Interview: Casiokids
Old analogue and trashy keyboard enthusiasts Casiokids have been active on the Bergen music scene since 2005. Recently they got signed by British label Moshi Moshi (renowned for discovering acts like Bloc Party, Hot Chip and Kate Nash) and their new single "Grønt lys i alle ledd" became the first Norwegian-language single to get a proper release in the UK. This was a good occasion for It's a Trap! to have a chat with singer/keyboardist Ketil Kinden.
How did you guys meet?
We met in Bergen through the studies and also through the music scene there.
What were you studying?
I was studying art history at the time. We were all playing in more pop-rock oriented bands and wanted to try out an electronic music project. So we started jamming together. In the beginning Casiokids were more collective with a lot of improvised things on stage.
How many members were you at the time?
It varied from three to twelve. A year later we started making more pop-structured songs, still with electronic elements, still with Casio keyboards. Now we are a set group of five.
Is this your full-time occupation?
It is starting to become like that. We were on tour with Of Montreal for two weeks and now we are going for a one-month tour in France. Then we're going to the UK and the US. But we have a lot of other projects combined with Casiokids: workshops in kindergartens, sound installations and DJ jobs. These are all variations of our songs; we use themes and sounds from the songs and we experiment with the live format and how to present music to other people, so we are not only doing rock concerts.
How old are the members of the band?
Anything from 23 to 33.
Where do you get your samples?
Some parts from are from audio books and some parts are from interviews we've done ourselves.
How do you write your songs?
We have our own studio so we work more with the recording part of it and the plan how to do things live afterwards. Different band members have different ideas.
Is it a conscious decision that you sing in Norwegian despite the fact that this might make more difficult your breakthrough to the rest of Europe or elsewhere?
We have also tried singing in French, but we settled on Norwegian because it was more natural for us.
English doesn't come into question?
Not so far. We are happy to be singing in Norwegian. But usually when the setting is right, we have a theatre group, which is called Digitalteater. They help us communicate the themes and the songs to the audience.
How many people are they?
They are four. They have shadow puppets and digital animation live on stage. Our music is based around the beats and it is sort of danceable music and we communicate quite a lot of things apart from the lyrics. And it works pretty well because it is such upbeat music.
So what do your lyrics talk about? Is there a main theme?
There's no main theme really. For instance our single "Grønt lys i alle ledd" is inspired by the feeling that in Bergen everyone is so "over-safe" and they became a bit apathetic. It's about that feeling of having it too well and about the necessity of obstacles.
How come you wanted to write about such a topic? Is it out of personal experience?
No, it's just something I thought about from living in Bergen.
You reject the notion of b-sides. Elaborate.
We had this idea that the record industry has come to the point where you can feel free to experiment with the formats and how you release your music. And we thought about what would suit our music best. Because our music is more immediate, we are going to focus on singles. We have our own studio and we are also releasing the things we record not so long after they've been recorded. Trying to keep the audience at the same pace we're at. There is going to be a singles collection at some later stage.
What do you usually listen to at home?
I am listening to this English folk singer; he's called Vashti Bunyan. I also listen to a lot of Nigerian music. Pop music as well, like Jens Lekman.
How did the deal with Moshi Moshi materialise?
We got first in contact with them during by:Larm last year. Right after that we played in the UK a couple of times. We got along with them. They really liked our music and we liked to share. I think it was just a good match with them.
Finally, why does Bergen has such a vibrant music scene?
We are more inspired by the last generation of up-and-coming Bergen musicians. Well, they are still active, like Kings of Convenience. They inspired a lot of new musicians, they brought a lot of musicians to Bergen. More musicians are coming to Bergen; more creativity coming to Bergen; more audience coming to Bergen.
Words and picture by Vasilis Panagiotopoulos