Upon releasing their brand-new single ‘Drive Me To The Sea’, we caught up with Kimber

Life-long friends Mikey Wilson and Josh Hefferman, make up the duo Kimber who have just recently, released their brand-new single which oozes with indie-pop and a pinch of alt. Taken from their EP ‘Slow Moon, Long Night’ the group tell us about their friendship and writing together for over a decade.

Being long-time friends, how do you think your personal friendship has influenced your sound? 

We’ve been writing together for about 15 years now, which has meant we’ve really been able to focus on our sound and find our vibe. For some people that can be quite a quick process, but especially with synths, you have such a wide range of sounds and textures that it can take some time to find your sound. Also when it comes to writing lyrics, being comfortable around each other has definitely allowed more room for vulnerability in our songwriting, as our lyrics are always inspired by real events.

Your debut single was back in 2020, how do you think you’ve progressed since then? 

Probably our live show is the main thing we’ve progressed a lot within that time. It’s actually changed quite a bit over the last few years. Our setup initially was all built around a drum machine, but it always just felt like it lacked a bit of that raw energy in smaller venues. We now have a live kit as well as the drum machine, which as a 2-piece meant we’ve had to get quite creative with our setup so we both have quite a bit of gear around us! We love playing live and hopefully, it’s something a bit different for people to watch.

What are your biggest inspirations when it comes to songwriting? 

We always draw on real-life events for songwriting and the lyrics are a big part of the process for us. Production wise we draw from quite a wide range of influences. I’d say our productions are textured with hints of Mount Kimbie, Beach House in the melancholic melodies and New Order with the basslines. Although we use a lot of electronic sounds we prefer to capture an authentic human performed-not-programmed feel.

What would be your dream festival lineup? 

Probably a lot of the bands already mentioned – New Order, LCD Soundsystem, Mount Kimbie, Working Mens Club. And maybe a bit of House music to round things off!

Words: Geo Blackman