London DJ/Producer Kiimi just dropped their new single, ‘Dance With Me‘. After a massive summer that saw them play with both Mount Kimbie and Jungle at their shows, appear at fabric for a cheeky b2b with Guilia Tess and even squeeze in a set at Glastonbury, Kiimi is definitely one to watch. As well as releasing music they have also launched Hunni Sound which aims to make music production more accessible to female, trans and non-binary people.

​​Hi Kiimi, set the scene for us. Where are you today answering our questions today, what can you see and what is on the stereo?
I’m currently sat at home in my studio, listening back to a mix I just recorded.

You recently dropped your latest single, ‘Dance With Me’. Where were you when the melody came to you?
I was just at home sitting at my computer! I generally make the beats first and then see if a vocal idea comes to mind, so when I write the melodies I’m normally just in front of a screen with a loop playing for hours – which I’m sure my neighbours love!

Was it a track that came quickly for you? How long do you feel you work on tracks before they are finished? Are they ever really finished? Haha…
‘Dance With Me’ did come together quite quickly – I think I made the initial demo in one afternoon. However, it’s part of a collection of tracks that I worked on with a co-producer (Joseph Ashworth) to help me get them over the line. It’s a new process for me: usually I do everything myself apart from mixing and mastering, and while I do find that empowering, it can also make the ‘finishing off’ phase fairly long and painful ‘cos you kind of drive yourself crazy and lose perspective after a while. So working with Joseph has been a very freeing experience, because he’s really talented and it gives me another set of ears to work with. Plus it makes the process  a lot more fun.

It gives me like a 90s UK Club sound with a little bit of Troye Sivan’s ‘Rush’ in there too. What did you want to explore, experiment with on this track?
Haha…it’s funny you say that, I was listening to ‘Rush’ a lot last year so the influence of that probably found its way into the track. Last summer, I also went to Ibiza for the first time to play Radio 1 Dance Weekend and it introduced me to a whole other world and culture within dance music. It inspired me to delve backwards more to tracks from the  90s / early 2000s, and really immerse myself in the sounds that shaped club music. I wanted ‘Dance With Me’ to be a reflection of that.  

You are a vocalist, producer and also multi-instrumentalist. Tell us about your feeling with bringing organic instrumentation into electronic music. Do you like to use it more, do you stick with produced sounds?
In terms of sonic choice, I tend to stick to more electronic or sampled sounds, or if I record an instrument live I’ll normally chop it up and use it as a sample. Other than recording live vocals, the place where being classically trained comes into force is on the keys, whether that’s playing piano, synth or MIDI.

You also have a classical background. How does this reveal itself in your electronic music?
I’m not sure if it’s something you can hear as a listener! But in the process of making music, it affects the way I create harmonically, and I prefer writing when I have a full size keyboard to hand because it makes me feel more creative and free. 

You’re also behind Hunni Sound. What led to you starting this? What’s been your favourite story to see come from the organisation? What’s ahead for Hunni Sound?
Hunni Sound was born out of a frustration for the lack of representation for women, non-binary and trans people in music production. I had a few producer friends at the time, but they were all cis men, and although I love them dearly, I felt like they weren’t going through the same things I was going through within the industry. So I started Hunni Sound to build a tangible community, for myself but also I figured if I was feeling that way then there were probably others who felt that way too. I wanted to help create a support system and source of inspiration for people. Less than 5% of music producers are women (and there isn’t even yet a statistic for gender-diverse producers); I want to do what I can to play a part in changing that narrative.
My favourite story from it would be that I bumped into someone who had come to one of the workshops we did last year, and she said that she’d attended because she was changing career path and wanted to work in music. After the workshop she got her first job at a label and was doing really well. I nearly cried when she told me because you hope these things will make a difference, but it’s not until someone tells you a story like that that you actually see results. It makes it all worth it. 
Hunni Sound is currently on pause while I focus on music, but we have some exciting plans for 2025.

And what about yourself? What’s happening in the rest of 2024 and beyond?
I’m spending the next few weeks writing new music, and then in November I’m playing my first WHP with Homobloc.

Lastly we are named after the biggest selling single of 2001 and always ask what is your favourite Mariah Carey track and why?
‘I Know What You Want’ with Busta Rhymes.

‘Dance With Me’ is out now.