Kwun Interview: Inside the Landscapes, Rituals and Resonance of ‘Ancient Ageless & True’ –

The album is rhythmically and thematically powerful enough to lead a revolution in awakening dormant primal senses; what’s your secret to making your sound reverberate through ancestral roots?

Wow, that’s a big statement. I don’t really know if it does those things. But if it were to be true, then it’s probably because most of the album was written and recorded after meditation and connecting in. I think there’s a real purity that runs through each track. So if there is any secret, it would be that. It comes from a very intentional place, and that creates a certain resonance, I think. Whether it reverberates through ancestral roots or not, I have no idea.

We’d love to know the wider meaning/concept behind the album.

 I’d say it was truth and connection, if there were to be an overarching meaning or concept. Each of the tracks deals with things I was experiencing at the time of writing them. So you’ve got songs that explore anything from love to ancestral dynamics, our relationship with spirituality, seeing clearly through illusion, that kind of thing.

On that last one, I was reading something the other day about this guy called David R. Hawkins and his Map of Consciousness, which I found really interesting. He’s an American philosopher and psychiatrist and basically saying that around 80% of humanity is unable to see reality accurately, which probably sounds about right. So yeah, there are songs that touch on that kind of thing as well.

So yes, truth and connection. There are some instrumental tracks, which are essentially the same thing, but just through music rather than words.

The album moves through an eclectic mix of styles while still feeling deeply connected to one artistic universe. How do you let different influences rise through the music without forcing the record into one fixed genre lane?

 It happens quite organically. I just have a lot of different and very eclectic musical influences. To me, there’s no difference between listening to punk rock, jazz, or commercial 80s pop music. I take it all in the same breath. It’s about the feeling, not really the form of the music.

So yeah, I’m glad it feels like it’s connected to one artistic universe, because essentially it’s all me. Not even different parts of me, just me expressing similar things but in different ways.

In terms of how I let different influences come through without forcing it into one genre, it’s exactly that, that I don’t force it. If anything, it would feel very unnatural to try and force everything into one style. It just kind of happens and I try to let whatever needs to come out at the time.

Your songwriting and production feel led by atmosphere, texture, and emotional expansion. How do you typically build your songs?

 It depends on the track. Some of the tracks, like The Pursuit and Ancient Ageless & True, I deliberately went back to basics and wrote them on an acoustic guitar, and got the song structure and words completely locked in before committing to recording a single note.

And then other tracks like Cuíca, which is purely about atmosphere and texture, were built just by playing around with loops. And then I added live drums, live percussion, guitars and a brass section over it. So how I build a song is different every time.

In terms of the production and emotional expansiveness, I hear whole arrangements, and sometimes the ideas can sound pretty big. I might get an idea to have a string orchestra here, or a gospel choir, or some timpanis there. And I generally follow through. So yeah, I love working with textures and atmosphere, and that big cinematic sound.

Much of the album was recorded in Glastonbury, the visual world was shaped in Mexico, and the mixes were finished in India. How did those locations affect the energy of the record?

That’s a good question.

So, the album was mostly written and recorded in Glastonbury in the UK, which is a very high-energy place. I lived there for six years, so that definitely affected the energy of the album in terms of what I was connected in with and what I was writing about. I record everything in 432Hz tuning instead of the standard 440Hz, which is a very Glastonbury thing, by the way, and ties in with ideas of how sound affects us.

And then the visual world was really shaped by Tulum and the surrounding area, where I’ve been spending a lot of time since 2021. It started with the Supernatural video, with these big, expansive landscapes and nature, and ended up defining the visual language of the whole project. The idea carried over into India, where a lot of the visuals come from as well, with the same kind of expansiveness, colour and open landscapes.

In terms of the mixes, I worked remotely with mix and mastering engineers mainly while I was in Mexico and India, but also a bit in Florida too. So, all those different locations are in there somewhere.

How has living in Mexico affected your relationship with sound, space, visuals, and creative freedom?

 A lot of the music was formed before coming to Mexico, so I’ll answer that more in terms of visuals and creative freedom. There’s a certain rhythm here in Mexico. Things just move and work differently, and there’s a certain freedom within that. So that’s worked its way in creatively.

And to add to what we’ve already talked about in terms of how Mexico has affected the visual side of things, the nature here is just incredible. I mean, you can pretty much point your camera at anything and it’ll look great, whether that’s out in nature or in the middle of town.

The record was made remotely with musicians and engineers connected to artists such as Amy Winehouse, Hans Zimmer, and Snarky Puppy. What did that collaborative process teach you about trust, communication, and letting other people into your world?

 Yeah, that’s a great question. Well, it’s the first time I’ve worked with musicians and engineers of that calibre. I’d say it’s taught me a lot, and it’s an on-going process. In terms of communication, I’ve learned I need to be very clear about what to ask for. They can’t read my mind, I realise now, and musically they’ll hear things differently to me. So I need to communicate my ideas very precisely if I want things a certain way.

That said, there’s a very fine balance between giving enough instructions to get what I want, and allowing the musicians and engineers to follow their own vision. That’s the trust you speak of. And it’s often in letting others in that the magic happens. It’s steering things enough so that I’m getting into the right ballpark, and knowing when to let go. Kind of a metaphor for life really.

What they come up with is often much better than what I might have had in mind otherwise. That’s the collaboration, and that’s the magic.

There are surges of transcendence, leftfield alt-electronica decadence, and reverberations of pure scintillation running through the album. It feels indisputable that “it’s a vibe,” but in your own words, how would you describe that vibe?

Yeah, I like that.

I’d say it’s cinematic, honest, and varied. There’s breadth, there’s depth, width. And I agree there’s something transcendent about it. It pulls you in, you know, if you really listen to it. It’s a journey. The whole album has been sequenced like a journey from start to finish. There isn’t a loose or superfluous note anywhere.

So the vibe is intentional, it’s everything, it’s expansive. It’s exciting, and I would say ultimately it’s uplifting. There’s a lot of emotional depth, not just lyrically but musically. It really just takes you on a journey, kind of takes you to Wonderland and back.

How did you build the visual world for the LP, and what do you want people to feel when they encounter the imagery before they hear the first note?

The visual world came from being in Mexico initially, as we talked about earlier. There was no great master plan. Mexico, and nature in general, is just very photogenic. I guess I knew I wanted something expansive to match the feeling of the music, so we just started shooting big open landscapes, often with a drone.

In terms of what I want people to feel before they hear the first note, I want them to feel possibility. Someone I once worked with said that my music reminds them of what’s possible. Of something bigger, that is. I love that. That pretty much sums it up. That’s what I want people to feel when they encounter the imagery, and also when they hear the music.

–

Stream Kwun’s latest LP on all major platforms, including Spotify, now.

Connect with the artist on Facebook and Instagram.

Interview by Amelia Vandergast