She’s 18 with just two songs on the Internet. She produces, sings and writes. Her name is Kíar, which is the way she presents herself to the public. She’s giving nothing away about her real identity. “Kíar is my artistic name,” she told me via email. “And since we’re dealing with art, with the public, I prefer to use this name. Because my real name is only for my personal life.”
Kíar is without a doubt one of the big surprises at this year’s Emergència! A highly personal and strangely familiar voice that is reminiscent of the best in singer-songwriters who skirt the limelight of mass success. Her music, like adolescent musings, of J. D. Salinger’s Holden Caulfield, for example, is about that moment when everything is possible and everything still lies ahead. Nothing sounds false, everything makes sense.
How come you’ve started to make such “adult” music at such a young age? It’s surprising in many ways, particularly the fact that it’s already so well defined. Tell me a bit about your history in music, which has been short but fruitful.
Music has always been in me. I started quite a while ago, when I was about eight. At the time, I lived in a valley, surrounded by trees. That was when I felt the need to ask for a piano so I could play the melodies that were forming in my head. Basically, I suppose I wanted to express the sensations I was receiving from my surroundings. So, time passed, and I just kept composing. But no-one except my mother knew about my work. Inside, I could feel sensations, emotions and feelings that I wanted to transform into language.
I suppose that in the end creation becomes a desire to share.
Listen to the music of Kíar here.
On the internet I read a comment about your work, saying it’s “the song of the wind among the flora in the beech wood of En Jordà”. Poetically, that’s fair enough, but it’s not very tangible. I find it hard to grasp the idea that your music has a direct relation with where you’re from—in your case, La Garrotxa. Your music sounds very English; how are you influenced artistically by the fact that you’re from La Garrotxa, which is not exactly known for music? If it has influenced you, of course…
It has, yes; surroundings are very important. And La Garrotxa is a very beautiful place, though it’s not where I’m originally from. I went to live there with my parents when I was three, in a very remote, idyllic spot. But I think it’s not just places, it’s people, too, with the way they see life, who experience and feel things. And so on.
One of your two songs, Mama’s blood, tells a dramatic story. It sounds like you’re talking about domestic violence. Is it about something that happened in your life? Where do you get your inspiration?
It’s generally feelings and emotions that inspire me. This song, Mama’s Blood, is one of those moments that reflects an instant in my life, when I couldn’t contain myself and used music to express that sensation.
When can we expect a disc? What are your plans?
In terms of plans, my ambition is to present my project abroad. I’ve always felt drawn to far-off places. That’s always been my aim.
For the moment, here I am, I’m thrilled at the proposal of Sergio, the director of the Emergència! 2014 festival and the chance to show a little part of my work. My plans include doing lots of concerts, if the opportunity and the right moment arise. And, most of all, making myself known.
You call your style “experimental sci-fi folk”. To what extent do you think it’s experimental? And what does the reference to science fiction mean?
I identify with the label “experimental sci-fi folk”, though I also have to say I’m not that comfortable with labels in general, for me or for anyone, in any field. It might seem like definite label, because it was written in the biography I had on a website somewhere, but it’s by no means official. It’s an early label someone came up with to give an idea of my musical genre. But as I say, I don’t like labels because they limit you, they stop you moving, and that takes away all your freedom.
Perhaps the “experimental” part refers to songs I haven’t released yet, but also to Alien Love, which is posted on YouTube.
I absolutely love science fiction. I’m a real fan of sci-fi films and Asimov’s novels. When I create, whether it’s lyrics, melodies or sounds, I visualize places in other worlds, extraterrestrial ones… I’m also really interested in the world of robotics. And, most of all, the universe. That’s where I get my inspiration.
I like that faltering style of your phrasing when you sing, it doesn’t sound at all forced. Why do you choose to sing like that?
As I just said, I really love everything to do with the world of science fiction. The universe, the planets and the beings that could inhabit them… So, when I imagine a way of talking and singing, that’s what comes from inside, when I’m inside the worlds I’ve imagined, or not…
What are your influences? You sing and perform with a style that reminds me very much of well-known female singer-songwriters …
My mum is a real music lover, and I suppose having so much different music around me all the time has made its mark, perhaps even when she was carrying me. More than influences, I could give you a list of a few of the ones I grew up with (because the list would be very long and varied): Richard Manfyed, Michael Jarre, Moby, Klaus Schulze, Kitaro, Muse, Placebo…
I should also say that I haven’t yet presented most of my songs, but I think they’ll probably give more clues as to my influences or any similarities with other musicians. What I do is simply create what I feel at a given moment and, well, I’ve never really thought about it. You should always find your own way, not copy other people. Everyone has their own path, and we have to respect that. In the same way that everyone is free to express their opinion, and that’s something I believe very strongly in.
