At the tender age of 20, Montreal’s Kaytranada has already seen a good lot of attention come his way via bootleg remixes of acts such as Missy Elliot, Janet Jackson, TLC and Danny Brown. Musical tastemakers and the blogosphere have already gone gaga over his fine-tuned ear and genre-hopping tendencies which span house, R&B, disco and hip hop.
Now, though, the young beatmaker is getting his original work out there, most recently taking the form of 8-track EP Kaytra Todo, which he’s showcasing as part of his Australian tour supporting Ryan Hemsworth. We caught up with Kaytranada as he hit Australian soil for a brief chat about the tour and how he’s making the transition from teen remixer to legit producer extraordinaire.
Music Feeds: Thanks for joining us, Kaytranada. Any day now you will be unleashing your unique brand of tunage upon Australian audiences alongside Ryan Hemsworth. What’s exciting you the most about heading down here?
Kaytranada: I’ve heard a lot about all the amazing animals in Australia, so I’m excited to go to the zoo in Sydney! Australia is upside down from where I’m from.. So like now it’s 2.30pm in the afternoon here but it’s midnight back home in Montreal. It’s just cool to be somewhere different.
MF: Any down time squeezed into your schedule while you’re in the country? What’s on the cards?
K: I want to explore in each city I go to, I’m in Brisbane now and we have been walking around, it’s nice. I have some time off in Sydney to do more exploring.
MF: In February of this year you released an 8-tracker EP, Kaytra Todo. How has it been supporting this release since it dropped?
K: It’s good for me to drop originals rather than remixes. Everyone is always interested in the Kaytranada remixes, but an EP with all my own sound has helped a lot.
MF: You were already on the radar of media and blogs prior to the EP. Did having that sort of presence affect your final product, in terms of making music the way you wanted to make it?
K: No, not really, I am always working on making my own unique sound, and luckily people like that. I don’t have to try and appeal to anyone in particular. Like in the beginning it was hard to get on blogs, but now I can just do my own thing and I don’t have to try to get the support. It’s great!
MF: You’ve been creating music since you were a teenager. How has your process changed over the years? Would you say it’s gotten more complex or have you stripped things back?
K: It’s gotten more complex, because I came more from a Hip Hop background where I was only making beats. Over time I developed into making different genres of music like house, jazz and hip hop. Now I’ve blended everything together and found my own sound and people seem to like it.
MF: What have you been scheming in terms of new original material?
K: I have been thinking about that a lot, but for me it’s about always making my own sound so people go “whoa what is this?” At the end of the day I just want to do my own thing but at the same time making sure my Kaytranada fans love it too.
Kaytranada is currently touring Australia with Ryan Hemsworth. There’s still a couple of chances left to catch him live – details below.
Ryan Hemsworth & Kaytranada Australia Tour
Presented by Brown Bear Entertainment
Friday, 30th August
The Bakery, Perth
Saturday, 31st August
with local support ROOF
Chinese Laundry, Sydney
