An Interview With: Kullnes

Up and coming music prodigy Kullnes has been on my radar since the release of his ‘Technicolor’ EP back in the Summer of 2020. Being able to have a chat with him was a pleasure and I hope you find enjoyment in this back and forth. Enjoy x

Peter: So, music. Clearly you’re a fan. It’s apparent in your own creative endeavors. How far back can you remember it being a part of your life and how has your relationship with it grown over time?

Jamie: Music was always sort of a thing with my Dad always blasting music since before I can remember. I got into music on my own with 90's alt rock and punk rock when I was in my early teens though. Since then my relationship with music is a bit deeper these days as its kind of omnipresent. I really enjoy looking for new stuff to listen to, especially stuff I've never heard of before.

Peter:You said that you were engineering for other bands. Do you find that it brings a deeper understanding to the whole recording process? Are there any benefits to it? For example, new ideas, concepts etc.

Jamie: The thing I've noticed about the recording process is that it never seems to go how you'd expect it. Engineering for other bands has shown me different ways others like to record. Having done Kullnes as a solo project for so long, I'd sort of forgotten what it was like recording things live instead of fragmented in a bunch of different tracks and midi files. I'd say the benefit is helping you expand your horizons on the whole recording process, and it encourages you to experiment a bit to find what kind of techniques are going to suit a band best.

Peter: Your artwork alternates between nature and over-exposed pictures, sometimes both together. Is there a particular reason for this?

Jamie: So the over-exposed photo's mainly derive from the fact that I'm a pretty self-conscious person, and I've never much liked photos of myself. The over-exposed photos were a way for me to present myself in a way that didn't feel too exposing as it obscures my face a lot of the time. I think that suits the music that accompanies those photos too, it's very personal but obscured, confessional without the confidence to say it clearly. The nature photos are taken by me and then edited into artwork by my friend Guilherme Nunes. I feel like I really like the empty, lonely vibe they give off with Gui's edits, making what was just a nice photo take on a whole new atmosphere.

Peter: Where do you find the inspiration to create?

Jamie: I guess just in the music I listen to. I’m really bad for listening to an album and going “I want to do that” and then completely going off in a different direction to what I was doing. Currently seeing my mates bands helps inspire me to play too these days.

Peter: What is your go-to album? What makes it your go-to album?

Jamie: “We Have The Facts And We’re Voting Yes” by Death Cab for Cutie. I just adore how pretty it sounds. It’s got this whole harmonised guitars thing going on that I love, and I think it has some of my favourite songwriting ever. It’s just a very personal feeling album, it invokes a sort of feeling I struggle putting into words, despite the effort I just made.

Peter: What hobbies/interests do you have outside of music?

Jamie: I play a lot of video games. At the moment I’m into Phantasy Star Online 2: New Genesis which is pretty fun. I’ve been getting into fighting games too in the past couple years, I really enjoy playing 3rd Strike with my flatmate.

Peter: Can you name three artists that you have been listening to as of late, or that inspired your latest work?
Jamie: Currently Portable Heads are a big one for me. My friend Rohan plays drums for them, and I’ve engineered a couple sessions for them and listening to their stuff is great. It’s really creative stuff that plays a lot with dynamics and jumps between really pretty and really aggro noise. I’ve been listening to Cindy Lee’s “What’s Tonight To Eternity?” And I’d say it’s influenced my work a little. Dreamcrusher’s “Incinerator” has been massively influential for me too, pushing me towards power noise.

Peter: Is there a scene in your locale that people should be aware of?

Jamie: Yeah, one of my friends started a label recently, Cosmic Records (cos.rec on insta). He’s been working to try and kickstart more of a scene around Perth, stuff like that. Otherwise, I hear Dundee has an ok scene, I’ve only been to a couple gigs there though

Peter: And finally, where do you plan on going with this music thing? Is there a plan?
Jamie: The current plan is to try and turn Kullnes into more of a band project as opposed to a solo project, as I’ve been feeling kinda stuck with the whole solo angle for a while now. Put together a band and once we’ve rehearsed a bit more we can start gigging I reckon, though if it wasn’t obvious, I have no idea what I’m doing haha.