From extremely modest beginnings, Bulgarian native KiNK has truly risen through the ranks, and is now recognised around the world by the dance music community as one of the industry’s shining lights. His productions are instantly recognisable and equally iconic, while his live show is simply the stuff of legend. Few acts take the same amount of risk and visibly have as much fun as the effervescent Bulgarian does while playing live. Indeed, with the energy he displays on stage, one could forget how busy the man is, and how many balls he manages to keep in the air. When speaking to him, KiNK (real name Strahil Velchev) had just returned from 5 days at Amsterdam Dance Event, where he engaged in numerous talks, workshops and, of course, several live shows. This came just after the debut of his new hybrid DJ/live techno show in Berghain under his Cyrillic moniker, which he unveiled earlier this year at Dekmantel Festival.
Indeed, the booking came almost by accident. Cyrillic was initially booked to play Dekmantel through word of mouth, as he explains; “It’s a project that was just a concept, just an idea which I didn’t plan to bring to reality… but through word of mouth, I got a couple of really good bookings”. As such, the draw of trying something new, for promoters who were willing to book him simply from his concept, was something that he could not turn down, as he exclaimed excitedly “I had to develop it, I had to do it!”. For those disappointed at not having had the chance to see this show in 2015, fear not, as 2016 will see a resurgence of the concept, he tells me “now, seeing that there is interest… I will work more on it and there will be more and more shows next year”. What is curious about this project is that besides a couple of videos on his own KiNK Facebook page, there has been little to no promotion of this act, as KiNK says, “this project has just grown naturally without any promotion or any other instruments to push it”. In today’s world of hyperactive social media postings and press campaigns, the organic nature of the Cryillic project’s growth is testament to the high esteem that Strahil is held in by the dance music community.
Moving on to talk about his more typical KiNK live show (if you can call it typical), KiNK sums it all up very succinctly; “The big part of pretty much everything I do live, is that it’s not something that is rehearsed, it’s something unfinished”. For those who have seen the man perform, whether it be live and in person, or on their laptop screen on one of the many live streams that he’s been a part of, you will know that a KiNK show is never the same. A signature move of his is to extend out one of his Novation Launchpads and allow the crowd to form a melody with which he will play and improvise with. On this, Strahil tells me that “it’s a risk, but risks keep me awake… (laughs) You know, after playing two or three nights in a row, when you come on stage, your first thought might be ‘I just need sleep’. But when you take some risks, this keeps you fresh and alive, and I really like to do that”. Having seen numerous live acts just stare at laptops for an hour of their performance, it’s fair to say that this level of risk and connection with the crowd works both ways in terms of energising the room.
On the more technical side of his live show, which was initially just based around a couple of Novation launchpads and a laptop, I muse as to how he has developed it to incorporate the different pieces of gear that he uses today (all of which can be seen in a recent video with DJ TechTools). “My liveset has developed naturally”, he explains, “I practiced a lot… I decided that I needed at least one day per week just to practice and to develop the show, and I’ve been constantly buying different tools and trying this and that since. And now, in the last year, I think the KiNK live project is pretty stable and reliable finally… but I can’t stop developing it”. Indeed, as many acts have now begun to move into the sphere of live performance, I was curious as to the reason why he first decided to develop a live show; “I have to confess, for me it was more of a commercial decision, one of the very few compromises I made. But, I’m actually really thankful that I did it, because I realised that it’s something that really fits my personality. As a DJ, I’ve always tried to bring something more and to create music out of a couple of records, and sometimes it wasn’t something that people wanted to listen to, people sometimes just wanted to listen to a record and enjoy themselves”. This feeds into the fact that crowds are now becoming more and more demanding of DJ sets, but KiNK finds that crowds for his live set are quite open. “Now, as a live performer, I can do a lot, sometimes I do too much, but nobody complains”, he says, “People are much more patient and curious… it seems like I have found my direction”. That he certainly has, as many would argue that he is one of the most technically gifted of the current crop of live performers at the top of the game in 2015. He is a master of his art.
KiNK comes to Dublin for the first time since March 2014, joining fellow heavyweights like Kerri Chandler, Jeff Mills, Four Tet, Floating Points, Todd Terje, Tiga and many more (this doesn’t even cover the half of it!). I wrapped up by asking him about being back in front of an Irish crowd; “It’s always amazing to play in Ireland, the crowd is very honest, and luckily, I think the crowd over there likes me! (laughs) It’s always a great experience and I’m really looking forward to coming back”. He’s certainly right on that front, as there has been plenty of hype building up to his appearance. If past records are anything to go by, we won’t be let down.
KiNK plays Metropolis Festival on Sunday November 8th in the Serpentine Hall. Both day and weekend tickets are still available HERE, but word is they are selling fast, so be sure to pick yours up now!
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Words by David Gray