FEATURE:
Spotlight
Kaeto
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THE tremendous Kaeto…
is an artist that is going to go a long way this year. A name tipped for recognition and success this year, I wanted to spend some time with her. I am going to come to a new interview from the Scottish-born and London-based visual artist. I am a new fan of her music and feel that she is going to go a long way. I think that I discovered her music back in October when she released her single, No Body. Touring with Lauren Mayberry at the time, there is a wave of new fans coming the way of the amazing Kaeto. Under the Radar highlighted No Body and an artist primed for huge things:
“Scottish-born, London-based artist Kaeto, who is currently on tour with CHVRCHES’ Lauren Mayberry, releases a compelling new single, “No Body.”
It fuses electronic and dance elements and showcases Kaeto’s mesmerizing vocals, whose musical influences include everybody from Prince to Portishead, David Bowie to David Byrne, and the Tom Tom Club.
After her debut single “Good Morning” shed light on imposter syndrome, “No Body” examines vanity and social media through our smartphones, as she explains, “I’m not trying to be preachy. I’m exploring these things because I’m doing them and I can’t stop.”
Kaeto’s early years were spent in Glasgow, before her parents’ careers drew her everywhere from Leeds to Texas, with stints of her early adulthood spent living in Barcelona. This semi-nomadic upbringing compounded her curiosity about the world, psychology and the human condition - one which continues to inform her creative palette. Although self-professing her output as “silly navel gazing”, she is actually using her music to explore themes of “shame, identity and madness”. With her personal interests and pursuits ranging from mathematics to visual arts, a former career as a paralegal under her belt, and an enrolment in Clown School on the horizon, Kaeto is the very definition of a multihyphenate”.
There was a lot of interest around No Body. CLASH also highlighted an amazing song that was among the finest of last year. I do think that there is going to be an E.P. later this year. I am keen to see Kaeto perform live. Last year was a big one for her. If you have not heard of this artist, songs like No Body are a good introduction:
“Kaeto lives and breathes music. It’s her life-force – the reason she gets up in the morning, and the last thing she thinks about at night. Scottish-born and London-based, word is already out on this pop voyager, a daring voice carving out her own niche.
Take new single ‘No Body’. Bruised electronic pop it’s as raw as they come, the club-focussed electronics wrapped around that biting vocal. Relishing every word, Kaeto tears down modern vanity and out smart phone enabled, social media driven addictions.
“I’m not trying to be preachy,” Kaeto says. “I’m exploring these things because I’m doing them and I can’t stop.”
There’s a darkness to ‘No Body’, but also a sense of light – it can be playful, and it moves with alacrity. “I really enjoyed making ‘No Body’ and I love performing it,” she says. “I don’t want to say too much about what it means as it can ruin what other people might interpret and I think that is more interesting and fun! I don’t want to impress my experience onto other people. For me, the music is more fun that the words I can sum up to describe it.”
Brendan Grieve handles production on ‘No Body’, with the searing visuals overseen by German filmmaker Paula Romy. Out now, Kaeto is currently holding down a residency at West London’s intimate art space Laylow, while you can also catch her opening for ELIZA at O2 Forum Kentish Town on November 17th”.
I will finish things off with a new interview and spotlight from The Forty-Five. There are not that many interviews with Kaeto. I hope that this changes soon, as there is a lot to love and highlight about her and the music. One of the most interesting and original artists coming through, Little Me was released in November. The latest single from a tremendous artist who cannot be pinned to genre or style. She is someone who does not want to be put into brackets or easily predicted:
“Are there musical touchstones and influences you draw on in your music? Your sound can be very genre-spanning.
“I love Bjork and Portishead, but I also really love Nick Drake and Pixies and Nina Simone. I love weird voices I think, that’s always been the thing that’s really attracted me to artists… but I also have inspiration outside of music. I take a lot of inspiration from films [and] visual artists. So for this project, Blade Runner was a massive inspiration. Even the score for that is, I think, one of the best things that’s ever written, so it’s definitely not just musical inspiration. But my taste in music is quite broad, so then that’s probably why my genres jump so much.”
You’ve played some massive shows this year, including supporting Lauren Mayberry on tour. What did you learn from these shows?
“It was a reminder that everybody enjoys music differently. Some people do just want to stand and watch and drink it in. I think I’ve got a real thing, like a child pleasing a parent where I’m like: ‘Look at me, like me, like me, dance! Please!’. So I feel like I get a bit desperate sometimes and [when onstage] feel like ‘there’s nobody moving’, but some people just don’t enjoy music like that.”
“At the first show [supporting Lauren] that happened and I came off stage I was like ‘Oh god, everyone hated me’, and then I went in to watch Lauren and everyone was standing like that. It’s a bit arrogant to assume that everyone [will watch in a certain way]. Everyone enjoys music differently.”
What do you want the future to look like you for a musician?
“I’d love to play Glastonbury! I’d really love to travel, but I’d love to find a way to sustainably do the things I’d like to do. Me and my guitarist Jack are hand screen printing all the merch, so I go to charity shops and I find t-shirts and then I print on them, so we’ve got loads of really cool screens. I’d love to be able to find a way of applying that eco-friendly mentality to other parts of music”.
I think that we will be hearing a lot more from Kaeto very soon. There are a load of wonderful artists coming through. I am a recent convert to her music, so I am curious to see where she heads next and what the future holds. Let’s hope that there is more press coming. Maybe not wanting to give too much away, I think there is a lot to uncover regarding Kaeto. If you have not heard about Kaeto and her stunning music, then make sure that it…
IS in your ears.
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