Kenya Grace at Reading & Leeds 2024 on debut festival set and exploring the "darker side" of her

NME

Kenya Grace chats to NME after her first-ever set at Reading, revealing her plans to show off a "darker" side to her music.

Transcript

00:00Hi guys, it's Kai and Sian Williams from NME at Reading Festival and I'm here with Kenya

00:11Grace.

00:12Hi.

00:13How was it like to do your debut Reading set today?

00:17It was incredible.

00:18I feel like I've been watching so many videos from this festival for my whole life so it's

00:22incredible to be here.

00:23So excited, honestly.

00:25And this year's been a bunch of firsts for you.

00:28Definitely.

00:29Yeah, you did Glastonbury, which was amazing.

00:35All these firsts for you, how is it getting them so early in your career?

00:40It's been crazy.

00:41I sometimes think I've been just massively chucked in the deep end, but it's been so

00:47incredible and I'm so blessed for everything I've done, honestly.

00:52I'm just very grateful.

00:54Yeah.

00:55When watching back, not only your Glastonbury set and also seeing your Reading set, I see

00:59that you like to go between DJing and singing.

01:03What made you feel, why do you do that?

01:05I think I just like that sort of thing.

01:07I love making edits in between my songs or adding other songs into my set and obviously

01:13I love to sing as well and I use an MPC to play drum parts, which I love to do as well.

01:21I think it's all encompassing of me as an artist.

01:25Yeah.

01:26Yeah, because of course you do it all.

01:28You write your own song, you produce your own song, you sing your own song.

01:33You're such an all rounder.

01:36Yeah, thank you.

01:37Yeah, what made you pick up all those skills?

01:40I think honestly, I started doing sessions when I was quite young and I really desperately

01:46wanted to be able to do it myself.

01:47I think I wanted to have the chance to do it when I'm by myself in my room or whatever.

01:52It just gives you the freedom to actually make stuff whenever you want and do your own

01:56sound and yeah, I just fell in love with production pretty early on and yeah.

02:02Yeah.

02:03Tell me if I'm wrong, but I feel like with the whole success of Strangers and all your

02:10solo work and stuff, I feel like people more so put you out there as the artist, the singer

02:15and they don't realise that you're making these beats, like you're making these bangers

02:17by yourself.

02:18Yeah.

02:19I definitely, I love making stuff for myself, but I definitely am so up for collaborating

02:26as well.

02:27I think my next chapter, I want to do some collaborations and stuff.

02:30I don't want to only do stuff myself, but it's, yeah, I just love to do it, so yeah.

02:37If you could think of three collaborators right now, who would you call?

02:42Always Lana Del Rey.

02:43I don't know what kind of music we'd make, to be honest, but I love her so much and probably

02:49Flume.

02:50He's just so incredible and probably Chasing Status.

02:54I just feel like that would be amazing.

02:56Yeah.

02:57It'd be like a proper angsty electronic club night.

03:00Yeah.

03:01I love that.

03:02Yeah.

03:03Are you going to try and pinch Lana Del Rey backstage?

03:06I'd be too scared, honestly.

03:08I'm so like, I'd be such a fangirl over her that I feel like I'm just going to run away,

03:13but she is so incredible.

03:14I love her.

03:15Yeah.

03:16Well, I'm hoping that happens for you.

03:18Yeah.

03:20Of course, this time, well, you put out Strangers last year and within that time you went from

03:26bedroom popper to like main arena doing festivals.

03:29How is also the rise for you like so quick?

03:32How have you adapted?

03:34It's been crazy.

03:35It definitely like changed my life like instantly, which is so crazy.

03:38Like I was not doing shows.

03:41I did not do a show for like years before my first show.

03:44And then Strangers came out and it was like very fast to like big crowds, which was honestly

03:49like terrifying.

03:50And I struggled a lot with stage fright.

03:52But yeah, I feel like the best way to get over stage fright is just to go through it

03:57and do it.

03:58And I did that.

03:59So happy.

04:00Yeah.

04:01I've seen that you've called like rising so quickly and all that.

04:05You said you don't want to take it in and like really notice it because you feel like

04:09it could like kill the joy of being a big star.

04:13I'm wondering, is this still a kill joy or like you could finally find the positivity

04:20in like your success?

04:21I think like the positivity in it is like seeing people like sing along to my songs

04:26and I really love it.

04:27And like when I do shows and I love that so much, I feel like the only thing that is a

04:32bit of a killer of joy is like focusing on the numbers of things, like how successful

04:36something is or.

04:38But yeah, I feel like.

04:40Yeah, it's good.

04:41Yeah.

04:43And I feel like you, if you go back to your set, you love to always play these big pop

04:48bangers like you play Imogen Heap's Hide and Seek, you play Britney Spears' Toxic, as

04:55well as earlier you played Gypsy Woman by Crystal Waters.

05:00Why? Firstly, why do you include like this pop element to your work as well and not

05:04strictly go down that drum and bass or like, yeah, drum and bass route?

05:08I love those songs so much.

05:10I feel like they've like been a big part of my life, honestly.

05:13They're huge bangers, but I always like make them a drum and bass or like make them into

05:18my style, which I think is cool.

05:21Yeah. And I love that they're all women.

05:23Well, most of the time they're all women.

05:24I didn't even notice that actually.

05:25Yeah, it's late. I love that.

05:27It's all about women empowerment now.

05:28True.

05:29Especially in dance music, where like I feel like we don't have that many women that are

05:33like out there as representation.

05:36Definitely.

05:36How's it like being one?

05:38It's definitely, I feel like it's getting so lit though now, like when I was growing up

05:43and when I was really young, I thought there was no representation then.

05:46But now it's like there's a lot of really sick women actually and they're slaying it.

05:50I love it.

05:50Yeah, because I think also like women were hidden in a way, like because of course we

05:54had the DJ Fly and we had Smoking Joe and all these people that have been around

05:59forever. But yeah, yeah, it's just there.

06:04Yeah. So you dropped your first ever EP as well, The Aftertaste.

06:11What's the statement you wanted to make with that EP?

06:15I wanted to write something that was like, The Aftertaste is basically about the

06:20remaining feelings after having a relationship, no matter if it's a friendship or

06:24like a dating relationship.

06:26I wanted to create this body of work that kind of encompasses all of that, like all

06:30of the remaining feelings after it ends.

06:33I guess that's the statement.

06:34Yeah. Yeah.

06:36And if I was to come and like find the music, listen to the music, what would you

06:40want me to learn about you from it?

06:47I feel like I'd want people to know about me that I love, like dance music and like

06:53the like kind of like pop elements in the vocals.

06:57But yeah, it's not that it's like it's not that deep, it's not that deep.

07:01Don't read into it that much.

07:03Yeah. And are you working towards new music?

07:05Yes. I dropped two new songs in the set today, which I'm really excited about.

07:10And I'm going on a bit of like a heavier dance music journey now, which I'm really

07:15excited about. So, yeah.

07:17Who's inspiring this new music then, like this heavier sound?

07:21Why are you going down that route?

07:23I've always loved it and I feel like I've been too scared to do it before, but I feel

07:28like now I'm going to just go for it.

07:30I love like the heavier drum and bass that like Chase and Status do or there's some

07:35really cool boys doing some amazing music.

07:38One is called MPH.

07:39I think he's amazing.

07:40He's so talented. But I feel like there's like a real like resurgence of like really

07:46heavy dance music now.

07:48I'm just very into it.

07:50Yeah. And you said you were scared to do it before.

07:53Do you know that moment that made you feel like, you know, fuck it, let me do it, let

07:56me go into it. It's been recently.

07:58I feel like it was just a random day.

08:00I was like, fuck it, I want to do it.

08:03He's just in the studio like.

08:05Yeah, I think it's so cool.

08:06It's like what I love to like go out to and like I really want to just like sing over

08:11that like heavier sound.

08:12I love it. So what's next for you?

08:15Working towards a new project?

08:17Yes. Yeah, I've been writing a lot and I'm going to do some collaborations, which I'm

08:22excited about. And yeah, I feel like I've been very, very busy like touring and doing

08:27lots of festivals, but now I'm ready to like release some new music, which I'm

08:32excited about. Is there like a concept around the music yet or is it just like free

08:36forming? Not really.

08:37It's like in the in the works at the moment.

08:39Yeah, I'm excited. Is there any like moods, themes?

08:43Definitely darker, I think, like darker, heavier, I'd say.

08:47What do you mean like a darker, is it like darker sound or darker theme?

08:51Darker sound. I feel like most of my music anyway is quite sad and dark.

08:55Anyway, the lyrical concept is like very sad.

08:57But yeah, I think the sounds of like the synths and like just the general vibe of the

09:02songs is more heavy and dark, which I love.

09:04Yeah. You have like this weird way of like making me cheer up whilst crying.

09:09Like it just feels like.

09:11Crying in the club.

09:11Yeah, it's just emotional, happy music.

09:15Love that.

09:15Yeah. So thanks for talking to me today.

09:20Thanks for having me.

09:20And yeah, I hope you enjoy the rest of your wedding and meet.

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