Kmya Mixx
Sometimes a link up just makes complete sense, and that’s how we feel with our next artist, Kmya. With Bath in her heart, Kmya was born and bred in the city where Origins first began, and from her younger days frequented our beloved Moles <3 It feels like a match that was meant to happen!
Almost 27, Kmya is a true champion of the scene, working effortlessly across countless projects & causes. The list is HUGE! Going to University in Manchester was where Kmya’s passions grew, and after initial projects saw her partner with long time friend Phoebe on the wonderful party and collective, B L O O M, hosting everyone from the dancefloor powers of D Tiffany, Mama Snake, and Fauzia to the sonically wonderful sounds of Jayda G and Mafalda.
Fast forward to London and Kmya volunteers on the Dance for Refuge teams and works for front running party Percolate, who have been instrumental in reviving the dance music scene post COVID. Most recently focusses have also been the NEEDS project, a non for profit organisation promoting harmony and togetherness rather than isolation and estrangement. I highly encourage you to check them out and their wonderful record label. And all of this whilst considering going back to university for a masters.
Behind the powers of organisation, Kmya is also a keen radio host with shows across Balamii, *(Limbo’s not a thing anymore) Limbo, Netil and AAJA Deptford. This wonderful edition of Origins Tapes is a brilliant mix, starting on a down tempo trip taking you through to new wave sounds with acid textures, perfect to warm up for some of our shows with Lena Willikens. Underground feels that lift as we are taken over by a Christina Aguelira acapella through the middle. I’m yet to ask for this I.D …. The mix continues to pick up throughout and finishes on some acid and liberating minimal.
Hey Kmya, thanks so much for guesting on our Origins Tapes series :) Can you let me know about some of your favourite songs in the mix?
Some of my favourites in this are made by friends. Henzo’s Press Up in a Bottle is probably my favourite of the whole mix, its so sexy and such a good edit, really makes me feel myself. Also got my friend Georgia (Geo’s) tune Space Basket which is one of the first things she's made And I have got to mention the Vengaboys edit, there is a long running joke between us at B.L.O.O.M. about the Vegayboys after we got told off for playing one of their songs somewhere so I kinda had to include this, big ups Rob. Other favs are from Globular & Geoglyph who’s album i’ve had on non-stop since it came during lockdown, Auratekh and Electrodelia. If you could paint a setting for us for this edition, what club would it be, what time, and who would you want to hand the headphones over to after ?
So this is kinda a set that I had planned to play at Corisca for the CTRL SOUND's 6th birthday that would have taken place in May but has evolved a bit over the course of lockdown. Part of me is super glad this got postponed as I would have been working at Queens Yard Summer Party and I was literally going to have to go and play and then go back to work which would have sucked on so many different levels. Hopefully this event will be able to take place at some point in the future as this was literally a dream lineup for me to play on - would have been warming up room one at Corsica before Khidja and Bufiman who are two of my favourites with Oceanic closing off the night.
Manchesters a bit of a second home for me. Can you tell me a bit about B.L.O.O.M and your time in Manchester?
Manchester is one of the greatest places in the UK. It has such a sense of community that is really very difficult to find in the vastness of London (maybe i’ve just not been here long enough). B.L.O.O.M. started after Phoebe and I met through running other club nights in Manchester who joined together to run MAYDAY. We both felt very frustrated at the lack of respect that we received from other members (all men) and the lack of representation of women in the industry. I first got involved in music from the more operational ,side running the events and Phoebe who at the time was just starting on her journey into DJing (watch this space for some super exciting news from her). B.L.O.O.M. stands for Beautiful Ladies Organising Orgasmic Music and we wanted to make a platform where we could inspire other womAn to get involved in the underground music scene, be that through promoting, DJing, graphic design etc etc. We used to do workshops and some other bits around Manchester, but are predominantly a promoter and it would have been our Third birthday event in a few weeks' time if we were in an alternate reality right now.
How has it been working post COVID? What’s been the most rewarding and most challenging aspects of coming back?
I was lucky enough to still get to work a bit during lockdown, mostly re-arranging some of the festivals that we had in place, which was super sad but amazing to see how most of the industry pulled together to make sure no one was hung out to dry. Planning the first month and a bit of post COVID work was super exciting, but also nerve racking not knowing if people would be interested in coming to events with the current rules that the Government had put in place. Whilst we can’t do proper club or live shows I think what we are doing is the perfect in between and I’m actually really enjoying the whole sit down more laid back atmosphere at the moment. Don’t get me wrong, I miss the dance and most of what comes with clubbing and festivals a lot but I think this is a great alternative and i’ve found it helped to alleviate a lot of social anxiety that had built up after months of not seeing anyone.
The most rewarding thing has simply been able to just give people the opportunity to work again and also to work with an amazing array of UK based talent, be that from big headliners to up and coming local artists, and all of the other staff that are involved in running events. I think the next few months are going to pretty hard with the recent restrictions that have been put in place, hopefully we will be able to keep doing what we are doing at the moment.
I find it inspiring hearing about the sheer amounts of work you do here, what are your main projects atm and your ambitions with them in the next few years?
It sounds like a lot but at the moment certain projects I'm involved in are definitely taking a backseat. The most recent one that has taken the most time has been for NEEDS. We had the Sustainability in Dance Music panel that I moderated last week (you can watch it back via their facebook page if you didn’t tune in). It was a super inspiring conversation with a range of incredible people in the industry who are working to combat the environmental impacts we have on the planet. Since the conversation we’ve started up a working group between us and I think there are some very exciting things to come off the back of this. I’m also volunteering with ECODISCO, and will be helping on their plans to introduce a reusable cup collection system to a number of venues in London so that the venue can eradicate single use plastics, and will soon be offering carbon foot-printing services as well. My ultimate goal is to push the sustainability element across nightlife as much as possible - I’m thinking about starting a new party series called Guestlist to Mars in London that champions sustainability and explores sounds very similar to what is in this mix, but for now it will just be a monthly show on AAJA.
B.L.O.O.M.’s third birthday would have actually been at the end of next week but we have taken a bit of a break over lockdown. We might start a mix series, just to add to the never ending stream of mixes out there and we’ve discussed the idea of a label as we always wanted it to be more than an event series. I really love the idea of turning B.L.O.O.M. into an agency as well supporting up and coming local talent, but time is a big hindrance here!
FOLLOW KMYA —-
soundcloud.com/kittybartlett