Poland might not be the first place you’d expect to find a producer like Kixnare, whose beats sound like they’re straight out of California. After falling in love with tracks like “Knockout” and “Tomorrow” (which you can stream below), we were entranced by the rest of his hiphop beats that we dug up on YouTube, which sound like a cross between B.Lewis, FlyLo and something sweet that we can’t quite put our finger on. He’s made a name for himself back home with over 6000 Facebook fans, but we wanted to find out more for ourselves – Kixnare was more than happy to oblige, and even offered up the track “Rising Sun” which we’re offering as an exclusive Truants download.
Your beats have such a sunny quality to them, they sound like something you’d find on Brainfeeder. What are your main influences when you produce? “I’m influenced by many different genres. Of course Brainfeeder is one of many points, but being comprehensive is my main ambition. I try to keep walking down different paths of electronic music, and I try to not forget about my roots, which is classic hip-hop sound.”
People might be surprised after listening to your music that you come from Poland. Is there much of a hip-hop scene where you live? How do you think coming from Poland has influenced your sound? “Poland has a good hiphop history, but for me, there’s nothing special with that scene in the present. I used to be a part of it, but right now I’m trying to focus on electronic music, which in my opinion has a strong scene here in Poland. But I don’t think that the place where I live has influenced me very much as a producer.”
The Weeknd remix that you have on your Soundcloud has more of a house feel to it, I’m a fan. Have you made very much house or any other genres? Is it something you’d consider in the future, or are you sticking to beatmaking? “As I said, I’m trying to always keep my mind open and be eclectic with the music I make.. I love to hear a new sound, and bring it into my music. Since last year I’ve made a couple of house drafts, I might try to release some of it. House music is just one of many ways which I’d like to step in the near future.”
Do you play any live sets or DJ sets? Do you have any shows coming up where we could catch you? “Yes, I play DJ sets. In March, I was a part of the Redbull Music Academy Bass Camp project, with stars such as Moodymann, Dorian Concept and Ikonika. Last month I shared the stage with Salva, Shlohmo, James Blake…”
What are you listening to lately? “I’m absolutely impressed by what Machinedrum is doing at this time. I’ve also seen his live act at Unsound Festival and it was a great journey through many electronic sounds. I’m a fan of Disclosure’s releases, can’t wait to see them in Krakow at Selector Festival this year. Jacques Greene is crazy with his future-r&b cuts… Pixelord from Russia with his newest juke experiments. Eliphino is also one of my other favorites. ASAP Rocky with Clams Casino brought a lot of freshness into the hiphop scene last year. As for labels, I’m into Lucky Me, Numbers, Young Turks and many others…”
Download: Kixnare – Rising Sun (320kbps)
Be sure to follow Kixnare on Soundcloud and Facebook to stay up-to-date as he continues to branch out – he has an EP along with a handful of remixes to be announced in the upcoming months.
