Document Journal

Kamixlo’s latest album DEATHWORK begins with the canonical sounds of the afterlife: delicate angel whispers, heavenly bell chimes, and layers of swelling, utopian reverberations. This ethereal opening may seem uncharacteristic of the London-based DJ and producer, whose typically abrasive electronic synths often incite sweaty raves or fuel headbanging party playlists. But whether riffing on nu-metal or reggaeton, what typifies Kamixlo’s discography is a defiance to genre. On DEATHWORK, Kamixlo adds notches of ambience, house, vaporwave, and several more newfangled subgenres to his ever-expanding belt of sonic forays.

Kamixlo’s amorphous sound on DEATHWORK owes in part to his working with vocalists for the first time. Following the otherworldly harmonies of “Ketamine Fields,” “Pitch Black” features the sirenic voice of Isabella Lovestory that lures listeners deeper into the album. Cult musician and Drain Gang member Bladee offers his signature lethargic vocals over the lo-fi tune of “Death Forever.” “One more night at the line” pulsates with an addictive house beat, while “EGO FRAGILE/SPIRIT WEEK” conversely pacifies listeners with its pensive, melancholic refrain.

Despite the album’s contrasting sounds, Kamixlo’s experimental impulse sustains DEATHWORK’s cohesion, and has remained at the core of his music since he began accumulating recognition with “Paleta,” his fiery 2015 club anthem set against a Latin beat and bone-rattling bass. The hit single, along with Kamixlo’s lengthy roster of EPs and 2020 album Cicatriz, remain staples of London’s underground rave scene. Frequenters of The Bala Club—both a party series and music label Kamixlo formed with his brother Uli K in the early 2010s—will recognize these earlier sounds in DEATHWORK with the high BPM of “Combe” or the drill audios of “Insect.”

From start to finish, DEATHWORK is a euphonious journey, its dichotomous sound capable of sending listeners flying to the dance floor in one moment, then retreating to the quiet introspection of their bedrooms the next. But perhaps it’s because of this duality that DEATHWORK is Kamixlo’s most accurate musical reflection of himself to date: he’s both rave conductor and in-studio producer; both in the limelight and working behind closed doors; both the performer and the sound technician. Ahead of the album’s release, Kamixlo Zooms in from Brixton to talk childhood paranoia, Aphex Twin’s socks, death and K-pop.

“My projects have always been more like a journey. I always used to say back in the day that I want my music to be distressing, like in one place and then the next. It’s never gonna have a formula.”

Sofi Cisneros: What about this moment in 2024, a full four years after Cicatriz and almost a decade since you first emerged on the scene, felt right for the release of this particular album?

Kamixlo: I guess it just took me that long to write and record this album. I released the last album during COVID. I’ve been traveling so much doing shows, and then I was also touring with my girlfriend [Isabella Lovestory] because I produce and DJ for her as well. The album has been through so many phases. So many songs were deleted and I worked on certain songs for months. I feel like I’m not very focused. Life distracts me a lot.

Sofi: It’s a very multifaceted album. Do you feel like you’ve matured as an artist? And do you think that’s reflected in DEATHWORK?

Kami: It’s always evolved. I find it really boring to do the same thing, or have a formula, so I feel like as I’ve gotten older and had more life experience, listened to new things, seen new things, everything has evolved the sound. It’s always going to be ever-changing.

Sofi: Your sound has been described as both abrasive and ambient. How do you think this juxtaposition speaks to your musical sensibilities?

Kami: I’ve always been quite anti-genre. I never really found myself in a box or listening to a certain genre. My playlists that I’ve always made since I was a kid—I’d burn CDs and make big playlists of shit—are super all over the place. My projects have always been more like a journey. I always used to say back in the day that I want my music to be distressing, like in one place and then the next. It’s never gonna have a formula.

Sofi: That’s one of the first things I noticed about DEATHWORK, its ability to go from more aggressive beats into moments of levity that add this element of playfulness and lightheartedness.

Kami: That’s good that it comes across like that. Just recently listening to it, now that it’s about to be released, I’m like, Damn, well, what is this gonna read as? I hope it sounds like the same person making it. From what I’ve heard people say so far, the album makes sense. I hope it has some cohesiveness to it when people listen to it.

Sofi: It totally does. From ‘Chaos’ and then to ‘One more night at the line,’ it goes from hardcore rapping to house music. It’s a great transition. In the same vein, because of the wide spectrum of genres that DEATHWORK covers, where do you envision listeners engaging with the music? On a dance floor? On their way to work? Alone in their rooms? Or all of the above?

Kami: I recently spoke about this with my bro. Hopefully there’s a piece of music there for someone to listen to in any moment they need—if it’s to turn up and party or if it’s to be depressed or if it’s just to fucking go to the shops or some shit. However people find themselves listening to it, I’m happy.

Sofi: You and your brother grew up in Brixton during a time when local violence was linked to the area’s emerging drill sound. How did this upbringing influence your music? And how does it continue to in this album?

Kami: It was pretty fucking chaotic. I lived in Croydon first, when I was a little baby, and then we moved to Brixton when I was 11. The day we moved here, a kid got shot in the head on the block and it was fucking scary. So the way it impacts the sound… I was super isolated in my flat growing up, and in doing that, I experimented with music and was online a lot and would find different sorts of things to listen to. My music will always have that experience in it. Also, there’s a little paranoid sound. I used to walk down the streets and be super paranoid. There’s always a little dark, shadowy edge to the music.

“Honestly, in my day-to-day, I’m listening to just, like, fucking K-pop and stuff like that. I’m not at home sitting in the dark listening to noise music.”

Sofi: I read that before you had music production software, you just recorded what you said was ‘literal noise.’ I feel like that’s evident in DEATHWORK. Do you still take inspiration from those days before you had the adequate technology and implement that same philosophy into your music today?

Kami: Noise music is one of my hugest things that I would listen to growing up. As a kid, I would scrape guitar leads and pedals together—it would make literal noise. I will still always have that in my music and it is in DEATHWORK a lot. Even the song with Isabella Lovestory, in the intro and outro, there’s this screeching noise. I took a 0.1-second clip and I stretched it and put loads of distortion. That’s my favorite thing to do. That also comes with wanting to make distressing sounds, the noise aspect.

Sofi: It’s very industrial, but then you also have the little angel voices in the background in ‘Ketamine Fields.’ That contrast is really cool.

Kami: I feel like this is the first album that shows more of the pretty side to the music. Because honestly, in my day-to-day, I’m listening to just, like, fucking K-pop and stuff like that. I’m not at home sitting in the dark listening to noise music. I love pop music. Like, Lady Gaga is my favorite artist ever. It’s good to have the more noisy elements, but I feel like now, I just want to release nicer, prettier sounding stuff as well. It’s not always going to be aggressive, abrasive shit. I want it to be melodic at times. And also working with vocalists now totally helps with that.

Sofi: Is blending genres, like reggaeton and noise, something that you try to do in your live DJ sets with the Bala Club as well?

Kami: Yeah. It starts in one place and ends in a totally different thing. My friend asked me recently how I approach the sets. I like starting them off with burning down the vibe of whoever was playing before me and just build it up. It’s nu-metal, it’s fun, just like rave shit, mixing everything.

Sofi: Would you say that your DJ sets influence the music that you go to the studio and record? Is there a dialogue between the two or do you like to keep the two separate?

Kami: I think they definitely help each other. The most popular song I made back in the day was ‘Paleta,’ and I did that song to DJ in the club. Like, I literally made it in 20 minutes just on my laptop because I wanted to play something new at the club where we were doing a little party. So it goes back and forth. And some of the blends I do will inspire me to make a song that’s built around that sound.

Sofi: Are there any artists that you look up to who have influenced specific songs in the album, whether they’re contemporary artists or childhood favorites?

Kami: It’s never really a direct sonic influence. It’s more that I just fuck with the approach and the philosophy behind the music. Like The Mars Volta, those guys. They’re Latinos, but they do post-hardcore mixed with psychedelic rock and prog rock and shit like that. I love Sonic Youth. They have such beautiful songs that would disintegrate into chaos. And of course, Aphex Twin was my first electronic influence. I like Boards of Canada. But what I really find myself mostly listening to right now is K-pop. They really genre-mash so much.

Sofi: I heard that Aphex Twin played one of your songs at his DJ set a few years ago. How did that make you feel, having one of your biggest inspirations acknowledge and platform your work like that?

Kami: That was fucking sick. It was at some festival. I met him actually. I went to one of his shows in London. I don’t know how I ended up backstage. I was drunk as fuck though so I don’t know what we really spoke about. But I remember he had socks on his rider. He was like ‘Oh, you can take these if you want.’ So I have a pair of Aphex Twin’s socks in my bedroom.

Sofi: What’s the significance of the album title and the song titles?

Kami: DEATHWORK—the name just came from, not to sound like a depressed goth or anything, but death is a recurring theme in my head. It’s a constant thought. When I’m by myself in my room, my brain would throw these images in my head. ‘One more night at the line’ is literally about a hotel I stayed in called The Line. ‘Ketamine Fields’ is actually from a comic I’m writing. So the song titles, some of them have meaning, some of them are complete bullshit.

Sofi: Do you hope that DEATHWORK will bring more public recognition to your music or are you satisfied with the level that you’re at right now?

Kami: I have this issue of being perceived. I’m not really meant to be in the public eye. Whenever I drop new work or know I have to do a promo post on Instagram, even doing interviews, I get super anxious because I feel like I’m quite private. But that being said, of course, I put all this work into my music, so I would hope it gets bigger. I want to buy a house, I want to buy my friends and family houses. I want to live comfortably. But the stages reached so far—as a kid, I would have never thought that I could tour the world and that people would listen to my music. It’s like a childhood dream.