Words by Yaz Lancaster
Kevin Richard Martin (aka The Bug) and Joseph Kamaru (aka KMRU) struck up an instant synergy that resulted in Disconnect.
From the bleak and angst-ridden artwork, to the quiet power of spoken word and desolate beats, Disconnect is a succinct and arresting project delving into the complexities of being Othered. KRM and KMRU meditate on several conceptual themes in a way that both expand their own individual practices, while highlighting their shared sensibilities. Though they represent two different generations of electronic musicianship, they found unexpected beauty and nuance in the experimental and collaborative process of creating the record and riffing on the ways they’ve experienced Otherness. Over our three-way call, KRM laughs while explaining “I thought we made a beautiful album, and the first comment I saw online from someone was ‘This is a really heavy record!’”
To start off, what’s your favourite thing about each other’s music?
KRM: Oof (laughter). I like the fact that I can swim in Joseph’s music, and he surprises me with each release.
KMRU: I find Kevin’s work very eclectic and varied. Lately I realised how many collaborations he’s done — having that headspace to work with so many different people in a seamless way as an artist is very special.
Sometimes there’s a question of whether music being made remotely is as valid as people in the same room.
You met each other online – was the record made mostly remotely then? Or did you have the chance to meet up and work on it together in person?
KRM: All done remotely. Sometimes I get the impression that there’s a question of whether music being made remotely is as valid as people together in the same room. Maybe I’m just a hermit – but I really enjoy working remotely as much as I do working in the same room as someone. It’s all about the end result whether or not you’re with someone physically – as long as you’re on the same wavelength and trying to aspire to the same goals.
Can you talk more about that actual process of creating the record?
KRM: The most important time was pre-recording when we were discussing concepts and ideas. After our conversations, I felt that it helped me develop a focus and direction, then Joseph worked his magic. The music came back to me with a bunch of extra material which was fantastic because it gave me a wider palette and things to play with – unexpected ingredients to throw into the mix (laughter). After the mixdown, Joseph would tell me what he liked or wasn’t sure about it. Everything was methodical and in stages.
KMRU: Kevin sent a lot of demo recordings, more than the number of tracks we ended up with. I stayed with them and listened, and slowly started working – but for a school project at first. I then used fragments from that project that aligned with Kevin and I’s concept for the album, so there was a lot of back and forth.
Collaborating with a lot of people means constantly shifting perspectives.
Kevin, you do a lot of production for a wide range of artists – do you find that your process varies significantly between genres? Or project to project?
KRM: Definitely changes person to person. There’s times I feel like I’m developing and times I feel like I’m doing the same thing over and over again. I’ve never really thought about it! Certainly from “Kevin Richard Martin” to “The Bug,” there’s a gulf of difference in composition and approach. It tends to be how I can go from dreams in my head from music I can’t hear or haven’t heard and make them real. And finding people whose X plus my Y will create something magical.
KMRU: I relate to that a lot… Artists who collaborate with a lot of people have to constantly shift perspectives: from working with others to also having their own solo projects. It’s a lot to navigate.
There can be a tendency for the music to end up feeling additive or bloated when artists collaborate, but this record is a really concise and cohesive statement. Was that something that happened more naturally, or was there a lot of adherence to the specific vision / other guiding factors?
KMRU: It was a kind of unspoken conversation that happened. When we were talking about the ideas and the conceptual frame of the project, Kevin was asking about the idea of “Otherness” and difference, and at the same time I was also writing a paper about “the Black Other.” For the paper I was thinking of using my voice, so when Kevin and I had this conversation we thought we should explore this and see what happens.
Part of the challenge was suggesting that Joseph do vocals, when I had no idea if he’d ever done vocals in his life.
KRM: I was so smitten instantly by Joseph’s spoken word documentation of his practice in a documentary called Under the Bridge. I was aware there were definite similarities and obsessions with texture and tonality and meditative yearning between our work. Part of the challenge was suggesting that maybe he’d like to do vocals when I had no idea if he’d ever done vocals in his life. It was to throw a spanner in the works. We could have collaborated with just tone and drift, looping and warping mutated cycles as people may have expected; but the beauty of this was subverting those expectations.
KMRU: I never use my voice this much, so it was a challenge for me to have it in the foreground. Getting used to that was exciting.
Joseph, you’re speaking in a lot of the tracks about both really personal reflections to being Othered, but also larger and communal concepts like political violence and dehumanisation. What was it like then to collaborate on setting text like this, especially when you both have different backgrounds and experiences?
KMRU: I was thinking about being different from “the Other” and how that could be extended in a sonic way. Sometimes I find there’s a way to verbalise everything and express it fully. With this project in particular I was mining phrases in the text that I wrote that I felt really connected to. Even though it’s something I wrote, it was like being in a void of trying to find myself.
It felt right to have this collaboration in this form.
Working with Kevin, in terms of both the weight of the concept and the sound of the project, it just felt right to have this collaboration in this form. I’ve been listening to it more and more and realising how concise it is with the voice – even the naming of the album and the tracks extend the ideas.
KRM: Disconnect is a very deceptive album. There’s a lot going on under the surface. It’s subversive. The themes and elements are quite submerged. How we broke down the titles of the tracks – they became echoes of each other. It’s fantastic to be able to work with someone who comes from a different cultural background and has different life experience. Difference is seen as a bad thing sometimes, but the last thing I’d want to do is collaborate with someone who thinks and looks just like me. I refer to myself as a “freak,” in relation to my music and my past, and I don’t see it as a negative.
There’s a lot going on under the surface of Disconnect. It’s subversive.
I lived in Berlin for seven or eight years and became alienated from the city. My wife was racially abused several times for being Japanese. A lot of the preconceptions I had about the city had been quite wrong, and knowing that Joseph has been immersed in an academic setting within Berlin it was ironic – and beautiful – that he was already working on similar concepts for his papers. It just turned out to be a great synchronicity.
Disconnect is available now via Phantom Limb.