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<h1 class="left">From Crooks and Lovers to The Sunset Violent, Mount Kimbie’s 15 years of releasing genre-defying records and EPs have seen the band transform itself with playfulness and a strong sense of sonic world-building. Ahead of their set at Echoes of Earth in Bengaluru this weekend, Australia-based musician and producer Sid Vashi sat down with the duo - Kai Campos and Dominic Maker. Together, they rake through the kind of fertile musical chatter that could only come from people ‘in the know’ of a hazy, atmospheric scene.</h1>

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<h1 class="left">Sid: Let’s get into the weeds. Your latest record, The Sunset Violent is more guitar-centric, noisier, and songwriting-focused. After Die Cuts and City Planning, how did you get here?</h1><h1 class="left">Dom: Kai and I hadn’t been able to work together for a while because of COVID restrictions. I was living in the US, and Kai was in the UK. When things lifted, Kai came to California. We got into the studio without any specific plans, just to see where we were at. None of our music is very calculated. A lot of new material started with just Kai on the guitar, recording riffs, and I would write vocal melodies. After Die Cuts and City Planning, it was refreshing to work together again with the band, and also away from machines.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Sid: I remember seeing you perform ages ago with a guitar on stage. It wasn’t very obvious in the sound. Now, writing with the guitar feels natural?</h1><h1 class="centre">Kai: It’s definitely new, which was intentional. I like to approach creative projects with a beginner mindset. Before, the guitar was more of an afterthought or a textural element. But we’ve always been inspired by guitar music. Over the years, there were so many ideas we wanted to explore—bands we wanted to steal something from or small sound ideas that have been knocking around. Since we hadn’t written with guitar much before, there were decades of influence to draw from.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Sid: Anyone in particular?</h1><h1 class="centre">Kai: So many. It goes back to childhood influences. There’s some obvious ones, like Sonic Youth, especially the approach to the guitar and alternate tunings. But our approach is also anti-guitar. For example, there’s a track by Lil Ugly Mane, “Headboard,” that’s influenced this record as much as something like The Pixies.</h1>

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<h1 class="right">Sid: Your music has always been categorised into genres like post-dubstep, post-rock, post-whatever. How do you feel about those labels?</h1><h1 class="right">Kai: When you’re deep in the process, you don’t hear it the way others do. We were never trying to make a new genre — just pulling from predecessors and trying to make something that feels honest.</h1>

<h1 class="right">Sid: I guess intentions and perceptions often don’t align. The latest record feels very vocal-centric, more so than your past albums. Was that a deliberate choice?</h1><h1 class="right">Dom: For this record, we wanted to write songs that could be stripped back to just a piano and vocals—something you could hum in your head. The vocals became crucial. During the pandemic, Kai had sent me an instrumental, and I wrote vocals over it. Immediately we were like, ‘we should do more of this.’ That set the tone for more vocal-focused work, which was new for us. Andrea, Kai, and I workshopped melodies and lyrics together, and it’s something we’re continuing with our new material.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Sid: What’s your approach to lyrics? Do you have themes or visuals in mind when writing?</h1><h1 class="centre">Dom: Unfortunately, I never start with lyrics. It’s usually melody first, then filling it with something that has meaning to me. I’ve always been interested in telling short stories or creating visuals through sound. For me, Mount Kimbie’s music has always been about creating a feeling or a scene. Something comes out of the fog. And then it’s just holding onto that and saying, I'm writing about this. I certainly don't have a lot I want to say, like, I'm not dying to sing songs about “stuff.”</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Sid: Going back to earlier work like Crooks & Lovers and Cold Spring Fault Less Youth, what visuals came to mind then?</h1><h1 class="centre">Dom: That was so long ago. Back then, we didn’t think about things so clearly. We didn’t have that clarity. Everything was just about doing it. Working with Archy (King Krule) was what helped me see how to create worlds through words. That was a real catalyst.</h1>

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<h1 class="left">Sid: Archy’s incredible. I remember hearing his line, “I killed a man,” and feeling completely gutted.</h1><h1 class="left">Dom: Absolutely. Archy’s always been someone we’re down to work with. He brings those moments every time. And Cold Spring Fault Less Youth reminds me of Bermondsey, where we were at the time. It was a strange album because it felt like we were taking things more seriously—maybe too seriously.</h1><h1 class="left">Kai: Definitely. With the first album, you’re working on music for years without anyone reacting to it. But once it’s out, everything changes. With the second, you’re constantly thinking about what you want to do differently. I think I took it too seriously, and that made some parts feel forced. There are still moments on the album I really like, but overall, it felt colder—both physically and emotionally—during the process.</h1>

<h1 class="left">Sid: How did that contrast with making your latest record?</h1><h1 class="left">Kai: This one was much more fun and jovial. There was an element of silliness, which was really fun. At some point, you realize making records isn’t life or death. The goal became enjoying the process and being present with it. You always get another chance to make another one. This record feels lighter, and I think that comes through.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Sid: It sounds like you’ve found more freedom in your process.</h1><h1 class="centre">Dom: Definitely. We’ve been really lucky with the people we’ve worked with - labels, fans, everyone. They’re incredibly open to new directions, so we’re really lucky.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Sid: That openness shows in your music. On the latest record, I loved the unhinged intro to “Fish Brain.” It felt so raw and chaotic.</h1><h1 class="centre">Kai: That came from experimenting with alternate tunings. I’d often record myself tuning the guitar to capture the moment since I had no real plan—it was just trial and error until something clicked. The intro is a raw iPhone recording I made sat in my kitchen. Dom played it back while tuning his guitar, and we decided to keep it in. Andrea’s vocal in that section started as a joke during mic setup, but it fit so well that we left it in.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Sid: iPhone recordings are great. There are no rules.</h1><h1 class="centre">Kai: That one sounds like shit, but it works. People recorded with far worse quality not long ago.</h1>

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<h1 class="right">Sid: Despite that, your earlier work influenced a lot of electronic musicians. Many tried to emulate your sound, which became a kind of standard in its own right.</h1><h1 class="right">Kai: It was strange hearing music that felt influenced by us but was much better engineered for clubs or radio. Some of it came from super young producers — 17-year-olds— who managed to polish the sound in ways we hadn’t. It was a bit of a shock, but also exciting to see that impact.</h1>

<h1 class="right">Sid: What’s next for Mount Kimbie?</h1><h1 class="right">Dom: India is our last show for a while. After that, we’re diving back into writing. We’re trying to get more prolific with writing. We’ve had some really fruitful sessions. We don’t need to go into hibernation. Things move so fast now, so it’s important to just keep it rolling.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Sid: Is the new material guitar-heavy like the latest record?</h1><h1 class="centre">Dom: The guitar features prominently. We recently spent three weeks in the studio with Andy Ramsey from Stereolab, focusing on rhythms and building from there. We’ve been filling things in since then, and Andrea has been singing again. It’s been fluid. It’s been good.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Sid: You mentioned earlier how every record has a distinct intention. How do you see your latest record being experienced? Is it still very much a headphone record, or has it evolved?</h1><h1 class="centre">Kai: There’s a tangible difference between this record and all the ones before. Our previous records were very much headphone records— best for solo listening. This one feels different. It exists as much on stage as it does as a record. The live experience really brings it to life, and that’s been a fun and exciting change for us.</h1>

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<h1 class="centre">Sid: Going back to your current live setup—you’re playing with a five-piece band now. How’s that been?</h1><h1 class="centre">Dom: It’s been great. Tyra joined us on bass, and she’s incredible. She has this energy on stage that the rest of us don’t really have. She’s at the back, rocking out, and people love it. Almost every show, someone tells us how amazing she is. Her voice complements Andrea’s really well too. She’s a brilliant addition to the band. Kai and I are a bit more immobile, honestly. But we’ve grown a lot as performers and feel more confident with our set. There’s enough of a catalogue to have variety in the set. It’s never been more exciting for us, and that energy translates to the audience.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Sid: You mentioned Andrea and Marc contributing more to the writing process. How has that changed things?</h1><h1 class="centre">Dom: We had a few weeks in a South London studio with all four of us involved from the start of the songwriting process. It went great. Andrea is brilliant with vocal arrangements and keyboards, and Marc is incredible with rhythm and melody. They bring exactly what we need.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Sid: Speaking of new experiences, have you explored much Indian music?</h1><h1 class="centre">Kai: Not as much as we’d like. In 2019, when I came to DJ, the guys at Milkman showed me some electronic music coming out of India, which was great.</h1>

<h1 class="centre">Sid: Hopefully, you’ll get to hear more on your visit. Are there plans to see and play for more of India?</h1><h1 class="centre">Kai: We’ve been discussing the possibility of coming back to write in India, though. Hopefully, we’ll make it happen next year.</h1>

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<h1 class="left">Artist Group: Mount Kimbie, Dominic Maker + Kai Campos</h1><h1 class="left">Photographer: Adama Jalloh</h1><h1 class="left">Management: Isla, Giant Management</h1>

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