London-based Kessoncoda has been a duo for 12 years. We could only imagine how in sync drummer Tom Sunney and keyboardist Fil Sowa are with each other. They blend electronic and ambient with cinematic and multiple other genres, such as alt-rock and breakbeat. Hailing from London’s vibrant music scene, they draw on the heterogeneous musical influences they grew up with.
Kessoncoda’s magic takes shape in their studio, a shed at the bottom of Tom’s garden. In the studio’s seclusion, they explore the outstretched land of sounds. Their music is just the materialisation of revelatory ideas from that land, considering how otherworldly “moody” they sound. A truly euphoric artist’s vision is needed to properly realise their musical ideas.
Their drum and keys set-up is complimented by an array of acoustic instrumentation, including sax (Jasmine Myra), violin (Krystyna PÄ™zÃnska), and cello (Andreas Manoras). This allows them to create layers of different textures, cinematic slow builds and shifts complement their tendency to switch between moods.
With a sound that is both innovative and evocative, they have immaculate control over their domain. Their music can bend listeners’ spatiotemporal sense of reality. Sunney’s tight cymbal work and copious syncopated grooves are in perfect tandem with the fast arpeggiation or atmospheric harmony of Sowa. By fusing the organic and synthesised sounds, the pair creates a balance between familiarity and unpredictability.
At long last, “Outerstate” has graced our ears with its fresh take on jazz. We caught up with Sunney and Sowa for a chat about the album, its creative process, influences, and more.
Who is Kessoncoda?
Tom Sunney (drums) & Filip Sowa (Piano). Two friends from West London who have spent the best part of 10 years performing and writing music.
How long was your debut album, Outerstate, been in the works?
We started work on Outerstate around two and a half years ago and in that time found ourselves uprooting what we had previously defined as our sound. Much of the two and half years were spent challenging ourselves and reinventing what our sound would become.
Which track got the ball rolling for the album, and did it end up steering the ship for the rest of the songs?
Greyscale was very much the track that defined the mood of the album. It was probably the tune that we locked earliest so naturally everything that would proceed it had to continue that conversation. It was a really satisfying moment coming across Greyscale because we could hear the electronic influence permeating through our playing, it didn’t feel that we would only toy with electronic sounds over the album but look deeper into what those moods and playing styles feel like coming from acoustic instruments.
Tell us a bit about your creative process? And what’s the concept behind the album?
We’re always sharing new music with each other and spend a lot of our time listening. This sometimes acts as a form of non verbal communication; we express our current interests and sometimes we might act on them. Other times we’ll approach a day with a fairly clear musical idea and see it through. Though that approach doesn’t always work, we’ll often get bored and flow into something off the back of what we were ‘supposed’ to be doing. Procrastination tends to be our best inspiration.
For anyone that doesn’t know your music, what would you say to get them to listen?
If you want to take some time out from your busy schedule and enter your outerstate then have a listen <3
Which artists have left their mark on you? How do you channel inspiration from their work?
Coming across Esbjornn Svenson Trio and their playful and deep drum/piano interplay was quite staggering. I remember coming across them and thinking wow they’ve done it, 20 years ago at that haha. Hearing that was almost the end of one direction that I thought the group might go in, and forced us to search for something new.
It then took seeing names like Aphex and Board of Canada around for a really long while before finally taking the plunge headfirst into Warp. This was huge for us. Again, for the most part, music that’s about as old as us, but so cutting edge and forward thinking. Love the simplistic and harmonic side to this music. Perhaps in terms of practice I think these artists eventually made us look at recording music in a less perfectionist way (towards the later stages of the album process). Capture the idea, degrade it even if you like, we record in a shed afterall.
You released the album on the brilliant Gondwana Records. It seems like a good fit. Tell us about how that came about?
Yeah we feel very much at home with Gondwana. The way it came about was through Tom sending Matthew Halsall (head of the label) a demo of ours via instagram messenger. Matt got back to us with a thumbs up, but it was the second demo, our track called ‘Never Odd Or Even’, that caught Matt’s attention. That then led us to having a meeting with him to discuss the possibility of signing to Gondwana. For us it was a very easy decision to make as we were well aware of Gondwana via Gogo penguin and Portico Quartet who we listened to quite a lot of.
And finally, you’ve got some gigs lined up. What’s in store for people at a Kessoncoda live show?
Some people have described it like the sound of a 4 or 5 person ensemble distilled into 2. We want people to feel like they’re right there in the shed with us. The shows are high energy and have a pretty huge sound, but indulge in the album’s plaintive side too. We always throw in some new stuff too so expect some bits you might not have heard before.
