ROMAN KYN: EXPLORING SUNSETS OVER TOKYO

A citizen of the world, Roman Kyn is a music composer, vocalist, and electronic producer whose music is grounded by an underlying ethos to combine sonic realms with meticulous care. Roman’s sound marries a steady rhythmic ritual with a rich melodic journey. A strong aesthetic is injected into his live performances, combining live instrumental improvisation and the manipulation of modern machines.

Fresh from an inspiring vacation in the vibrant and buoyant city that is Tokyo, reserved French storyteller Roman Kyn links up with Type < / 01 to talk in-depth about the solar movements that inspired his new EP on ICONYC, his intricate workflow, his ability to translate complex experiences into music, and more.

Hey Roman! How are you doing? How have you been? Thank you for joining us today.

Hey! Thank you! All good over here in Paris, enjoying some nice weather and really excited about the release of my new EP for ICONYC.

Yeah, we can imagine the excitement must be high! Congratulations on the release of your ICONYC EP, Exploding Sunsets. So, how are you feeling about this one?

Great actually, because this is a very important EP for me. Both tracks in the EP share a rather similar creative process in terms of sound, but they are directed to different audiences. The first cut is clearly more club-oriented, while the second provides more of a listening experience, which is something I have been wanting to do for a while now.

Digging into the record, there seems to be a sense of hope in the lyrics for “Exploding Sunsets”. What’s the emotional trigger here? How did this one come about?

I believe it’s a very simple feeling, but yet very powerful. It’s about when you’re facing something very beautiful but melancholic in a way, and still finding the “good” in it. It’s the same motif that is used in “Tell Me Why” as well. See, I record a lot of videos, and recently I recorded a sunset while in Tokyo, very high up, and I was inspired by that. For the lyrics, I was imagining something very apocalyptic. I believe there’s some beauty in that. But, like with most music, maybe it’ll mean something else to someone else, and I’m cool with that.

And on the flip side, “Tell Me Why” almost resembles a sort of “built-for-radio” kind of tune. Where did you learn to manage and understand the sensitivity required to pull this one off? I mean, it’s a bit of a different ball game when compared to “conventional” electronic dance music.

Well, when I was younger, I used to write a lot with the guitar and piano. Also, I had bands, and another project with my brother, so that helped to understand music from a different standpoint.

Of course, the music is very personal, but when thinking about club music, I always picture myself playing it live, and imagining the reaction of the crowd and the moment. So that’s kind of how I know that whatever I’m doing will work, or not. But for “Tell Me Why”, it was totally intentional. It’s something that I'm starting to implement more and more on new tracks, and in the end, it leads to more powerful and personal songs for me.

We know that you kinda grew up all over the globe, including Chile, Mexico, Belgium, and Spain. How did this shape your musical taste? Do you still keep up with the music that’s coming out of those scenes?

To be honest, I don’t think it had an impact in a regular way, like getting into this or that sound or vibe. It's more about adapting to different cultures and constant changes, which in turn translates into consuming a broad palette of sounds. So I draw inspiration from many places, but I can’t really say that I have been inspired by the scenes themselves.

And in terms of music production, you’re self-thought, right? Do you remember the moment when you decided you’d take a swing at music production?

Well, discovering that I could do it all myself was very liberating. Obviously, having been in bands, I know that sharing ideas is great, and good things can come out of that interaction. I was a massive fan of The xx, and seeing how this band used electronic elements to do the work of more people was amazing. I guess that was the moment, and it’s been more than 10 years since then.

So, are you making the music that you thought you’d be making when you first started? If not, what do you think of the voice you have found as an artist?

I'd say there has been a philosophy that I have pursued throughout the years, which is bringing a band sound to the club. So I have always evolved around this concept. But getting to a place where I’m happy was a very exponential process, and I have a feeling that these past two years have been very important in terms of sounding how I want and the development of that. In that sense, “Tell Me Why” is very personal, and represents me very much. It's a tough process. You share your music and everyone will have a different opinion, but I have become very stubborn in the past years in terms of fighting for what I believe, so I know how to shut the noise out when it’s needed.

In terms of the sound itself, everything goes in cycles, and indie dance has that sort of 80s feel. Bringing in stuff from the past to the future and finding a new purpose for it…that is something that excites me.

From what I understand, you usually finish your tracks within a certain window of time. Why is that? Is it because of how hard it might be to replicate the feeling that motivated you to sit down in the first place?

Yeah. I tend to work really fast, but I think all the main creative stuff has to hold up. I work like that because, if I don’t, I’m probably going to overthink, and then doubt sets in, and I just sort of derail from there.

I know others like to take their time, but it doesn’t really work for me. I have a few folders with projects in different stages, so every now and then, I have listening sessions to determine which ideas I’m going to work with, which helps me keep the process interesting.

Since you tend to play “live”, is this something that you have to take into consideration when producing music? Do you ever go like “Nah, this is too convoluted for me to play it live on my own”?

Honestly, no, never…Maybe on the vocals, that’s the only place where I feel like it might become a limitation. The thing is…I’ll always have to pick parts, I can’t do it all on my own. But I’m OK with that. Sometimes, I’ll even end up with different versions of the same track because of things I had to adjust. But the trick is that everything that I write is always played out, so the origins of the idea are very hands-on, very organic. So they come from a “real” place.

As you mentioned before, you have just spent almost a month in Japan. Was this your first time in the country? I always thought that it would be a sort of alienating experience. Have you ever felt like that before anywhere around the world?

It was my second time, actually. I visited last year. I have friends with an amazing music studio. It’s super inspiring, and a perfect place to have a break.

And yeah, it’s completely like that. Everything is amazing, and people don't speak much English, so navigating this is so much fun. The first time, I did a tour of 2 or 3 weeks, and I was very lost. But I still managed to do the trip, met some lovely people, and had a blast. There’s a “zen-state” in being lonely. A lot of people go out and eat alone. Some restaurants even have seating for one. And there’s this thing about taking your time for quality, which is something that doesn’t happen around the world. Maybe a cookie bakery will only do 5 cookies a day, but they might be the best in town. And there’s pride in that. Some don’t need more than that.

Speaking about traveling…I know it might be hard to put into words, but how does all this traveling translate into the music that you make? I mean, it’s something that is rarely channeled through a local instrument, right?

For me, it’s an emotional trigger. Different places trigger different emotions, like the inspiration for “Exploding Sunsets”, which has a great juxtaposition of in terms of emotions. It's like taking a photo of a particular moment and translating it into music. It can be something simple, like watching from the window plane as it takes off after a great gig. It's about embracing moments. Personally, I like to take tons of videos and pictures, which I might then upload to Ableton and that serves me as a guide.

Having gone over the recent past and the present, what’s next for Roman Kyn? What new milestones are you looking forward to?

Releasing more music, definitively. My last release was almost a year ago, and that’s just too much time. So I'm going to amp the frequency in terms of that. Also, I’d like to play some bigger shows, so we are preparing for that. A major milestone would be to be able to keep on releasing more of this music that is not really “club-oriented” while still adapting it for the club-oriented live set.

Thank you for your time Roman! Best of luck with Exploding Sunsets. Catch you soon!

Thank you guys for sharing your time with me and for this wonderful interview. Much appreciated. See you around!

Roman Kyn’s Exploding Sunsets EP is out now via ICONYC. Purchase your copy here.