INTERVIEW: Kito on new project IS U IS U and their debut EP 'Melter'
Image: Jasmine Safaeian
Published: 22 May, 2024
Australia’s Kito is one of music’s most successful producers, over her career she has worked with artists such as Mabel, Jorja Smith, Fletcher, Sia, Kylie Minogue and Banks, alongside releasing her own solo music.
She has recently teamed up with Chrome Sparks to create the super duo IS U IS U, and at the beginning of May they released their debut EP Melter. It is four tracks of delicious, clubby electronic music with endless hooks and melodies to drown in. Created in part from samples discovered from old studio sessions, it features vocals from Kllo and VanJess amongst the mesmerising beats.
“Melter was inspired by our mutual love of electronic music with juicy chord progressions,” the duo say. “We didn’t actually set out to make an EP, or a duo! But these tracks came so easily and we didn’t have to search for a sound that it felt rude not to. We hope you enjoy this EP as much as we enjoyed making it.”
Opening track ‘All I Need’ gave the duo their name, with the repeated lyric ‘all I need is you, is you’. It has a warmer electronic feel, with a whisper of Balearic, with keyboards and summery swirls. ‘Lights On’ has a harder dance sound and features a vocal sample from Kilo, while ‘Angel Girl’ has a sweeter sound with an urgent beat and dissolves into gorgeous strings at the end. Closing and title track ‘Melter’ has a more abstract feel, leaning more heavily into trance and techno with a hypnotic vibe where you can practically feel the dancefloor just by listening to the first few beats.
Melter is an intriguing debut, and whether IS U IS U continue as a super duo for further releases or remain a one off treat, Kito and Chrome Sparks have created an incredible package of songs with this EP. They tread the line brilliantly between clubland delight and songs that have enough familiar sounds and structure to remain something you can dive into wherever you are. We recently caught up with Kito to chat about the formation of IS U IS U and the creation of the EP.
Hi Kito! So great to chat to you again. How is life with you right now?
Life is good!
You have formed a new ‘super duo’ alongside Chrome Sparks, IS U IS U and your debut EP Melter is out now. Before we get into the EP, can you talk me through the formation of IS U IS U? How and why did this new project come together?
The project came as a result of making these songs which immediately felt as though they belonged together. ‘All I Need’ was the first track we made together and it’s where our duo name came from. The vocal sample is from an old Van Jess session and the lyrics are “All I Need Is You, Is You”.
Congratulations on Melter, it is such a great EP full of just delicious synth-electronic-dance tracks. I’m curious to learn a bit about the creative process for this one, how did it come about? Was it always the intention to create an EP, or did it emerge more organically?
Definitely more organically - our first studio day just felt so easy and we came up with 2 tracks that immediately felt as though they fit in the same world. So we decided to build on that and see what else we could do!
I really love the title track ‘Melter’. It starts and ends with this sort of pared back, trip-hop sound which is reminiscent of the late 90s/early 00s peak of that genre. Can you tell me a little more about this track?
Thank you. The lead synth is a sample Chrome Sparks recorded in Iceland on Ólafur Arnold’s korg PS3100.
‘Angel Girl’ is another standout, with this recurring hook that almost sounds like a guitar, and then you have these really gorgeous strings that come in at the end. Again, can you tell me a little bit more about this track?
The first track we did was ‘All I Need’ - also using a guitar sample and we loved it so much that we wanted to try doing something similar. We were really inspired by this track by Altrice called ‘Eyes’.
I love the fact that elements of the EP were used from your previous sessions or demos that you found and reworked them into these tracks. I am eternally fascinated by the archives of musicians and I wanted to know do you keep everything that you ever record, and how often do your revisit whatever is in your archive?
Yeah, we keep everything! And I feel as though so much great stuff gets forgotten as it’s impossible to finish everything. But when I have time free time I love to go back into old sessions and give new life to a vocal or beat. And it’s definitely an area Chrome Sparks and I are strong in - having our own personal sample banks from the countless number of sessions we both have done!
You recently worked on a remix for the Sia and Kylie Minogue single ‘Dance Alone’ which is amazing. What was that one like to work on?
An honour to work on a remix for two Aussie legends. I approached it as if I was producing the original.
Collaboration is such a big part of your career, and you have worked with some incredible artists. I am sure you get asked this all the time, but who is currently on your wishlist of artists to work with?
I’d love to work with Caroline Polachek, Lil Uzi Vert, Charli XCX, Amaarae and Shygirl.
The lack of female producers is one of the many gender inequalities we have in the music industry. Do you think there have been been any improvements in the years you have been in the industry, and what do you think needs to be done to improve the imbalance?
Definitely - I think there are so many more women taking this role now and it’s great. I can only see that gap getting smaller in the future.
Melter is out now, what else is coming up for you in 2024?
Right now I’m finishing off my next solo EP, which I’m really excited about. It might be my favourite body of work to date.
Melter is out now via Mad Decent. You go buy and stream here.
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