Kisnou is a musician and composer born in Bari, Italy. Taken from the word Kismet, ‘Kisnou’ means fate, the fate nightmares had decided for him but which he denied, choosing instead to craft a fate of his own.
Kisnou returns with a melancholic and emotional track ‘The Last Memory of Me’. It’s the first episode of an audio-novel written, produced, and mixed by himself. This particular offering was co-written and voiced by Jessie Summer Hayes. The ambient and poetic storytelling was inspired by a real life story of two wandering souls that found each other in a parallel world.
His previous track ‘Shadows Call’ featured on the esteemed YouTube channel MrSuicideSheep and previously appeared on other notable channels, including SuicideSheeep, Fluidified, Arctic Empire, Ambient, MixHound, Ines K, and many more. In addition, he has earned support from the tastemaker publication Stereofox, and is a featured artist on prominent audio company PreSonus’ platform Sphere. On Spotify, his top 10 songs have accumulated over 17 million streams. Watch this space!
We sat down with Kisnou to discuss his music and much more. Here is what he had to say
Hey Kisnou, welcome to FLEX! How are you?
Hello FLEX! Thank you for welcoming me, I’m really happy to be here to announce my new storytelling EP! I hope you will enjoy it.
Congratulations on your brand-new track ‘The Last Memory of Me’ - what inspired this particular track?
Thank you! The Last Memory of Me was inspired by some personal events and a sort of relationship between two people that couldn’t be easily labeled. These events inspired me to create a fictional story, inspired by many other elements, stories and artists (Clann & The Kin Fables, Tamino and others). The recordings that the girl leaves behind for the boy (the poems) act like a sort of thread for him to find her again. Almost like an inverted story of Theseus & Ariadne, where instead the girl is the one who needs to find a way out.
And do you have to be in a certain mood to write?
Yes, but not always. Most of the time I need a strong event or experience to fill my mind with ideas and trigger my creativity; sometimes it can be a really interesting song, or perhaps an artwork, a photo. I take ideas from the outside, then shape those ideas in my way until I find something I like, then I move on from there until I create an entire story.
How was the recording and writing process?
The entire creative process behind this album took two years. It started with the personal experience, which then led to the creation of the first and fourth track of the album. From there, I could clearly see the path to develop the entire story, however it was not simple. I needed to find someone that could help me write the poems about this story, I needed to have an artistic direction that could range from the style of poetry, to the artworks and animations. Thankfully, I found Jessie Summer Hayes who really liked the project, so we collaborated and she could clearly understand what I was looking for. I wanted each poem to be increasingly complex and sophisticated as you approach the ending, inspired by the Divine Comedy, by Dante Alighieri (I’m Italian, so I felt a really deep connection with it). The poems had to tell the story while also following a specific rhyme scheme, so it took several months to finish the job.
This is the first episode of an audio-novel - tell us more about this project?
I like to call it an audio-novel, because it’s a mixture of poetry, artworks and music. I spent two years creating a work of art and I want people to understand the depth of this project. Almost like a book, each song acts like a chapter, for a total of five. This entire album has to be experienced as an audio-novel for another reason: the artworks are not just a cover, they are showing the places that you would see in this journey, almost like a movie. The same cover will be showcased on the streaming platforms, however the artwork on YouTube will be different for each song and will also feature unique animations.
For viewers that don’t know Kisnou, how would you describe your sound?
My music is storytelling, atmospheric, cinematic, dark, ambient and orchestral. I rarely make happy music, all my songs come from artists who make either dark ambient or dark electronic music, so most of my works will always have these features. It’s what really drives my interest and passion at the moment. I mean, coming from artists like Clann, Lorn and Pensees, you can’t expect something colorful and happy. However, I am still trying to find my true identity. I believe I’m getting closer though.
And what are some of those activities that you engage yourself in when you aren't writing or recording in the studio?
Whenever I am not recording or writing, I like to go for a walk alone or with my dogs. I have some rural and natural landscapes near my house that can either make you feel really lonely or really peaceful, or at ease. They are particularly beautiful during summer, when you can enjoy the sunset and just feel the warm wind on your skin. I also enjoy sports, however my free time is usually for the gym, or for studying new instruments, music theory and perhaps finding some way to improve my sounds without necessarily thinking about writing something new.