In Conversation with Kamixlo

Step into the world of Kamixlo, the Brixton-born visionary who has been redefining the music landscape with his signature industrial reggaeton sound. Raised in a musical family, Kamixlo’s experimental approach and dedication to his craft have set him apart in the UK scene since the 2010s. With roots deeply embedded in his Chilean heritage and a rebellious spirit against conventional genres, Kamixlo’s sound is a raw, experimental journey that captures both the chaotic and melodic. With the release of his second album DEATHWORK this Friday, July 26th, we sat down with him to discuss his musical journey,  the inspiration behind his latest work, and the evolution from his first album Cicatriz.

Hi Kamixlo, how have you been? First of all, congrats on your 2nd album!
Tell us a bit about yourself… who is Kamixlo, and what made you want to make music?
Muchas gracias! I’m Kami from Brixton born and raised. I was raised around music my whole life. My grandad was an amazing musician and he taught me and my siblings how to play guitar and keys from a really young age, that then led to us experimenting and making the more absurd stuff I do now. I really owe it all to my grandad and my big bro, I’d have nothing without them.

So nice! We love your signature sound and have seen it be described as industrial reggaeton. How do you create this really special sound? And what sets you apart from other industrial  or reggaeton sounds?
I’ve always been quite anti genre. Whenever something becomes a formula I find it boring. I guess I enjoy mixing things that haven’t been done before, some of it works and some of it sounds awful but occasionally you come up with something special. There’s so many deleted songs that were failed attempts but there are a lot of sounds I’ve come up with that I’m proud of.

You’re born and raised in the UK and you’re part of a first generation Chilean family. How do you feel your heritage has influenced your sound? Do you feel that it represents your story?
It’s in my blood and my experience, it will always be there in my sound. I take inspiration from stuff my parents and cousins were listening to because it was just naturally ingrained in my head. I never really truly felt British but I can’t help but also have the darker British sounds stuck in my head too. So yes, it will always represent my story.

And how do you go from picking samples, to mixing them, and creating music in general to building up a narrative through your sound?
Literally anything can get sampled. I try to not say what I actually sampled but it’s usually like short clips from vocal acapellas or it can be crowd sounds or train track sounds that I then warp and destroy into what eventually becomes something that sounds decent. As long as a sound can be warped into the mood that I’m trying to achieve with the song then it can get used.

Let’s talk about your new album DEATHWORK! Tell me about the inspiration behind it.
It’s my second album, it took around 4 years to make. It’s been a crazy last 4 years in my life and the sounds in this represents the change in my life. A lot of ups and downs and these songs capture those moments. Some cute and some chaotic moments. This is my first time having vocalist on one of my albums and I really love their contributions to it, it feels really special being able to make music with these people that mean a lot to me.

This album also marks your vocal debut! Can you describe the creative process behind transitioning from DJing to producing and using vocals? How do you combine the two practices?
It’s something that happens very organically. I mostly listen to vocal music in my day to day life. I’ve just never been much of a collaborate when it comes to making music but that’s changed in the last few years. The creative process is kind of the same as making any other song, the vocals are like an extra instrument in my eyes – I love having vocals though, it gives the song a whole new life and paints a bigger picture when listening.

You’ve worked with one of Glamcult’s favs Isabella Lovestory, how was it to combine your darker sound to her hyper one?
Working with Isabella is my favourite thing to do. We’re always working together, I’ve produced on a lot of her latest stuff. Combining our sounds was easy and happens so naturally. Her sound is very experimental honestly, the way she approaches music is quite similar to mine, she’s a huge inspiration to me. We met around three years ago, I was a big fan before we even met and she was the first vocalist I had worked with in years. She’s pretty much the reason I even wanted to work with vocals again at all. I love her, that’s my soulmate.

And then you worked with Drain Gang’s Bladee. It feels like you align so well visually and musically. Is there gonna be more collabs with him?
I hope we collab again, that’s my brother of over 10 years so probably. We made a song like 9/10 years ago called “Show U”… it’s on YouTube somewhere. I’m proud of that lad, he’s blown up so much and really deserves the world.

Are there any challenges that you’ve faced while recording this album?
Yeah just life getting in the way of things. Life is very unstable sometimes and also constantly travelling for gigs and dealing with internal battles in my brain will always slow things down sometimes. It’s standard protocol tho.

How do you feel like you’ve changed/grown sound-wise from your first album Cicatriz to DEATHWORK?
I think Cicatriz was more of a psychotic chaotic listen, it’s way more fucking around and harsh noise. When I was making that album my life was hell, I was surrounded by awful things and going through depressing loss. I’m proud of that album though, I needed to make it. I think DEATHWORK is a much different and clearer representation of what I want to make musically, there’s still chaos and noisy moments but I feel like I’m able to show a more melodic side and pop sounds that I love. Also the addition of vocals on this album gives it a whole new realm. Both albums are different but I’d like to think they still feel related and they’re just evolutions of each other.

Are there any specific tracks on the album that highlight this evolution?
Ketamine fields, One more night at the line, ego fragile /spirit weak etc. I guess they highlight the evolution with the melodic softer sounds.

Is there anything you hope people can take away from your new work?
Not necessarily. I rarely think of what the listener is thinking when making music, it’s all very personal for me and I hope it can become something personal for the listener. I just appreciate anyone that’s listening to this music at all.

You’re known to be a visionary in the UK scene since the 2010s with your experimental signature sound. How do you think nightlife has changed since you’ve started with Bala Club?
I didn’t go to clubs before we were doing Bala Club, but from what I hear it definitely changed things. Maybe we helped the clubs become a little more experimental and less genre focused in London. I’m not entirely sure but I feel like we made an impact. I actually didn’t realise how many Bala Club fans there are until we kind of stopped doing it. It was a super important time in all our lives, I’m very proud of Bala.

What’s an underrated music genre?
Christian Rock.

Are there any other artists you’ve been keeping an eye on?
Wounder / crimson chaos is a young amazing lad from the UK, his live show is insane. Definitely someone to keep your eyes on. Also hatechild – from New York is a huge inspiration to me. It’s the most psycho aggressive hardcore shit you’ll ever hear. He runs the Melting Point parties in New York. Best parties ever.

Lastly, what advice would you give younger generations that want to break through the industry?
I’m not sure if I’m the best person to take industry advice from. However, it depends on your intentions. If you’re doing it for the love of the art then just do you, be true to your sound and hopefully people will recognise. Connect with like minded artists, run your own events, collab with people doing things that you like, when you get good opportunities bring other artists up with you.
There’s a lot of bullshit “artists” out here just replicating sounds that have already been done, they just cosplay music from past decades, it’s cringe. You’ll see artists like this get a lot of recognition and unfairly get the spotlight for doing cheap copies of the past simply because it’s easy to digest and people eat that sort of stuff up. Don’t let that deter you from making authentic art and pushing the boundaries of music. However, if you do also just want the spotlight and money maybe do indie sleaze and sell your soul to the white devil.