø to give it that Scandinavian link as we take lots of our inspirations from there.

Music you currently listen to all the time?

Natascha Polké, Faodail, Janus Rasmussen

The best advice you would give to yourself when you were around 10 years younger?

Start mixing your tracks yourself. With KIDSØ we started to mix all our tracks. This brings in so much more flexibility especially in electronic music. Especially when the track consists of such fragile and silent instruments.

Thanks so much for your time!

Much appreciated!