In this interview, singer, songwriter, and producer KUKII gives Splice a thoughtful account of her songwriting process, her approach to representing one's cultural identity in music, and how non-western scales give her room for musical growth.
What is your background in music? When did you first discover music and when did you begin to take it seriously as a profession?
My background in music is that I studied classical music from the age of six or seven and I mostly grew up at my grandparents house which was filled with a lot of poets and musicians in Tehran. From that point, I don't know I just feel like music was part of like the social fabric of hanging out you know like there's no moment that a family gathering or dinner would not end up in singing together so at the same time there was this sort of like strict Western classical music approach combined with this sort of loose common knowledge culture of music that was kind of like in my everyday since a very young age.
But then I yeah then I had a whole other life and eventually I came back around to music quite late. It wasn't like something that I knew I wanted to do or maybe I did but I didn't have the courage before later in life. Yeah I just I think it takes some sort of self love or something or self-assurance or some confidence level to think that you could be making music and that people would want to hear it and pay for it and want to engage with it and I didn't have that sort of confidence until later in life.
Being of Egyptian-Iranian origin, does your background in any way influence your music? If so, how?
I come from Egyptian-Iranian descent, my dad is Egyptian and my mom is Iranian and I definitely think it influences my music because there's just more perspective that my ears have been exposed to, like I've been kind of inside a big pool of different stuff from an early age. Like I'm acquainted with like quarter tones and like polyrhythms and things that are definitely non-western. The relationship with my Egyptian side is a way newer relationship that started in 2016 and expanded in my heart to learn more about Egyptian music which is still an ongoing thing that will happen forever.
I also like having a relationship with another language, which has made my art unique. I don't speak Arabic but I speak Farsi and you know there is like the scales and the rhythms within the language but there's also the way that things are expressed from Farsi cultures so I just feel like I have a big toolbox in some ways to carve my own way. But I also think that the question of the origin is also maybe sometimes overrated or something cuz it definitely influences my music but so does the movies I watch and you know people I date and experiences and people I meet and I think that all of these things are inside of the music.
For other artists with diverse backgrounds, what advice would you give to them as they try to navigate identity and culture through their art?
I would acknowledge first that we are in a strange time in terms of identity politics, it is quite extreme at the moment. I would say culturally we are living in a moment which doesn't necessarily have a lot of kindness and patience and love maybe for people that are figuring out themselves publicly. So yeah my advice would be to try and not fall for this pressure that is asking us to define ourselves in ways that are lacking nuances. I would advise to kind of dive deep inside of yourself and almost go into a sort of research mode to just open to whatever life experiences are taking you on the way of self-discovery. Try not to succumb to the pressure of having to define and really follow your own rhythm with where you're at and follow your own journey because otherwise it gives birth to things that all sound and look alike, and that's a shame.
This pack features many non western scales. Why did you choose to include those scales in your pack? Do you move between both western and non-western scales in your own music?
Yeah I decided to include some Arabic scales to this pack because I'm like learning about them as we speak and so I was wanting to share what I'm curious about right now. I’m in no way mastering Arabic scales but I’m just getting into contact with it and with my voice and searching inside of it. I thought that there was something vulnerable maybe about this to to share my curiosity and making that transparent.
I also feel like you know with all these like most music programs and that we use to make electronic music and stuff it's quite catered to Western music for the most part. On the grid and like the scales that we have available and I was just thinking like when I use Splice, I'm always like – Where is all the Eastern stuff at you know? So I just wanted to cater to people that have that same curiosity or that same desire and I just think that it expands the emotions that can be expressed when you break out of the western system.
From a songwriting standpoint, what kind of mental space do you try to enter when coming up with lyrics?
Songwriting is a mystery and a miracle and at the same time so much intention comes into it so it’s had to describe all of that. I think that the mental space is it's at the same time wanting to express something that's feels true, that feels like not hiding, that's not a pose. Whether it has humor or serious I’m usually wanting to uncover something that's quite specific most of the time but there's exceptions. Usually I kind of know what the song is about, either there's a theme or there's a feeling or there's something like an intention.
It's hard to describe because there's a lot of different ways in which it happens but one thing I can say is my mental space is always thinking how do I make this as clear as possible. There's like a desire of clarity or desire of communicating something and songwriting is some sort of like tool. I think about how can that be used as a tool for the person who hears it or or even the person who wants to sing along to lyrics like how would that make them feel to say these words. I think about this kind of stuff a lot. There's like this fine line between being playful with words and a certain level of like poetry and also wanting to be clear. The sentiment needs to be open enough that it doesn't feel like didactic or something but at the same time really clear so that it goes from my heart to your heart.