Interview: Kursa serves us The Final Course and reveals what’s to come next
Kursa is making moves. Hailing from Bristol, UK, his sound design is capturing, innovative and straight next level – he’s unleashing thematic, pulsating and mind melting electronic experimentations, revealing a journey of slug life he unexpectedly fell into and is growing the sickest imaginative expansions through it all. Pushing boundaries and remaining true to his signature style of sound, his pure honesty has allowed him a promising present future. Head of Slug Wife‘s A&R along with Seppa, he will only continue to pull in groundbreaking, tasteful sounds so make sure you keep your eyes and mouths wide opened as it’s only the beginning of their artist support – ready to serve us some more. Building community through his bandcamp, be sure to join him and be the first to know everything in Kursa. world.
Having been intrigued by the master mind and musical genius that he is, I had to find out more. Discover what he’s up to, his creative output, and more through our chat and you’ll more than likely see him out in the states soon thanks to internationally recognized and expanded crew, Denver’s very own sub.mission. Beats dosed in syncopated rhythms create an accelerating feel as halftime proportions ignite soothing atmospheres whilst pulsating with wild percussive leads and powerful driving bass lines. He creates a lucid intention full of imagery and beautiful melodies which trigger possibility through stylistic synth and eerie composition that will have you wandering into an out of this world bass blasting landscape through his final course, “You can eat whatever you want for breakfast Part 3“. Thank you for communicating with us, Kursa.
He recently revealed his latest release, Forgotten Forward, subscriber only. Expect freshness and innovation. Think heavy.
Kursa shares and serves the good
Tell us about your daily routine.
I usually start every day by just making loads of completely random sounds without any sort of goal, literally just twisting up synths with weird fx chains to create the strangest sounds that I can muster up out of nothingness. Eventually I’ll usually stumble across something that resembles a hook, or a theme that I can develop, if not then I’ve got a brand new folder full of recordings I can draw from in later projects! This makes sure I’ve always got a fresh pool of weirdness to draw from.
What’s the vision behind Slug Wife?
The guys at Slug Wife took myself and Seppa on after seeing us play at a bunch of underground shows around London. It’s been a long, brewing plan to kick the label off with the idea of us putting in the ground work. The mission is to gain exposure for other artists that we believe in and want to push. Our end goal is to show people that there doesn’t have to be a set style or overly reserved sound for people. We all just want to push dope shit we dig and hopefully inspire others to go against the grain and push what they love.
How do you usually go about finding talent?
Myself and Seppa keep a close eye on the demo’s inbox of the Slug mail. We listen to everything we can and give real, critical feedback to artists. We definitely have a certain taste for the Slug sound, but never push artists to really change their sound to suit our taste. If it’s something we love, we’ll put it out!
You’ve built quite the community on your bandcamp by releasing exclusively to your committed subscribers. Elaborate on the overall intention.
I initially started subscribers to give people access to my entire back catalogue. Subscribers get all of my output, without having to pay a huge amount of money, and get everything. I wanted to make it accessible as there is such a vast amount of material there. It’s also giving people the chance to help me pursue my ideas if they want to and get a deeper insight into what’s going on “behind the scenes” on a far more intimate level. It’s a chance for me to have a dedicated following that I can instantly draw inspiration from through our interaction.
Preview “YOU CAN EAT WHATEVER YOU WANT FOR BREAKFAST PART 3 (The Final Course)” and join him to be the first to receive music ahead of time.
‘You Can Eat Whatever You want for Breakfast Part 3 ( The Final Course )’ is out. In what ways has your themed trilogy shaped the sound you’ve just revealed.
The breakfast trilogy started as a single album idea but I quickly realised there was a sound I hadn’t quite managed to completely cover in the collection of tunes that I had. I had to separate the songs into the sketch, the intermission (part 2) and the final course, which was the whole picture. The trilogy is a far more refined version of everything that I have been working on up to this point, a farewell to an older style while I move in to a new concept. The final tunes on that album are a far better representation of where I want to head with my sound in 2018.
Who’s the artist behind the art cover?
We’ve been lucky enough to have Fiona in our lives, personally, to have her as my wife and professionally, her artistic direction and imagery to keep things consistent with Slug Wife. As much as the whole team has some grand ideas for what the artwork should be, Fi has been the pillar of keeping things hard hitting and realistic. She has been the queen of solidly branding Slug Wife.
Knowing there is a huge demand for your music out here in the states, how do you plan to meet that?
Currently, I have been working closely with Nicole from sub.mission/The Black Box on making it a reality. I fully intend on having my debut in the states at The Black Box and going from there. I really can’t thank her enough for being the light in an endless sea of shark like dick heads aiming to exploit me and not remotely think about music first. America, I am coming for you, Nicole is making this possible.
Give us a glimpse of your approaching release. What can we expect?
With everything going on in the world right now with movements from the far right, my forthcoming music is a reaction to that. A gigantic fuck you to every fascist out there, a message of staying true to what you believe in and what you love. In terms of actual sound, it’s going to be the heaviest shit i’ve ever put out.
Subscriber Exclusive: Be sure to Join to receive Forgotten Forward
What’s the creative process like?
My process can be summed up pretty simply: “throw enough shit at the wall and something will stick”
My method consists of filling a gigantic library with very well organised noises that I have made over the years. I have a ridiculously large pool to pull from and pretty much always have a source of inspiration. I’ll almost always start with drums and make a groove that carries itself heavily then build upon that until my head is nodding. Everything else comes naturally from that point!
You’ve collaborated with Seppa a ton. What is your co-story?
I met Seppa on an island off the coast of England after travelling there by hovercraft completely off of my tits on some definitely legal medication. That’s pretty much where the hallucinations started, endless lucid attacks from gigantic space slugs that would only be laid to rest when I was making the most horrible sounds that I could possibly muster up. We’ve come to accept the slugs as a part of our life now, and realize this is what we must do.
Give us a glimpse of your gear. What are your tool preferences?
90% of what I do is in the box with a couple of cool units like the Make Noise 0 Coast and some Mutable Instruments modules. Also, a Roland GAIA synth that Funilab gave to me because he’s a beautiful human being <3
I also have this weird thing called an Orgon Enigiser which is an absolute piece of shit, built horribly that somehow makes some insanely dope sounds. My favourite gear is always the crappiest looking stuff that has loads of character.
Goals for 2018?
MAKE A SHIT LOAD OF MUSIC.
Outside of production roots, what are some of your other hobbies which help to keep your motivation and focus strong?
Mainly going to events where the music isn’t something I make, getting to be around people that are really in love with what their hearing always pushes me to keep making exactly what I want to make.
Who’s your biggest musical influence?
I was lucky enough to have parents with an incredibly eclectic music taste, both coming from the era of punk and then involved in the underground rave scene in London. As soon as I started walking they would take me to amazing parties, from trip hop to all kinds of acid music, and that is what really pushed me head first into the underground.
It’s my home, I’ll never leave it.
Care to share some advice to aspiring producers?
Listen to everyone, they always have a different perspective and everyone’s character is valuable. Other than that just be persistent as fuck, don’t ever settle for anything less than exactly what you’re aiming for. It all takes time, just be patient my dudes.
….Everyone else.
LOVE WHAT YOU DO AND HAIL THE SLUGS.