It’s probably unusual for a musician to attribute the inspiration for their career to collecting labels from Coke bottles. But for Simon Lam of electronic duo Klo (in which he performs with cousin Chloe Kaul), winning a Discman from a Coke competition when he was ten years old was just the start of something bigger. From the moment his older brother lent him his copy of Radiohead’sOK Computer, he just couldn’t get enough.
Coming from a musical family, with his big brother Nicholas playing guitar for acts like Lisa Mitchell and his older sister Eliza playing bass for Oh Mercy, becoming a musician seemed like a natural choice for Simon. He got his start playing in rock bands all the way through high school, until at the age of 20 he decided it was time to start writing his own tunes.
The way Lam consumes and creates music has evolved greatly since the technology of the ’90s. Though he is a drummer by trade, and also plays the piano and guitar, Lam says he felt more comfortable producing electronic music because of the solace and secrecy it provided him.
“I was super, super self-conscious about my own music – I didn’t really like putting myself out there. I liked electronic music because I could sit on my computer with headphones on and no-one would know. I was the type of person that uploaded a whole bunch of stuff onto triple j Unearthed and didn’t tell a soul!”
Since then, however, Lam has come out into the open with his compositions. Recently, he has dedicated almost all his time to music by taking time off uni and work, allowing him to juggle his commitments as drummer and vocalist for electronic pop band I’lls in addition to forming half of Klo. Whereas in I’lls he can sink more into the background, Lam has taken more of a driving role in Klo.
The duo formed on a suggestion from Kaul’s mother that she collaborate with her cousin. As Lam was interested in sound engineering, he had already recorded some of her acoustic music. One day, he sampled a bit of it, edited it, and sent back what’s now become ‘False Calls’ on Klo’s debut EP, Cusp. While the duo started making music together in this vein – sending bits and pieces to each other and adding to them over the internet – since then they’ve taken on a more personal approach to songwriting.
“We really need to be in the same room kind of vibing off each other,” says Lam. “A lot of the time it will just start off with me playing chords on the synth or piano and Chloe improvising over the top. We really need sounds to get us going, whether it’s samples or a drum beat, but once we get going, then we focus on the song and make sure that’s as solid as it can be before we go and add all the twinkly bits.”
Cusp certainly shows off the magic that happens in their recording room. Tracks like ‘Ride Carry On’ were recorded almost from a single take and improvisation with the synth, with Kaul adding in lyrics afterwards. Kaul stresses that this attention to structure is really what drives their songwriting.
“We try to use a lot of the samples that relate to the song, and we always try to stick to a structure in the song as well,” she says.
Though the market for electronic music is competitive at the moment and it can be difficult to stand out, Lam and Kaul don’t really believe in chasing the latest sound to attract an audience. While there are artists trying to imitate the styles that are ‘big’ at the moment, Klo prefer to draw inspiration from artists like Oscar Key Sung, who are aware of the trends making waves but do their own thing anyway.
“I just have to stick to what I like,” says Lam, “because I know that if I play to my strengths, the music will probably sound unique. For me and Chloe, our strengths are in the shape of the song rather than making a big drum beat or a Flume-style drop.”
And while Kaul initially channelled more of an acoustic sound before teaming up with Lam to form an electronic act, she hasn’t looked back from the genre since. Booked for festivals such as Strawberry Fields and Beyond The Valley at the end of the year, the duo has started to gain attention for a swirling electronic sound. Alongside exploring her passion for acting, which Kaul had been pursuing for a while at university, she’s realised since working with Lam that her music is something really worth focusing on. And she says that making music with a family member has been a large part of what makes their act so special to her.
“I don’t see him as someone that I should feel intimidated by or worry about what he’s going to say that I’m doing,” she says. “It’s easy – it’s really easy, working with someone that you love.”
Cusp out now throughRemote Control.
