Enfnts Terribles

How was your release day so far? What have you planned for today?

Today, I’m actually just going to be in my home studio working on my next project. That’s my big plan. (laughs) It’s funny because I somehow already feel disconnected from these songs. They feel like a different time, and they represent different emotions and memories that don’t feel relevant to me anymore. I already started working on this new record, so my head is already so wrapped up in that project. To the world, it’s the big debut but, for me, it feels like I’m dropping off luggage.

What does Burn to Make It Glow mean to you? 

It was very cathartic, and this whole record was sort of a way for me to kind of rewrite my own traumas. The meaning of this album is the process of being in this place where burning but knowing that all of that is going to turn into something else. It’s ultimately what the album became.

Why did you decide to name the project after the final track “Burn to Make It Glow”?

It perfectly sums up the meaning that I’m trying to communicate in the most summarized way. (laughs)

We have a big admiration for your song “The Garden”. What is it referencing?

“The Garden” was a song about a breakup and growth. I was obviously in a place where plants grow, so I used it as a metaphor for wanting to forge ahead.

You’ve recently created a visual essay for the New York Public Library. What was the starting point for the utterly stunning An Infinite Playground?

The starting point is that Willie Mae reached out to me. It’s an organization for young girls and people of the LGBTQ+ community to learn about music. They reached out to me and asked to make a lesson for the New York Public Library. At first, they asked me to make a video where I’m going through different skills, and I sat in my apartment trying to film something. It felt so cringe, and I couldn’t do it, so I decided that it would be better to make this visual essay. It was an easy way for me to communicate because it could wander more.

You also work as the composer for brands like Gucci, Prada, Dior, and Fendi. Do you approach making music differently when it’s under your moniker A Portal To Jump Through?

When I’m working for clients, in a way, I’m able to detach from my own narratives, feelings, or world of references. It expands the instrument profile that I would use, and it’s completely different for me. When I’m working as a composer, it’s like my inner-scientist in a way. It’s a much more utilitarian approach to creativity whereas Kidä’s world is so much more operating from animal instincts. When I’m composing, it’s much more measured.

Does composing help you understand who you are as Kidä?

Naturally, they bleed into each other. I’m, for example, stewing in similar references. Like when I’m writing a score for Gucci with all those beautiful strings, I’m listening to all these magnificent classical songs that day. Naturally, that will be in my mind when I start to write a song for Kidä, and I’ll be wanting to use some middle-eastern strings like in the “Enter”, for example. So, of course, they’ll overlap.

Are your future projects going to sound very different from Burn to Make It Glow or will there be similarities?

It’s like when you enter a movie or video game, and you enter one landscape, there will be a new scene where you enter another landscape. It will be like this. It will still be me, and you’ll be able to tell that, but it will be a different world within Kidä world. That’s the best way I can describe it.