Kazra‘s debut EP is a delectable, blissful, psychedelic nectar. Equal parts smooth and punchy, it will take you on an outrageously good journey through the stratosphere.
With an unnatural taste for blending crooning vocals over crunching guitar lines, Kazra’s self titled debut is an ecclectic confluence of ambient soundscapes and 60s rock n roll.
We caught up with Kazra to chat about his crisp, clean and punchy debut. It’s an incredibly strong body of work and we’ve had it on repeat.
HAPPY: Hey, how’s it going? What are you up to at the moment?
KAZRA: Hey! Going well thanks. I’m currently working on some upcoming projects. All of which will hopefully lead to another release soon. Earlier today I’ve been curating tracks for a DJ set I have coming up. It should be good fun. I’ve also been working on the live show quite a lot, trying to make it a memorable experience.
HAPPY: We’ve been loving the new EP! How does it feel having it out there in the world?
KAZRA: I guess it’s exciting mostly. I’m really focused on the next steps and getting the next project together so I haven’t exactly thought too much about that. I’m happy that it’s out, because I put a lot of work into it. Also now it’s out of my head and in the public domain I finally have some closure on the project and I feel like I’m free to move ahead creatively.
HAPPY: For a debut EP, it feels like you’ve got a pretty strong direction with your sound. How long had you been writing tracks before you dropped the EP?
KAZRA: I’ve been writing songs for some time. I first started really playing around with recording software when I was playing in bands quite a few years back. We never really released any material or completed any of our projects which is why I saw this one through by myself (aside from being a total control freak maybe). This whole project came from the process of experimenting with a recording style and method. In a sense these songs developed quite naturally from the experimentation.
HAPPY: Floating Jelly Block Utopias was a stand-out track for us… could you tell us a bit about that song?
KAZRA: I’d just read ‘Brave New World’ by Aldous Huxley, which explores the idea of a Utopia. Having a chat with a good mate about it he told me his vision of a perfect Utopia: a Floating Jelly Block in space which just absorbs you. I thought it was great and wrote it down then and there followed by the second part of the chorus lyrics ‘Forever may you reign’. A day or two later I was playing my sisters tiny acoustic guitar and started singing the words. Some lyrics are already quite melodic in themselves so the melody came straight away and very naturally, then there were chords that were implied in the melody. So the writing all fell together very quickly from there. It’s probably the only song on the EP that was written before I started to record and arrange it. The song is really about accepting that the mechanics of life are as such, and hoping that they at least work in your favour.
HAPPY: Did you have any personal favourites from the EP?
KAZRA: My personal favourite is ‘Shoot Me Smoothly’, because it came together so spontaneously and surprised me. Songs like that don’t really feel like they’re your own and then you listen back and you’re like “sick… I wrote that”. It was the last song I recorded before I moved to Australia; during my last night in my music studio in Bangkok. It was an emotional time in my life and I was excited for the future. I’d had my mates bass guitar and another mates keyboard in there for almost a year without properly using them to record (to be fair, that bass guitar is all over the EP!). I felt like I should use them at least once properly before returning them, so it started just with me messing around on the micro korg and by the end of the night I had Shoot Me Smoothly down. The chorus lyric was an idea I’d just had about putting yourself out there to the world and being open to the consequences of wherever that may take you. People die for expressing the will of freedom. If you shoot ME, shoot me smoothly.
HAPPY: Were there any particular artists you were listening to during the writing/recording of the EP?
KAZRA: I guess lot’s of Hendrix and The Beatles. I was really inspired by the 60’s as an era of hope, and the music that came out of it. I was reading books about the Beatles and about the counterculture of the 60’s like ‘The Electric Kool Aid Acid Test’. I think there was a lot going on there and I think that the depth and awareness that people in that movement had comes through in the music of the era. I was listening to The Doors and reading ‘The Doors of Perception’. I was having lots of raw experimental jams with a close friend who got me into the Grateful Dead. I got really into Nirvana for the first time in ages. I was of course listening to contemporary psychedelic acts such as Tame Impala, Pond, Unknown Mortal Orchestra, and The Flaming Lips. I also really dug Hiatus Kaiyote, and obviously the amount of Australian talent I’ve mentioned is what inspired me to move here.
HAPPY: What’s next for Kazra? Any other exciting plans in the works?
KAZRA: I’m working on a few things at the moment. In terms of live performance I’ll be showcasing a live set and a DJ set as I mentioned before. I also can’t wait to release some of my newer music. It’s going to be quite different. I love that I got to accomplish a lifelong dream of recording a psych rock record, but I think the next one will have a much stronger electronic influence. Creatively that’s just where my energy is taking me. I have a tendency to bounce back and forth between different styles so who knows what’ll follow. It’s exciting though. Also a music video for Shoot Me Smoothly will be on its way shortly so keep a look out for that too.
HAPPY: Cheers for the chat!
