Dublin electronic producer and DJ R.Kitt has put out his first release of 2024, a duo of tracks ‘So True’/’Wash’, and Robbie explains what lead him to this new music.
‘So True’/’Wash’ are the first in a series of singles that will ultimately be compiled on an album in 2025 from R.Kitt. These singles are intended to show the breadth and depth of Kitt’s music and interests.
And these first two, do that easily, with ‘So True’ a slow-moving orchestral ambient electronic track with live cello from Risteárd Ó hAodha, and Robbie’s first recorded vocal on the track, while ‘Wash’ is more on the beatless side of things built on strings and drifting low-end, and is the instrumental of a track which will later feature Elaine Howley.
Those familiar with Kitt’s infectious DJ sets or previous dancefloor releases might be surprised by the contrast, so I chatted to Robbie about this new era of releases below.
This first release may be a bit of a surprise to anyone following your DJ and more dance-orientated stuff – how much is this representative of what’s to come in the next while in terms of style and tempo?
Robbie: To be honest, when I’m making a track, I’m usually making it for a gig. So lots of the music I’ve released has been from special tracks I would’ve made for live shows. Last year I got to play a really different type of show. I was booked to do a solo show in the National Concert Hall. Like all my live shows, I prepared that set for the setting I was going to be playing music. ‘So True’ and ‘Wash’ both were written for that show.
It was deadly, the soundsystem in the Studio room where I was playing is so good, and it’s just really motivating to be able to use the infrastructure of the National Concert Hall to explore aspects of my production style that I’ve not really expressed before. Much of the material made for the show will be released in the single series.
There’s lots of dancey ones in amongst the singles! I like to think of this particular one as the one you might play as the sun is rising after the party. I think there’s a thread that runs through all of it and, I hope, altogether it will give people a better impression of me as an artist.
“So True is the first track I’ve written that is largely focused on the vocal. It’s also the first track I’ve ever released with my own sung vocal on it. In making this record, I think I finally released that my instrument for making music has always been my voice. I’ve just never known how to use that instrument directly in music making. So True is the first song I’ve felt like I needed to sing on.”
‘So True’ is your first track with your own vocal on it – you say your instrument has always been your voice but you didn’t know how to use it – what happened to change that?
I think the main thing was that I got this sick vocal pedal. I’ve always sung, I love singing, but I’ve never felt comfortable putting my voice to words. Still, my voice was my instrument to make music. When I’m coming up with musical ideas, I try and capture those ideas with my voice. Before I go to a synth or a keyboard, I typically imagine an idea in my head and then try and sing it out. If you were a fly on the wall in my studio when I’m making music, you’d just witness me sitting in front of my computer and, every so often, I’d mumble out a vaguely musical hum or whine as I try to snare some ephemeral melodic notion. I think it would be quite funny to watch. I should start a livestream.
Having said this, I just never really had the motivation to use my voice to actually sing. And then I got this sick pedal, it’s an autotune pedal called TC Helicon Perform VE. Suddenly I was able to manipulate and transform the sound of myself, and it just made me so much more comfortable using my voice. I was able to treat it like any other synthesised element in the track. In lots of ways it let me blend the sound of me into tracks I was making. It didn’t feel like I was forcing myself on anything, I was just becoming part of it.
Has there been any direct influence on this different sound as we hear on ‘So True’/ ‘Wash’?
Life in Dublin. The stress.
Will you be doing live shows around these releases?
I’ve probably put this music out the wrong way, as the gig I prepared this for happened in May of last year. I don’t think it’s the last iteration of that performance, but it was a very special once off affair. I performed in collaboration with Aisling Phelan who did live visuals. Aisling also did the artwork for this release series, which is made out of a 3D scan of my head that she constructed from a video she took on her phone. She’s gonna be doing the artwork across all the releases and I hope to collaborate with her again on live visuals.
I’ve got an upcoming show playing for Dublin Modular in Rua Red in Tallaght on March 9th. I’m playing 2-3am, so I’m gonna prepare for that as I would for any late night club set, and pump it out. But I definitely want to incorporate some of the elements of these tracks into more pumping remixes so I can include them in any club or festival shows in the summer.
What local music is really got your excited right now?
Aw so much! I’m gonna forget people here but just off the top of my head. I’m super impressed by Chaz Maloney. Chaz is such a great person and his live techno set up is just next level. Michelle Doyle is a genius, she’s a multi-disciplinary artist and makes music as Rising Damp and, with Declan Synott, as Bodycam. Her track ‘Recognise Fascism’ is a prophecy. Banríon, ALYXIS, Jasmine Woods, Laurence Kapinga, Henry Earnest, PLUS ONE, Eamon Ivri, Róis, Trá Pháidín, everything on wherethetimegoes, Maria Somerville’s new record!! Just so much Irish stuff I’m loving right now.
Do you think we will get later opening hours where you could potentially play these songs by the time the album drops?
I’d love to think I couldn’t get any more cynical about the mechanisms of legislative change in this country, but if they’re not in by then I think my embattled spirit of optimism I try to carry through life will take on some immeasurable damage.
It’s nearly tow years since the government published provisional legislation on this bill. We understand it’s in the final stages now, but it’s yet to be brought before the Dáil. Who knows what sort of surprises those chambers will hold? I’m equally excited and terrified.
A point to emphasise is that these changes that are forthcoming are incredibly moderate. There’s still so many challenges facing cultural organisers in terms of providing spaces for dancing and other types of performance and cultural activity, particularly insurance and the cost of renting spaces. We’re not gonna see a sudden surge in the amount of late night venues when the laws change (hopefully this year please GOD).
There’s still details in the bill that are not clarified and leaves question marks as to how this reform will serve cultural spaces. Give Us the Night are giving a series of public talks updating people on the progress of this over the next few weeks. We’re in Dublin Wednesday the 27th, Waterford on the 28th, Killarney on the 5th of March, Sligo on the 11th and Galway and Limerick on the 12th. Details are on the Give Us the Night instagram.
Why did you decide to drop a series of singles leading up to a packaged album ?
To be totally honest, the album deadline is the big motivation to finish and polish a bunch of material that I want to release. Much of the album is still in the making, I’m working on it all the time, but I just like the idea of putting it out there that it’s coming. I could sit on some of these tracks in half finished form for years, as I’ve done in the past. Some of them are already a couple of years old. So this way of releasing, it’s about setting that deadline for myself and pushing myself towards it. Finish at least 2 tracks every 2 months and consider all these releases as they might appear on an album. I like it as a creative plan. So True/Wash is the first step.
R.Kitt Bio
R.Kitt is the artist name of Robbie Kitt, a producer and DJ from Dublin, Ireland. He has been at the forefront of the underground electronic music scene in the country for the best part of the last decade, running parties in DIY spots across the capital and DJing and performing in all the weirdest corners of the island. He’s played all over the festival circuit in Ireland for years, including notable live shows at All Together Now, Boiler Room at AVA Festival and the National Concert Hall. If you’ve been to Dublin, you’ve probably danced on the same dancefloor as him. Maybe you’ve seen him play. If not, maybe you should.
Since 2018, he has been one of the central members of the Give Us the Night campaign. Founded by legend of the Irish dance music scene Sunil Sharpe, Give Us the Night has been leading the push for the modernisation of Irish nightlife, challenging the Irish state’s archaic and deeply conservative laws governing the operation of cultural and social spaces at night since 2004.
