Kit Sebastian
Interview conducted on March 03, 2020
by Dan Locke
The latest single offering from contemporary UK jazz duo that fuses Anatolian psychedelia and Brazilian Tropicalia with 60’s European pop and American jazz. The duo is formed of 20 somethings Kit Martin, who lives between London & France and plays all instruments on the album & Merve Erdem, vocalist & multi-disciplinary artist from Istanbul, now based in London. ‘Mantra Moderne’ is the title of their debut album. The album explores universal themes such as love, loss, decay, language & ideology, mixing three different languages: English, Turkish and French. It sounds like a vintage fusion of Caetano Veloso, Gal Costa, Os Mutantes, Cortex, Khruangbin, Air, Arthur Verocai, Goat, Stereolab: Written & recorded by the duo in rural France during 2018, each song was completed within a 12-hour window & mixed on the fly ! Dubbed by Kit & Merve as ‘lo-fi-hi-fi’ in reference to the high-end tube equipment that helped it find its way to 8-track cassette tape. The style owes its sound to narrow tape width, valve distortion, spring reverb, the mixture of high end gear with lo-fi equipment as well as a disregard to the norms of hi-fi studio techniques. All instruments were analogue (tablas to darbukas, balalaikas to ouds, MS20 synths to Farfisa organs and a lot of cuica) & no samples were used….old skool new skool ! Multiple plays at 6 Music, BBC regional,specialist radio from Jazz fm to BBC 3, some excellent press and a series of live performances at Rough Trade (London and Bristol) to Spiritlands in Kings Cross have garnered fans with their stylish live set.
Dan Locke: How did you two create the band, Kit Sebastian?
Kit Martin: We met through a Facebook group for Turkish people in London. I was looking for someone to work with, and slowly we became a duo with equal input.
You have been an active musician since the age of 12. Was that an active paid musician. And how did you do it? How old were you when you developed your musical skills?
K: Not paid, but playing bands much like any other bored teenager.
I can see that Mr. Bongo is a good fit for your music?
K: Some of their reissues really influenced our sound, particularly Arthur Verocai and Gal Costa, so we’re happy we found ourselves in a label with.
I listened to your cd. It has a very jazzy Indian sound. And your videos are almost a kickback to 60s sci-fi future society videos. Movies like Logan Run, Lost in Space and Batman television series. Or even like an art-house film.
Merve Erdem: We like 60’s and 70’s aesthetics. It influences how we produce our sound and visuals. We are not very familiar with the 60s-70s futuristic films but all I can say is they have a fun set and costume designs.
Merve- Did you have anything to do with the looks of the videos?
M: Yes. Once K and I agree on the general concept, I get a mood board together and start hunting for costumes, props, and locations. Madison Pelley, who worked as an art director in both music videos, does a great job of getting the pieces together.
Some of our videos are less production demanding such as our teasers (mostly shot in 8 mm) or Durma music video (which was shot by Kit in VHS on various trips to France). In those ones, we come up with simpler ideas but a crazier execution. We love experimenting and expressing ourselves through a visual world and an attitude of our own.
I see you did some shows this year around the UK. Tell me about your typical show.
K: A typical show begins with Merve and I searching for flowers. Since the Mantra Moderne music video, it has become an integral part of our image. Merve wears them in her hair and me in my shirt pocket. Some of the songs are very contemplative and some very dancey. It is important that we don’t completely replicate the studio sound and leave some room for improvisation.
Any plans for touring next year?
K: We can’t say anything yet, but some exciting news may come soon… At the beginning of this year, we’ve played and are going to play many shows throughout Europe.
How do you see yourself in five years?
K: Working in a variety of multi-media mediums, producing more music and playing memorable shows all around the world
