A Conversation with KENZ

Kenz is no stranger to the spotlight. The 23 year old from Bothell, Washington has been recording and releasing music since middle school, and performing live shows since he was 16. He has released 3 full length albums, the most recent of which being 2021’s “Hollywood in the Tropics”. This was his first full length project since graduating high school, as well as the only one still available on streaming. This album was a turning point for Kenz, as he left behind the low-fidelity, bedroom produced pop and hip hop he had been making. He, now armed with a decade of experience, began to walk the cutting edge of both genres while maintaining the characteristic that had drawn in listeners for years before - vision. 

Kenz and I met for the first time back in late 2017. We had exchanged a few messages on Twitter about his new album at the time, a brilliant debut effort titled “Glitter”. Mutual friends soon introduced us in person, and before long I was sitting in a spare chair in his Bothell bedroom watching him produce the first song we would release together. Nearly any musician from his corner of the Seattle area could tell you about this bedroom, which could be more honestly described as a recording studio that had a bed in it. 

Kenz,  at 16 years old, had learned the ins and outs of various audio recording softwares. Thanks to the endless wisdom of the internet, he had learned to play piano and guitar, how to set up a vocal chain and chop a sample. He had also become a master of pirating all kinds of production software and plug-ins, to the detriment of the old laptop powering the entire setup. During high school, this room was like Mecca for the teenage musicians of the area. Countless nights were spent with the room packed full of people, nodding along while Kenz figured out a melody or programmed the drums on a new instrumental. A midi keyboard with a 4 by 4 drum pad was always perched atop a repurposed nightstand, within arms reach of the laptop and various audio interfaces he would use to record his music. Against the wall stood a collection of microphone stands, guitars, stacks of books and framed posters of old movies, like a shrine to all that inspired him.

Fast forward 4 years. It's mid 2021, and as the pandemic enters its second year, rent in southern California is as cheap as it will ever be.  Our friends Gabriel Strick and Zach Marhula are loading all of our musical equipment into a 20 foot U-haul rented for a one way journey to Los Angeles. Boxes of records and tangled microphone cables are spilling out of this white box on wheels. The rear door rolls shut and a new chapter begins. 

 We decided this was the time to try and make something happen. 

Within a couple months of arriving at our modest Canoga Park house Kenz had built up the most masochistic daily routine I have ever personally witnessed: An internship at a recording studio during the day, a graveyard shift at a depot for movie-industry shuttles at night, and making music every other waking hour - which made up most other hours, because sleep was nowhere near music in the list of priorities. During this time he was also shooting music videos, producing for other artists, and working on a new single, titled Cap Tikus. This schedule went on for the better half of a year, and as a hot valley summer turned into fall,

Finally something happened. 

In a flurry of events Kenz left his internship, his job at the bus depot, and the country entirely. He bought a one way ticket for the Indonesian island of Sulawesi, a place he once called home. He spent the next 4 months performing at a series of music festivals following the release of the breakout hit Cap Tikus. Various brand deals and events came next, and after a busy summer in the southern hemisphere he returned to the US to recuperate and plan his next move.

As Kenz prepares to move back to Indonesia for another festival season I decided it would be a good time to sit down and talk with him about this past year. We are accompanied by Hannah Quinton, a journalist friend of ours, and are sitting on the floor of my unfurnished Bellingham apartment, drinking cheap white wine and getting ready to go out on one of Kenz’s last nights in the United States for the foreseeable future. 

Brenden: It's been a crazy year for you, man. How are you feeling?

Kenz: I mean, I feel like ever since I came back, I've been pretty chill. I mean, it's been good because I got to see family and friends. And I think I needed some time to like, I don't know, just kind of relax from all of that. Just because I felt like everything - none of the work I did was overnight, but I felt like there was a rapid upward turn. Which is great. But at the same time, I feel like I wasn't prepared for that. Again, I didn't know what the next thing was about to be honest. Because the next time I dropped after that was 10 Missed Calls, like six months later.

Brenden: And then speaking of that recent success, what would you say you've learned, from both the video releases and from performing.

Kenz: What I learned was like, I think - This is a tough one.

Brenden: It's a tough one. 

Kenz: Give me a second. Can you repeat the question?

Brenden: So with the recent successes that you've had, both with the video releases and performing, what did you learn from those? Would you say - like, what's the big takeaway from it?

Kenz: I think I just learned how to perform again. I hadn't done it for a while. And I saw what works and what doesn't, and, like, understanding crowd control. You know, there were times where I was on stage. And I was hitting certain moves, I thought it was gonna hit, but it didn’t. [Laughs]

Brenden: Yeah, Guerilla learning. In the field.

Kenz: I did the moonwalk once, and I tried to do it again. They were like aight, we’re over it. [Laughs] Yeah. But I think just performance and the success of the video. I don't know, I think it's just kind of, you know, I wasn't too sure about how I would do over there in Indonesia. But I think, because - so I released the video for Sulawesi and it did well. But that was amidst, like COVID. So I didn't know how that was going to translate. And the physical aspect, like actually being there. Yeah. So it was cool. Seeing the response.

Brenden: No, definitely. And you've been killing it with these music videos. But I think something that people don't really realize is that you direct your own videos. What’s the reasoning behind this? And where did you learn to do that?

Kenz: I think it was just like, because I didn't have any resources. You know what I mean, I wanted to put out music videos. Quicker. And if I had to wait on someone, or pay someone like -  of course, I'm not saying I don't want to pay videographers, because everyone deserves to get paid. But I just couldn't do that. I didn't have the  finances to be able to do that. So when I decided to just learn, you know, I mean, that's why I do it. But also like, I know what I want. And when I'm making music, I work backwards. I'm thinking about the music video. And I get that actually from you. Because like, you know, whenever we're writing lyrics or something, you're always like “it's like Tokyo. It's night time - it's this - or Miami.” And then like, I can't help but imagine what the video could look like - the visual. Yeah, so then I kind of work backwards a little bit. And it helps with writing the lyrics.

Brenden: Yeah, building the soundtrack for the scene. 

Kenz: Absolutely. I think that's what it is. I'm making music as a soundtrack for what I think could be the video. Like, of course, when I'm first making the instrumental, it's like just the instrumental but then certain scenes can bring in - and chords can bring a certain picture, like an image in my head, and I write the lyrics. 

Brenden: So having the directoral control over it kind of gives you the ability to bring that image into fruition because you're the one who's been picturing it. 

Kenz: Yeah.

Brenden: That makes a lot of sense. There's a story to that first booking in Indonesia that everyone around us now knows but I want to get it on record. So what were the days leading up to that first booking about a year ago?

Kenz: The pre-release?

Brenden: No, The story -  in LA.  At work. Yeah.

Kenz: Okay, well, you witnessed it firsthand, but pretty much, you know me, you, [Gabriel Strick], and Zach, you know, we took a gamble, we went to LA. And to be honest, I think we probably thought it was going to be easier going over there but definitely didn't turn out that way. [Laughs] Well, in a lot of lessons, but during that time I was working in a full shift, it was a graveyard shift from eight to four, eight all the way to 4am. And it was kind of like a little further in Van Nuys. So then I'd be asleep at like 10 am, because I'd get home and try to make music for like an hour or something. And then I would sleep like a couple hours, and then have to be at the studio at one. And then wake up at like 12 to be able to eat breakfast, get ready, and then be at the studio from one until six o'clock, come home for like an hour, and then go back to work. And it was just that and I was the only person working at that place. So that was a dark time for sure. 

Brenden: Yeah. Very insular. 

Kenz:  Yeah, I think it definitely affected me till now. Because you know, going from that to being a little bit like - forcing myself to be introverted. Not forcing myself but, you know, you didn't have time for much else. It was me, you, and Gabe, we were watching movies like on a Friday, Saturday night. Doing nothing else. And we didn't really have friends out there like that yet. So yeah, I think going from that, and not talking to people, to going to Indonesia and then having to talk to so many people, just out of nowhere, it was a shock. And that's why I was really excited to come back. And even now I'm not as, like, bouncing off the walls as I used to be. I think it's really changed me, but I think it's also just maturing.

Brenden: And in the months leading up to deciding to go to Indo for that first festival, you had like, heard through the grapevine about a festival that you could show up at.

Kenz: I actually forgot to mention that. So pretty much I dropped the video right, and then it's going up. And the same day I dropped the video I got fired from that job, that graveyard shift job. So I was just kinda like not in the best mood. And then I heard about the festival. And I'm like, Wait, that's like next week? Let me see. Let me see. Like if I'm able to get on, so shout out to Amos from Negatif Satu. He was on that bill. And he talked to people, he pulled some strings and was able to convince them to get me on. And then yeah, I bought a ticket and was out to Indonesia a week later. And I think, because the organizers appreciated me coming from the US, like, one week before and maybe because the video was going up, they made me perform towards the end where it was like, dark out, a full crowd and everything. 

Brenden: Definitely not an average, like, first music festival type of set.

Kenz: Yeah, It was. I was spoiled for sure. But I did those shows, You know. 

Brenden: It was a beautiful thing to witness too. What would you tell yourself then on that day, when you got fired from your job, when you were thinking about going back to Washington. What would you tell yourself that day -  if you could not change anything, but just in terms of like - to calm yourself?

Kenz: I panic a lot. And I like to overthink. But I think just like one step at a time, you know, I know that's really cheesy, but really like, I don't know. I don't even want to tell him like it'll all be fine. Because then it’s not a surprise, right? 

Brenden: Yeah, that's a good way to think about it.

Kenz: You know? So I only want to be like, it's gonna be alright. Like - yeah, let him figure it out. Because it seems like I did. Because if I knew for sure then I'd be waiting for it. And then maybe my fate would have changed.

Brenden: Yeah, you need the pressure. A little pressure goes a long way. 

Kenz: Right?

Brenden: Beautiful. All right, and then being Indo-American, having spent portions of your youth in both places, do you feel that you have any special insight into music? Or about what art in general can look like or feel like? How has that affected your creative process?

Kenz: I wouldn't say it really affects my creative process. I'm not like thinking “how do I make” - I mean I used to, but I don't think anymore about how I can appeal to both, and just kind of do what I like, but going over there or - and there's no disrespect to any of the artists over there - but I think they are a little behind because like, you know, the US is pretty - or the West is like - 

Brenden: The imperial core. 

Kenz: Yeah, exactly. Like what's trending, you know, with the exception of Kpop. But as far as hip-hop and stuff like that, a lot of countries are inspired by the US. So I have an insight because I'm maybe a little more aware of what's going on before it starts trending in Indonesia. So then, maybe, because I know that it's played a role in the success over there, because for them, it's new. Whereas here, it's not as new I guess, not saying that it's not good. I'm just saying it's not like, [pauses], you know what I mean?

Brenden: Like, your influences that you might draw upon here are something that they might not have heard yet, necessarily. 

Kenz: Yeah, no. I mean, with things like sounds and instruments. I try to incorporate Indonesian styles. I don't know. I guess I try to merge the worlds, but it's not really conscious anymore.

Brenden: Yeah, at this point. It's just who you are.

Kenz: Yeah, yeah. No, definitely. 

Brenden: But so you growing up though, did you listen to any Indo music, like when your mom or dad put on music? Or your aunt and uncle?

Kenz: Yeah, I mean, it was like mostly when I lived in Indonesia. Like they played some Indonesian artists. But I can't really say that I went deep into them. But I'm trying to tap in again with like, what's going on right now.  So I can't really say I grew up with a lot of Indonesian music, but there's a few.

Brenden: Yeah. Maybe in the back of the head, too. And then speaking of creative processes - this is kind of a fun one. What would your ideal studio setup be like, what location, what equipment, whatever, what springs to mind?

Kenz: And this is for like, any record label reading. [Laughs] Or whatever, whoever is gonna give me money.

Brenden: [Laughs] Yeah, whoever has the bag.

Kenz: Just get [Herald Sihombing], Brenden, and [Gabriel Strick] and book us a flight to Italy. Airbnb with a view of the ocean or something. And then just let me cook. Like let us make the album. Yeah. Because I feel like - Oh, shoutout [Emery Lemos].

Brenden: [Laughs] Yeah, need the photos out there.

Kenz: [Laughs] Need visuals and stuff. As far as like, creative direction, like, I don't know, I just like the DIY stuff. If I ever got an advance, I would just upgrade the stuff I already have, and keep a home setup. I don't like big studios. Because I don't like the pressure of having to write something in the moment. It's just intimidating. Whereas at home the space just feels more vulnerable, you can be more vulnerable.

Brenden: Yeah, you can move at your own schedule too, with people you're comfortable with. 

Kenz: And no extras at the studio. Please, no. [Laughs]

Brenden: No distractions. Locked in. Yeah. Beautiful. And then another thing that I think the listeners - probably some might be aware of, but it’s a thing that you don't advertise as much. You almost exclusively produce your own instrumentals. So you're controlling like all sides of your sound. Who would you cite as inspirations on the production side of things?

Kenz: Production? Man it’s  definitely like a mix of everything. But I mean, I'll just name a few, probably like Pharell, as far as drums and bounce. 

Brenden: That Neptunes sound.

Kenz: I've been going for that a lot. Tyler too. I can't really say my music really sounds like his, but you know, I draw some inspiration from that. Lately BNYX. Yeah, shoutout. Of course, Pierre. Kanye. Travis too, to be honest. And yeah, i think, there's a lot but I can't really think of everyone. Yeah. But those guys oftentimes, it really is just a blend. Yeah, but I've been coming up with a name for my style. I call it “Neon Tropica”.

Brenden: It's good to put words to it, to kind of help you, you know, visualize what that would be. And what resources would you say were the most helpful in terms of learning to produce and engineer, and use DAWs like Ableton and FL

Kenz: YouTube. I dropped out of college for audio engineering, because all of the things they were trying to teach me, like, the thing is, they could teach you how to click buttons and how to record a sound but they can't teach you how to make a hit, or a  good song. That's all like, from your own mind, you know? Your taste. And no one can teach you taste, you know. So I don't know, just YouTube. I mean, that was my university. I learned everything from there, and trial and error. And then Elan Wright, who was an early collaborator. He's a producer, engineer from Seattle. And shout out to the Ruby Room. And he just taught me. He taught me certain skills, like how to use my ears when mixing. It takes time.

Brenden: Yeah, it's literally all taste profile, and then like, ability to hear what's out of place. 

Kenz: Yeah, exactly, to hear what's out of place. It takes time.

Brenden: Awesome. And you're not signed to a label yet - and it doesn't necessarily look like you're planning on it. Would you say a decision is more for you? Or is that for the art? Like a financial thing or creative control thing?

Kenz: That's a good one. Because I think I teeter-totter between both. Sometimes I’m more, like, just give me the money. Yeah. Because I don't know, I think about the fun things I can do with the money. You know what I mean? Like me, and my friends, we could go wherever we want. Just have fun. I want a pretty simple life, you know, a small family, nice house, so I think about that. Like, I'd be lying if I'm like, yeah, it's all about the heart. I know, for sure I want the money if I can,I want to live life and money is power, unfortunately. I think like, as far as the label thing, you know, if the situation is right, then okay. But, like you said, if I'm already handling a lot of the production, I can do it myself. I don't know why I would necessarily need a label, especially in this age, you know, but I mean, if they're willing. If they're gonna take like, 80%, and then I'm doing most of the work, it doesn't make sense. Maybe I’d do something like a distribution deal or joint venture or something. But you know, I'm not closing any doors. 

Brenden: Yeah, absolutely. 

Kenz: For some artists -  labels. That's what you want to go for. I think people are always looking down on them. But like, you know, labels can really help.

Brenden: Definitely. And then another one, if, if you had to name this chapter of your life -  this one's from Hannah -  if you had to name this chapter of your life, what would you call it? Like, what part of the narrative arc Is it? What's it about?

Kenz: I like this question. I'm gonna start with what it's about, then. I've been calling me coming back here hibernation. It just feels like, I don't know, coming back home, and like, taking everything that I've learned, and really like, seeing what parts of me that I liked and what I didn't like, you know what I mean? Self-reflecting a lot. And just coming back here and facing reality, whether it was relationships, friends, you know, I think this was very grounding. This brought me back down to earth. Not that I was like, my head high or whatever. But I think it was just like, relearning. And now I'm more ready than ever, because when I went over there, I had one bullet. Cap Tikus. And that was one bullet. And I had no idea how to keep going with that. Whereas now I'm working on something. I think I'll be a lot more consistent. I think I'm in a better headspace. No distractions.

Brenden: Fully loaded.

Kenz: Yeah, absolutely.

Hannah: You mentioned that there were things that you had learned in the previous chapters. What are three things that you think you learned that are most valuable to this current chapter?

Brenden: [Laughs] No moonwalks.

Kenz: No more moonwalks. [Laughs] Things that I learned, well, here's three things I won't do again. When I went over there, I think I was just chilling to be honest, waiting. I just need to be a lot more consistent, you know, just making things and then not sitting back, you know, there's always something I could be doing, whether that's making content or something else. Second, not just taking any deals, brand deals or whatever, you know, and also understanding that the way things work over there is different than here. And I feel like now I have a better understanding.

Hannah: Can you provide an example? 

Kenz: No, no [Laughs]

Brenden: That's federal. 

Kenz: Federal. [Laughs] I think just not avoiding things that are in my head. And just being more myself, because I think over there, I was still, like I said, going from being kind of introverted to doing that. I felt like I was almost forcing myself to be extroverted. If I don't feel like doing something, when it comes to media stuff or brand deals, I'm not going to do it anymore.

Brenden: That all makes sense. And then what's next for you? Is there like an album in the works, or any future shows that you're allowed to talk about yet?

Kenz: I guess I'll just announce it. I am dropping an album. I'm working on it. I've been working on it ever since I've been back. There's a couple of songs from like, two years ago, you probably know some. [Laughs] There might be a couple that you're familiar with, just touching them up. But yeah, I'm dropping that. And a lot of visuals. That's actually mostly why I'm going to Indonesia, shooting visuals out there. And really diving in, really trying to bring that culture forward. You know? So I'm working on a lot of stuff.

Brenden: Yeah. Sharing it with the people. 

Kenz: Yeah. Eventually would love to perform. We'll see.

Brenden: Awesome. All right. It was great to see you man, thank you for coming all the way up here to Bellingham to speak with us. We're very excited for what the future holds.

Written by Brenden Whiteley

& Hannah Quinton

Special Thanks to Kenz