A Chat with KiNK: He Does Weird Stuff

Bulgarian house heavy KiNK is in town this weekend. We managed to grab a few words from him on the Sofia house scene, the Iron Curtain and turbo folk music.

What's the kinkiest thing about you?
I get back home after a heavy weekend with few gigs and no sleep for 48 hours and the first thing to do is to switch on my synthesizers and make strange noises. I find it normal, but the people around me think it's pretty weird.

Do you have any kinks?
Everyone does. In my case, beside the music – maybe nothing too obvious. Is it weird that I like to dance to some music at home when there is nobody around?

How does Bulgarian dance music differ from elsewhere?
Our folklore music is worldwide known, a recording of a traditional Bulgarian singer became part of the Voyager Golden Record, a collection of songs, sounds and images from our planet, which also contains works of famous composers such as Mozart, Bach, Beethoven, and Stravinsky. NASA put copies of the record in the Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 space probes and sent them in outer space, to represent us to other civilizations. I can't tell the same for our dance music. We still didn't came up with something original as long as I know. But we have some very promising artists and I think it's a matter of time till we define a special local sound.

What are nightclubs like in Bulgaria?
Unlike the more underground dance clubs I've seen in Western countries, the dance music clubs in Bulgaria look very posh and shiny, sometimes too glossy. I was very surprised when I played in Germany and the UK for first time. Some of the clubs with great reputation looked really simple, trashy and dirty, which actually fits the more underground sound played there.

Is the scene influenced at all by the fall of the Iron Curtain?
Yes, in a way. After the change of the system the people were hungry for something new and different, that's why in the '90s we had such a big electronic music explosion. I remember back then every young person I knew was into some sort of club music.

Who was your favorite DJ growing up? Who do you look up to of your peers?
I've been influenced by very eclectic DJs as Laurent Garnier and Mr. C. My all time DJ hero is Jeff Mills. His selection is a bit heavy for me, but the way he is mixing his records is an art form, like making jazz music with vinyl or CDs.

If you had to choose to be an artist in a different musical genre, which would you choose? Why?
I would like to explore more modern classical music and some forms of jazz. The type of electronic music I like is having roots in African–American music. Also the early tape music from the '60s or "musique concrete", the grandmother of experimental sound manipulation.

What genre of music would you consider it torture to be forced to listen to?
A local Bulgarian phenomenon, called "Chalga" or "turbo folk" here in the Balkans. It's a tasteless mixture of modern pop production with Serbian / Turkish / Gipsy music influences. It's a whole lifestyle; it's all about cars, money, bad boys and girls with a lot of silicone implants. Here we have a TV channel, owned by the main "Chalga" record label and it looks like soft porn. All is so bad that I kind of like it in a masochistic way!

You’re set to play a few festivals this summer. What’s been your best festival experience?
It's really hard to compare and I've been lucky to have a great time at most of my festival gigs, but I have to mention one of my first festivals – Fusion in Germany. It's a festival, gathering 70,000 people. I was booked to play at the main stage, peak time. At that time I was a totally unknown upcoming artist. On top of that it was maybe the second time I was doing a live set with my music. I was trying not to be nervous, but the main stage manager came to me right before my set and told me: "Hey, I've never heard of you, you better be good!" You can imagine how much adrenaline I had at that moment! I made a good set, we recorded a video of it and I still get bookings because of it.

What would you like to straighten out about KiNK – have there been any mistruths in the press?
Often journalists like to stretch some facts. When I say that I have a strong year and I've played at some of the hottest and coolest venues around the world, I read that I'm the number one DJ and that I play at the biggest events worldwide. When I mention that sometimes I work on local Bulgarian pop projects together with a songwriter, I read that I'm the main mega pop producer in Eastern Europe. Those things used to bother me, but it's all good – as long as people talk about me.

Describe Bulgaria in three words …
Beauty, Temperament, Natural.

If you aren’t the most famous Bulgarian then who is?
John Atanasoff, a New York-born Bulgarian. He invented the first digital computer in the 1930s and he is stated as the inventor of the computer. He is maybe not that famous nowadays or not so many people know about his Bulgarian roots, but his invention made possible what I do now and I feel great about the Bulgarian connection in there.

See KiNK spin at Haze on Friday April 12.

Photo: Residentadvisor.net