Casa Camper x Kiyo: Blue Hour

You started making music with an analogue synth—what led you to that moment, and how did it shape your sound?
As many others I suddenly found myself in a very changed and quiet world when the pandemic hit. Suddenly there was a lot of silence and for me, coming from a background of visual arts and expression, that silence really struck a chord in a new and unfamiliar way that I felt I needed another medium for my creative work.

I am a big enthusiast of synthesizer music and regularly went to see concerts in that musical world. Synthesizers really fascinated me and the sounds the artists created with them in so many different ways really resonated with me. I don’t play the piano and did not have any experience with keyboards, but in an impulsive decision I ordered myself a Korg Minilogue and just gave it a go.

For an absolute beginner like me it was an amazing experience that I could just press any key and create an electronic sound, without hurting fingers like I remember from first playing guitar. So I surprisingly found it weirdly accessible.

Step by step I taught myself a way to use it that works for me. The analogue element is something I always embraced in my visual arts as well. I always liked the imperfect and unpredictable result that using an analogue pen or printing technique would bring and wanted to approach things in a similar way with my music.

To me that makes any art more human and intimate, closer to a human soul than any software. This especially makes sense to me as the topics in my music are very personal and often about sadness. I don’t want too much digital perfection in the sadness, I want the bones to shine through sometimes.

Do you remember the first track you made that felt like your style?
That must be ‘Morning Came’ on my first Album ‘Birch Water’, that I released on Bandcamp in November 2023. The rhythmic synth bass line is something that first appeared here and I developed that element further in my track ‘I Was Never Young’. In fact much of the essence of my newer songs definitely started showing here.

Beyond solitude, what is it about hotels that sparks your creativity?
To be away from our daily self with all the automatised thoughts that help us manage our days. To be in a new place. To be slightly out of the safe waters. To be forced to really look at the world around us and to be present in the moment. To experience our current self and not just tell ourselves or close ones the same story about who we are, but to instead question that narrative and to reflect on it.

Sad synth wave is a distinctive space—how do you see your sound evolving within it?
There is so much to do and learn really. I want to continue exploring music as a creative medium and get better at finding an honest creative approach to the thoughts I try to turn into tracks. That requires some honesty in myself and this for me is the biggest creative challenge that I’m facing right now.

What’s a track or artist that perfectly captures the bittersweet energy you’re drawn to?
I am often more drawn to different energies than purely those that might be present in my own work. Also I often find live concerts really can really enhance and even alter the impression that music makes on me. Boy Harsher at Panorama Bar is a concert I will not forget for example.