© Khali Ackford

Hello : EJ Kitto

A firing upfront mix and deep interview with the talented singer / producer / DJ / label owner…

📸 © Khali Ackford

 

It’s wild how far our passion can take us…

Take the inspiring story of EJ Kitto and her love for singing.

A young songwriter with a penchant for RnB and a regular spot on the pub gig circuit in her hometown of Stevenage, when EJ left uni and started to explore as many ways to create opportunities to sing as possible, she had no idea that she would end up becoming a drum & bass DJ playing around the world at some of the biggest festivals known to D&B kind. Or that she’d be running one of the genre’s most successful drum & bass labels in recent these times for that matter.

But this is the beauty of life when you follow that energy and pursue your dreams.

You may already be aware of this, of course. EJ Kitto has been a consistent and prominent name in drum & bass since the great streaming revolution of 2020 when a whole new generation of artists burst through in the most unique of ways.

Her fingerprints can actually be felt on the genre as far back 2019 when she debuted with Annix on the track Only Forever. Since then, she’s taken her high energy vibe to the studios of Zero, Alcemist, Bennie, Willy Mav, Jameszy and, as of last month, Bsearl for this RnB inspired bop entitled Distance.

With her second New Zealand and Australian tour commencing next month, and a string of releases lined up to follow Distance, we called up EJ to find out more. We even blagged a cheeky mix. Get to know!

 

 

EJ Kitto! How have you been?

I’ve been good thank you! I’ve been able to enjoy some down time as I didn’t have any shows in August but I have gigs and it’s back to being busy. August is strange month when you don’t have bookings!

It’s good though. Time to for some wholesome activities!

Definitely. I’ve spent a lot of time with family and yeah it was very wholesome. It’s so easy to overthink and question everything when you’re not gigging but it’s actually really important to have that time isn’t it? I’ve been getting loads of music finished and having a lot of sessions, too. So it’s been really productive.

What music have you been up to lately?

I had a great session with my vocal engineer yesterday which was inspiring. We’re working on some summery type of vibes for next year, which feels weird as summer is ending here now. I’m putting in a lot of work into my sets as well; I play heavy and I sing which used to make me feel like it was hard to place me. Like too jump-up for the sing-songy gigs and too sing-songy for the jump-up gigs. But I’ve changed the way I approach my sets and stopped worrying about bringing the energy down in places, as I like to run to the front of the decks at the points I sing. When I’m singing behind the decks it makes me feel quite disconnected and nervous. It feels unnatural. When you’re round the front you are much more connected with the audience and it’s a whole other energy.

Yeah I totally get that. Like the decks are barrier between you and the crowd when you sing. I know you play piano too, but what came first?

Oh singing by years! Since I was four! My parents took me to stage school and drama and all those kinds of things I was performing from that age. Any performances in school I would always sing. I went to music college and sang there then went to study music at uni. It didn’t work for me there, though. My ADHD brain didn’t work well with the way they taught.

 

 

I hear that! Formal education isn’t right for neurodiverse brains

Totally. So yeah I left uni and got an apprenticeship at Weird Science, the promoters who do festivals like MADE and clubs like XOYO. I was lucky, my boss Luke McGovern took me to every event and introduced me to so many people. He’d always introduce me as head of social media rather than his assistant. That was very empowering and he opened a lot of doors for me. Following that I got a job at Allstars, where I’ve been for nearly six years.

Wow that’s really interesting and very natural pathway, rather than sticking to a plan, you’ve gone with the flow…

Yeah! And the reason I bring all that up is because it all comes down to wanting to sing! I thought this would be a good way to link with producers to sing on their tunes and it worked. The first DnB producers I worked with were Annix.

Yeah! Sick way to enter the game. Playaz release!

Yeah it was a really cool experience and I went to their studio in Cheltenham a few times. It was great. Prior to that I was writing R&B type stuff which got a lot of support by guys like Dreps and Evil B.

Then during lockdown I wanted to be able to perform but it was harder for singers so I was kinda coerced into DJing by friends. They were very supportive of me, so I got decks on finance and practiced every night. I was a lot more confident back then. I’d go on Instagram live, which was popping at the time, I’d DJ and sing. I’d never do that now!

 

 

Is that after you’ve seen the size of audiences?

No I don’t think so. I used to do pub gigs every weekend for years, too. I was really comfortable singing for two hours with a guitarist in busy pubs or bars. I’m not sure why I wouldn’t do it now really. I think because everyone was streaming at the time, I didn’t feel so exposed. But anyway, singing is by far my favourite thing and very special to me. I love DJing and playing the piano but singing is sacred. Nothing compares to the amount of dopamine and good feeling I get from it.

Must be buzzing to see singers set new benchmarks and performance hybrids, A little Sound, Riya, Charli Brix. You’re part of that movement

Absolutely. Riya is a huge inspiration for me! I saw her years ago at Village Underground, I was in the toilet and she came in and I was so starstruck. I idolized her.  I can’t believe how confident I was, I just said ‘Can I sing to you?’ She said ‘Sure’ and suddenly she was harmonizing with me. In the toilet! It was mind blowing! She ended up Tweeting about me after the show. I couldn’t believe it. I’ve seen her smash it so many times. Charli Brix is a massive idol of mine, and I’ve told her that. A Little Sound, Emily Makis, Charlotte Haining, they’re all smashing it.

Massively! It’s interesting about your thoughts on confidence, why wouldn’t you do that now? I’m the same by the way.

I’m not sure. I guess back then I was so young and naive and full of life. I was just into raving and loved it. Riya didn’t have a clue who I was, and I didn’t worry so much about what she thought of me. Of course you want people to like you, but you’re just putting yourself out there aren’t you? Now, I overthink things, but that’s a whole part of ADHD haha.

I can relate! In terms of your neurodiversities, has things become a little easier for you, or less intense, now more people are talking about it, identifying certain aspects of their own character and giving each other a bit more space and respect?

Yeah definitely. I’ve had a lot of conversations with people, or messages from people, about ADHD and getting diagnosed and also social anxiety. Having to be in a social situation when you have anxiety and relying on alcohol to feel calmer is a hard thing to understand. With ADHD because we’re so anxious you end up drinking and masking and putting a plaster on it. I have been talking about it in my stories. It does feel like there’s a bit of a stigma with people identifying with certain symptoms and self diagnosing but I think being self aware like that isn’t a bad thing. If you’re experiencing symptoms of any kind then look to address them and understand the root or cause of that. A lot of which is societal isn’t it.

Yeah and how we all treat each other

It’s wild how much of a negative impact one thing can have isn’t it? Someone says one little thing or a little comment on a post or something and it can really spiral you by overthinking those few words.

Is that what Distance is about? That would be such a smooth segue if so…

Ha! No sadly! But an older track of mine LMK is about ADHD. It’s about having a lover and relying on them for your own happiness and not being able to rest until they let you know where you stand with them. And fixating on relationships which is something I’ve done most of my life with friends and partners and all sorts. When I perform it I always ask ‘have we got any ADHDers in the house?’ and half the crowd put their hands up.

 

 

Oh nice. That must be a buzz to perform!

It’s my favourite song to perform. There’s something about it that’s a raw version of myself. Singing about things like that aren’t great traits or things that aren’t your best attributes is a really good way of confronting yourself and working on yourself. It’s connected with a lot of people and I get a lot of videos of people singing it.

That’s lush. So Distance…

So that’s a made up scenario, someone messing you around and you needing distance to try and find yourself. Like fuck you I don’t need you, I can work on myself, not on you. There’s a line saying ‘I think you need a girl who’s deeper, who begs to see you and then just leaves you, so you’re losing your mind.’ Basically if the shoe was on the other foot, how would he feel?

Yeah go on. Big up BSearl

Brandon! He’s a legend. We connected through PullUp activities around the end of lockdown times. Brandon has been so supportive of me and my vocals. We worked on one track before which was fun but wasn’t up to release standards but he got me on this track because he wanted those RnB vocals I love. He’s wicked to work with and very open to ideas.

You’re not just doing a feature then, you’re collaborating

Definitely. Because we’d done a track before we’d taken our favourite ideas and vocal cuts from. So yeah it was one of my favourites to write so far.

 

 

That’s awesome. What’s coming next?

I’ve got a cover of Mis-Teeq’s Scandalous coming out. I made a bootleg of it with Klimate and now a label called Lithuania HQ has signed it and I’ve re-sung the vocals. They specialize in covers and it’s out in October. I’m really excited about that. There’s another one coming out after that, too, called Spell It Out but I’m not sure on the release date yet. There’s more beyond that too which is great.

Sick. How about your role as label manager for Allstars… Or is that a different role in your life that you keep separate to being an artist

I do keep them separate but I love what I do for a living. My job gives me a lot of dopamine. I find it extremely interesting. I never planned to work in the music industry on this side of things and I find the whole distribution side fascinating. I love our team so much, too. I’m so proud of them all, with everything we’ve achieved. So yeah I love what I do at DnB Allstars. It’s removed from me as an artist but it’s all part of things that inspire me.

Mixes inspire me. Sign out by telling us what you have in store for your mix…

You can expect lots of my favourite D&B tunes and a glimpse into what I have coming up both vocally and music wise. See you soon!

 

BSearl & EJ Kitto – Distance is out now on Pull Up Recordings

Support EJ Kitto

 

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