‘Adhering to lockdown, it was interesting to see how we could create something remotely’

Renowned for her immersive and experimental live performances, Kayla Painter weaves dance, electronica and ambient music to create an otherworldly experience. We caught up with her ahead of her one-off immersive AV show which will be live streamed.

Give us a quick rundown of what an average 24 hours now looks for you.

I get up at 7am, get showered and dressed then head to the home studio. I’ll then work for the day, but taking breaks in the kitchen and garden. At 6pm I feed the cats which marks the end of the working day and the beginning of the evening. Then I’ll either have a bath or read for a bit before making dinner.

How has the pandemic affected your schedule?

The main thing that has affected my schedule is not getting exercise before work. I usually walk 3 miles before and after work every day, as well as heading to the gym. Having that in my schedule definitely makes my brain function better.

How have you been keeping busy during these turbulent times? Puzzle books? Knitting?

I have actually been unwell with suspected (but not had a test) coronavirus, so I’ve had three weeks totally out of action. In that sense the positive side was that I was not really bored for a large period of time.

I mostly was out of it too unwell to get bored, if you see what I mean. Before getting unwell I’d been doing a lot of exercise at home to fill the time, I’d found my skipping rope so I had been enjoying skipping and listening to garage, it very much reminded me of being a young teenager in Southampton.

Kayla Painter is one of many who has contracted the coronavirus. Photo: Kayla Painter

I’ve enjoyed listening to more music generally, being more ambitious with cooking, and getting sucked into a couple of weird corners of the internet.

Do you think we’ll see a particularly significant amount of stuff being released once we’ve come out of the other side?

Generally I think there will be some musicians who have been really busy in lockdown creating new stuff, so there may be a bit influx of new music. Having all of the summer festivals cancelled will actually prove a very interesting time for releases.

Musicians are often told not to release music in the summer as all the press/blogs/radio/the general industry are off camping in fields and not replying to emails. But we are creatures of habit so it’ll be interesting to see if people still find it jarring to release over the summer or if we will be inundated with new music.

For me personally, I’m sticking to my release schedule! I was glad I managed to finish one of my tracks before getting wiped out with the virus, so that is all still running as planned. My new release is out on June 5, which coincides with Bandcamp’s next amnesty day.

You’ve got a one-off live streamed show coming up which has an interesting AV element to it. How have you contorted your usual set for it to work from home?

I usually perform with an immersive AV show which is projected across two screens. Jason (visuals) and I have worked using a different approach for this performance. Thinking about how we could reach the outside without leaving our houses. We have developed a set which is still immersive, still unique, but works online and from home.

Adhering to lockdown it was interesting to see how we could create something remotely, and although our music and visuals will be intertwined in the performance neither of us will actually be anywhere near each other.

It’s quite weird creating remotely as I have realised just how much we feed off each other in a live performance setting. Removing that sense of the other person and their performative decisions has been odd, but having run through it a few times we’ve certainly enabled something exciting to come together.

Do you have any big plans for when things return to normality?

Musically yes, Jason and I are developing a new immersive idea which will be something that relies on being in the same room with the audience. That is still under wraps at the moment but it’s in a very exciting stage of development.

On another note, I cant wait to get back out and experience real life again, I draw a lot from environments in terms of my inspiration. Being deprived of changing landscapes, architecture, walks in nature, all of it, has really muted my creativity. So I look forward to some sort of sensory overload when normality returns.

Kayla’s live AV performance will commence at 9.30pm on Thursday, May 7. You can watch it here: https://www.facebook.com/kaylapaintermusicuk/

To keep up to date with Kayla, be sure to follow her on Instagram and Twitter for news of upcoming releases and future shows.

Main photo: Lucy Werrett

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