Secret Interview #1: Kiki

This week we interview Dublin based electronic producer Cian Corcoran, aka Kiki. A member of the Loud Mouth collective of musicians, producers, DJ’s, vocalists, artists, designers, photographers and film makers, Cian produces electronic music in a variety genres ranging from hip hop to house, using an impressive array of hardware and software tools to achieve his fine blend of organic and synthesized sounds. Taking time out from preparing for his headline slot at the upcoming Loud Mouth compilation release, Cian talks to Secret School of Sound about his creative process, hardware synths, and beatboxing on his phone…

Latest tracks by KikiCorcoran

SecretSchool: Can you give me a little bit of background about what you do and how you got into it?

Kiki: My strongest recollection of what inspired me to start making music was DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing. I’ve since been building up an arsenal of equipment and developing my sound by just playing with it. I began making hip hop instrumentals as part of a group called Exxon Valdez. From there I have continued to produce my own stuff.

SecretSchool: How would you describe your style, and crucially, how would your mother describe it?

Kiki: My mum actually really likes my music! She does a thing called trance dancing and loves anything I play her with a decent kick! She also thinks I should send my music to film producers to use. I’ve experimented with a lot of styles and find it hard to focus on a particular genre. Right now I really enjoy making house. The inspiration generally comes from what I am listening to at the time.

SecretSchool: What do you use to create your music?

Kiki: I have an MPC 1000, Machinedrum, Novation Drumstation, DS Mopho, Novation Supernova, Yamaha DX-7, some small things that I’ve built/tweaked and a few controllers including a monome. I’ve been using Pro Tools for a few years now and am quite comfortable with it, just getting used to Live. I also play a few instruments…casually. I have a terrible addiction to buying kit. I can’t seem to stop lusting after drum machines and I don’t see this stopping any time soon. At the moment I’m considering an OP-1 from Teenage Engineering. It just looks like all the fun parts of making electronic music balled into a very well designed package.

SecretSchool: Why these tools? What’s so good about them?

Kiki: I use all of these things because I feel they bring me closer to the music I want to create. Deciding to use mainly hardware means that I need to build up a vocabulary of sounds from a variety of sources. The act of programming something on one machine, then turning and interacting with another, adds a physical element to creating electronic music that you generally don’t get with software. Each piece of hardware also has a lot of it’s own character that you can sometimes pick out in other peoples music. The Machinedrum is my favourite. It’s interface is great to use and the depth of tweaking seems endless. There is also a distinct timelessness about its construction and sound.

SecretSchool: With technology people are finding new methods that can change the shape of the creative process. Personally, I use my phone to record ideas as they pop into my head when I’m out and about. How do you go about capturing your ideas and developing these into tracks?

Kiki: I use my phone sometimes too (I’d hate for someone to uncover my library of lame hummings and mouthed drumbeats). I normally sit down and just start jamming on a synth or drum machine and eventually bring in more elements. I used to get a lot of inspiration from samples but have been creating music from scratch recently. I find that samples often break that initial ‘blank page’ dilemma so I sometimes start with a sample, build around it, then strip it away. I also capture sounds that interest me and use them in tracks.

SecretSchool: Do you see programming as a joy or a necessary evil?

Kiki: I see programming as an integral part of how I make music. Some interfaces make programming fun and creative while others kill the spontaneity. I think there needs to be a good balance of technical and creative input into electronic music.

SecretSchool: Some of your tracks have quite an organic feel to them. Where do you pick up your samples and how do you process them?

Kiki: I collect samples from a few sources. Records are great for a variety of reasons. I also take a lot of field recordings that inspire and sometimes feature in tracks. I’ve also recorded some live instruments played by myself and others. I really like when there is a distinct ‘organic’ vibe to electronic music. It’s like a middle ground where man and machine meet. A lot of great house music has these two elements blended equally.

SecretSchool: Software like Ableton Live has really opened the doors for budding producers to get making music with not much more than a laptop. How do you think this has affected electronic music?

Kiki: I think this has led to a rapid growth in the quantity and variety of music available now. The speed at which music is created and shared means that genres are quickly being bridged, leading to more homogenised sounds. This then provides a good backdrop for innovative artists to stand apart from the homogenised sound. I love the fact that there are a lot of people making music now that otherwise wouldn’t. It has led to a lot of innovation.

SecretSchool: Any choice plugins you keep going back to?

Kiki: I don’t dabble too much in plug-ins. I try to adjust everything on my hardware to what I want it to be and then tweak it with a few native Pro Tools effects and EQs. When I’m happy with a mix I use some subtle mastering effects in Izotope. It’s a pretty amazing plug-in!

SecretSchool: Any mastering secrets you can share?

Kiki: Izotope! I’m not as knowledgeable with mastering or getting ready for mastering as I should be. It’s something I need to work on so that I can get the most out of my tracks without pissing off engineers! I used to underestimate the importance of EQing but now see it as an integral part of every artists sound. It’s as important as the equipment you use.

SecretSchool: Who do you reckon is cream of the Irish crop right now? Any favourite tracks of 2011?

Kiki: Jeeeeez I don’t know. There’s a lot happening right now in Irish electronic music. I may be slightly biased but I feel that Ciarán and Blake who head the Loudmouth Collective are doing great things for independent Irish producers. They’re providing a platform for people to release and collaborate on tracks which can only lead to great things.

SecretSchool: Any future releases/upcoming gigs on the horizon?

Kiki: At the moment I’m doing a lot of freelance design work so it’s been hard to sit down and make new tracks. I might get some quiet time over Christmas to lock myself away! I’ll be headlining the Loudmouth Compilation Volume 3 Launch in The Twisted Pepper on the 21st of December. Blake is at me to do a live show but I haven’t done one in a long time… we’ll see.

Kiki headlines the release of the third Loud Mouth Compilation at the Twisted Pepper, Wed 21st December 2011.

More info at:

Kiki on Soundcloud
The Loud Mouth Collective Blog
Loud Mouth on Facebook
Loud Mouth on Soundcloud