A Quick Chat With Kwasi
Introducing Kwasi, the Naarm/Melbourne-based artist captivating audiences with his raw and boundary-pushing sound. Combining punk-rock energy with alternative hip hop allure, Kwasi's music delivers a unique sonic experience. With groundbreaking collaborations and remarkable achievements under his belt, Kwasi has just released 'Ready To Go', an anthemic single that triumphs over life's challenges through the power of music. We caught up with him to find out more about the track, his creative process and some other cool things he has in the works.
Can you tell us what this track means to you and what you want people to take away from it?
I view my creative output as alchemy.
A place to explore my vulnerabilities and express raw emotions. Transmuting them into something beautiful.
‘Ready to Go’ signifies shaking off the BS, leaning into the pain and getting on with it.
Who are some of your influences and why?
Tim Burton: His ability as a director to carve out a unique identity in cinema.
Kid Cudi: His ability to poetically express his vulnerabilities in music.
Lenny Kravitz: Style for daaaaays
The ‘FANTM’ music collective: This is a collective of Australian artists that I communicate with regularly, share ideas and support.
Friends and Family: My friends and family are all unique and bring me a lot of joy in this world, I wouldn’t be the person I am today without them.
What's the creative process for you, from writing through to recording?
It’s a process of finding comfort in chaos.
The ideas flow fast and I do my best to capture them and turn them into something meaningful.
Most songs start with a sonic backdrop to set the scene, if the music visually inspires me, the melodies and lyrics flow.
I started as a freestyle rapper, so many of the initial ideas are captured in free form and might be revisited to add more details.
The core of the song is created in the early chaotic moments, its then a process of refining and shaping through production, arrangement and engineering.
Depending on the vision for the song, I will outsource to others to finalise the piece and enhance the quality.
What do you think makes a great song?
Emotional connection
If you could collaborate with any artist, who would it be and why?
Tim Burton, I would love to collaborate with him on a feature film and soundtrack.
When not working on music, what other creative outlet/s do you have?
Acting and fashion.
I have an acting agent and have appeared in television commercials and auditioned for Television Shows.
I enjoy piecing together clothing and did the styling for my ‘Ready to Go’ film clip.
I have a project running alongside my music releases titled ‘Alchemy Apparel’, the ethos behind the project is to take raw material and transmute them into something beautiful.
Who are some local bands we should check out?
Boy Graduate (MLB)
Hayku Kyah (MLB)
Kyso (MLB)
Natasha Bianca (ADL)
Akosia (MLB)
Dos Boy (MLB)
Sol Bishop (MLB)
Felix Culpa (MLB)
Glo (SYD)
Winter or summer and why?
Summer, my African ancestors jump for joy whenever the sunlight hits my skin.
In saying that, I prefer winter fashion.
What else do you have planned for 2023?
Off to the Philippines this June to play shows and do some radio appearances to promote my new single ‘Ready to Go’.
In partnership with a company called ‘Instinctively Human’ I am developing my ‘Alchemy Apparel’ collection. I'm passionate about repurposing raw materials into something new and unique. Usually limited to my music creations, I’ve decided to expand my ethos into the fashion domain. The idea was inspired by the environmental damage occurring in my dad's home country of Ghana, where castaway clothing from the Western world ends up in landfills, adding unnecessary pollution to the environment. Fast fashion produces 92 million tons of textile waste per year, and the fashion industry is responsible for 10% of global carbon emissions. To address this issue, my approach to creating my upcoming apparel will be driven by artistic alchemy, repurposing second-hand clothing and accessories instead of adding to oversaturated music merchandise. I’ve already released an iron-on ‘READY TO GO’ patch that can be found on ‘www.soundslikekwasi.com’, to accompany the single release of the same title. Fans can use the patch to customize their own second-hand items. This will evolve into a full collection of one-of-a-kind pieces to accompany my next two singles ‘Poison’ and ‘Room Full of Broken Hearts’ featuring Congrats, due for release in August and November.
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