An Interview with Kadota

Dami: What inspired you to start making music?

Kadota: A family member of mine did DJing and did a tiny bit of music on Logic Pro back in like 2018. It kinda got me interested, but I was still young so I couldn't really afford anything so I kinda just forgot about it until COVID happened. There wasn't much to do so I just decided to get myself the trial version of FL Studio and it kinda just kept going for me.

Dami: Going in what way?

Kadota: I just kept making music everyday ever since.

Dami: How much would you say you’ve grown creatively and artistically since COVID?

Kadota: Hmmm, I’d say I've grown a lot in some ways. I've really learned how to just make it easier for myself to make what I like to make, and to not overthink it all the time. I've really learned how to just have fun with the process and do whatever I feel like doing. I used to really be stuck with trying to do things the "right" way even though there isn't really a right one. I’m just really having fun at the moment with the process instead of only being addicted to the results if that makes sense.

Dami: Speaking of process, what’s your creative process like?
Kadota: It's kinda all over the place for me. Sometimes, I get an idea that I wanna get out of my head right away to see what I can do it with it. On other times, I have no idea what I wanna do so I just do whatever I feel like doing in the moment and let the process just do its thing. I’ll, for example, just start with drums and then let it take me wherever it wants to go. I have that most of the time so, for me it's basically just looking for an idea I like.

Dami: When making art, where do you grab inspiration from?

Kadota: I have many artists I grab inspiration from like Smino, Portraits of Tracy, Doja Cat, Dominic Fike, River Tiber etc. I also have many friends who also make music that never fail to inspire me with what they make. They always keep me going and it's always interesting and inspiring to be with people who have an entirely different process than you. It makes you work in different ways you never tried before and makes it easy to learn stuff as well.

Dami: How would you describe your sound?

Kadota: I'd say it switches a lot between moody and playful.

Dami: You just dropped a new single titled “Still Here”. Tell us more about it.

Kadota: It's a song I released where I basically did no overthinking whatsoever. I let everything flow. The feeling the track gives me is that it's just like a big fuck you to whoever didn't believe in me with me simply improving myself. Getting better at what I do. It basically tells you that I am still here, and that I am still moving forward in life without anybody stopping me. I'm just really having fun here and not caring about what people would want from me or what people’s opinions are on me or my music. I just did what I want. If you didn't like it, then it's simply not my problem.

Dami: What inspired this thought process for the creation of this track?

Kadota: This was kinda just a random thought I had out of nowhere when I wasn't home. I literally typed in my phone "I am still here" and had this idea of it being kinda a sad song. Talking more about how I am like still alive in a way. When I revisited this note, like a week later, I felt like it wasn't really what I wanted the idea to be, so I just had to be playful. It had to be done in a fun way. It also felt way more natural to make it the way it is now. It was literally just about having fun now.

Dami: What’s next after “Still Here”

Kadota: I've been wanting to make an album for a WHILE so I might just continue working on that. I'll try to not overthink it too much, and I’ll try to just have fun with it. I wanna explore new sounds and see what else I could make that I haven’t made before and I don't really know what else to be honest. I will see what happens as I go.

Dami: What new sounds are you trying to experiment with?

Kadota: I'd say everything. I really wanna just be as diverse as I can be. I wanna go towards more bouncy stuff, but also more ambient stuff. It's really all over the place for me.

Dami: What 3 words would you use to describe the album?

Kadota: Damn that’s a great question. “Figuring myself out”. I think that's the best I can think of haha.

Dami: Any dream collaborations?

Kadota: At the moment, definitely Portraits of Tracy. The sound they have is incredible and I would absolutely love to try and make something with them.

Dami: With the year almost to an end, what should we expect from Kadota 2024?

Kadota: I really really really hope an album and I wanna try and connect with the people who do listen to me.

Tap in with Kadota here