KIMMIC Interview: "We just make tunes that we think will go off live"

Scottish duo KIMMIC have quickly cemented themselves as one of the fastest-rising acts in the electronic dance music space. Ever since their wicked breakout single 'Never Miss a Beat', The Dundee-born lads have gone from strength to strength, selling out shows and smashing up festival stages all over the UK, Ireland, and Europe.

With 2024 seeing them continue their hot streak with singles on the illustrious label Armada Music, including the scintillating track 'Party Girl', a collaboration with house legend Ultra Naté, the duo have just released their third track with the label, ' No Come Down.'

With all this going on, we caught up with Kieran, one-half of KIMMIC, to chat all about their meteoric rise, the new single, the trailblazing Scottish electric scene, and so much more. Read what Kieran had to say below!

Hi Kieran, I’d love to start with KIMMIC's latest single, which came out last month, ‘No Come Down’ - it was a big release for you guys as it was your first track featuring original vocals, what was that creative process like, and what more can you tell us about the track?

“Yeah, it was class to get that one out because our last couple of songs have been samples so that track was a big goal for us this year as it has actual original vocals. 

“The girl on the track, Aya Anne, it was just random how it came together, she was sending us top lines and coincidentally she sent us the ‘No Come Down’ one and yeah, we put it together pretty quickly.

“Armada liked it too, so aye, it was a wee lucky one, worked out well.”

What's the reaction been like spinning it live? 

“Yeah, it always goes off live.

“We've been playing it in our sets since like February, so it was good to finally get it out, so yeah, it's been a really good release so far.”

It’s the third track you’ve released with Armada this year, how has that relationship been for you guys creatively?

“We get on really well with them. They're super easy to work with as well. 

“The first track we did with them was ‘Party Girl’ at the start of the year, and that was a big tune that did well streaming. 

“So it started off well and will hopefully end off well as well with this new one.

“It’s the last one in the three-track deal we’ve got with them. We've not spoken about doing any more yet, but I mean, I'm sure we'll do it if they offer, they're great to work with.”

One thing I love about you guys is how your sound is this infectious blend of classic and contemporary, but also has that Scottish bounce to it. Would this be a fair assessment, and is this a conscious thought when producing or do you think this is your natural sound?

“I think we just try and make stuff that we see fit to play out. 

“Sometimes you can get stuck in trying to manufacture tracks, we did that for a couple of months after we made ‘Never Miss a Beat’, we were trying to make songs that were similar or had the same kind of leads and sounds, but you can get stuck in a loop that way sometimes.

“So we just make tunes that we think will go off live and if it goes off live then you're winning, but we need to like it as well. You can tell when somebody doesn't like the music they make.

“If we like the track, we sometimes test it out on TikTok, and if we get a good reaction, we'll then try it out live and if it does well then we're like, OK, let's go and put this to labels. 

“So yeah that's usually how we process.”

You’ve mentioned TikTok there, I've spoken to loads of newer acts who have had success with tracks that have blown up on TikTok. Would you say it’s important to you, or is it just a place to test and promote, with playing it live and to your crowds as the main focus instead of what will do well on the platform?

“I feel like the crowds nowadays... there are a lot of younger people, and a lot of them do hear a lot of music now from TikTok, which is good for us, but it's a shame as well. 

“It'd be good if they could just go and hear new music for the first time live and be like, wow, that's class, instead of finding it on there then going to see it, you know what I mean? 

“But yeah, I think just for us as producers putting new music out, it's good to just test it on there, and then if you get a good response it's almost like insurance with record labels when signing a track.

“They can be like, okay, it's done this amount of views, it's done this amount of plays, and that just backs the track up. Plus, it costs nothing to put a song on TikTok, it's free promotion so makes sense to do, nobody's losing by doing it and if it doesn’t do well you can just delete it haha.”

I mentioned before how your music has that feeling of old and new, on one of your previous releases, Party Girl (Gonna Do) you managed to do just that and get 90s legend Ultra Naté on the vocal, how did that come about?

“So with the Ultra Naté tune, Armada took over the label Kingstreet Records, and I remember it was around the time we signed with them and Ben, our A&R, sent us over just all their music basically, so I spent the whole day just going through it all and the Ultra Naté Party Girl original was in there.

“I knew of the song so we just gave it a try and ended up putting it on TikTok and then we stuck it on Soundcloud for like five days, and it did super well on there. But we had to take it off because they were telling us like oh we could get an actual collab with Ultra Naté here so we're like well it's like we obviously want that.

“It ended up coming out with her involved, which was class as she’s a massive house name, so yeah, really cool to work with her.”

We spoke before about your music having a distinct flavour of Scotland to it. I’d just like to chat about how many wicked producers you guys are producing at the minute: Ewan McVicar, Hannah Laing, LF System, and Yourself.

“It's class. We were just at Creamfields and as soon as we finished we were straight over to see Ewan McVicar and there were so many Scottish flags in the crowd. 

“I think the Scottish fan base, does really get behind their own, it's like that in Ireland as well. 

“You just always have the support from the Scottish anywhere you go, we did gigs in Australia and other random places around the world and there's always a Scottish flag in the crowd. It's class when you see that. 

“But yeah, even despite that, the talent coming out of Scotland at the moment, it's unreal. Obviously, Hannah's absolutely smashing it, Ewan's smashing it as well, LF System too and loads of other guys. There are that many it's hard to think of them all at once. But it's just class to see.”

Are there any Scottish producers who you guys think deserve more of a shoutout, or are next in line to blow up?

“As I said, there are that many it's hard to think of them but to shout out more of a brand, the PRTY guys, they're doing really good stuff in Scotland and abroad as well. 

“They're doing a lot of stuff with their brand PRTY, so it's like Jezza & Jod, but they've got a lot of really good load of techno DJs like CADZOW and them kind of guys that are coming through as well. So, the hard kind of techno scene is really, really strong in Scotland.

“I'd say, in terms of DJs at the moment, Van Damn as well. He literally just lives a couple of streets up the road from me, but he's constantly doing stuff with Fatboy Slim's label and he's always on BBC Radio 1 and stuff like that. So, he's doing class just now as well. 

“I'm trying to think. There are so many of them, to be honest. It's hard to narrow it down. It'll be funny because after this call they'll all come haha.”

Yeah, we sell for loads of the PRTY events on Skiddle and they're everywhere, it really seems like their team is doing something cool at the moment.

“Definitely. I think they'll probably run the scene in Scotland for the foreseeable.”

Before we wrap up I’d like to chat with you about how this summer has been. ‘Never Miss a Beat’ blew you guys up last year, but I suppose this year would have been your first proper full festival season as an established act, how has it been for you guys? Any standout moments?

“Yeah, you’re right, this was probably our first summer where we've been away doing a broad range kind of stuff and festivals all at once. 

“It was class, it goes pretty quickly because you're constantly on the go, I was saying to Chris the other day how mental it is that summer's like over now. 

“We did Creamfields, we did Beat Herder, a few festivals in Ireland and stuff like that, they were all class. 

“They're my favourite kind of gigs to be fair, the big tents and the big production and all that. Chris is a bit different, he likes the club shows, and he likes the more intimate stuff. I do as well obviously, but we're complete opposites in that kind of aspect. 

“It was just great being active all the time, but we've got two weeks off now, so I don't know what I'm going to do with myself, we're trying to get back in the gym or something haha. But yeah, it's been unreal, I can't wait to do it again, to be honest.”

Is there anything coming up for you guys in the rest of the year you're looking forward to?

“Yeah, we've got Cultivate at the end of the month, so looking forward to that. 

“We did it last year for the first time and it's a really good festival. It's the guys up in Aberdeen that run Rare, and they've been going for years now and they've made something really, really big of it. 

“I live between Dundee and Aberdeen, so I've always gone out in Dundee and Aberdeen for night outs and events and stuff, but the scale of what they're doing at Cultivate is quite big for Aberdeen, so yeah, they're absolutely smashing it with the people they're bringing. 

“I think they've got Chase & Status and Ben Hemsley this year which is unreal, so yeah we’re really buzzing for that one.”

Just to finish off, we do a feature at Skiddle with the DJs we interview, and it's a tough ask sometimes because I know DJs kind of always have tracks spinning in their head, but say your next set is reduced to just three tracks, what are you playing and why?

“Three tracks, that's tricky haha.

“We’d probably have to play our own tracks, wouldn’t we? 

“I'd probably open up with 'Party Girl', then 'Never Miss a Beat', then you have to play a banger in there somehow... I'll go with Morgan Seatree’s ‘Say My Name’ remix as that's just going off just now. I still need to message Morgan for that one haha.”

To find more events that KIMMIC are playing, visit their artist page on Skiddle by clicking or tapping - HERE

Check out our What's On Guide to discover even more rowdy raves and sweaty gigs taking place over the coming weeks and months. For festivals, lifestyle events and more, head on over to our Things To Do page or be inspired by the event selections on our Inspire Me page.