Remaining Alive

25 July 2014 | 1:29 pm | Benny Doyle

Tyrone Frost wants Kamandi to be standing long after certain sounds die.

Based out of Christchurch these days, a location that offers a niche electronic and arts scene with pockets of people “doing some cool shit”, Kamandi stands as one of those few.

Part of the new generation of bedroom producers whose leftfield beats are breaking bad from New Zealand’s globally lauded d’n’b scene, the former indie bass player turned his back on band politics a few years ago to chase the future sounds he was increasingly inspired by. “The LA beat scene – Flying Lotus’ Brainfeeder [record label], lots of docos about how people go and find their samples and digging through records, that’s the shit that’s fascinated me,” he says of his beginnings.

Through his sonic flirtations came a stronger interest in technology and machines, however he admits, “It’s quite easy to get pretentious about only using retro gear. It’s definitely sounds first – everything else is just cool spinoffs from that.”

Kamandi – Tyrone Frost to his friends – is part of the Red Bull Studios crew, repping their Auckland locale while enjoying the benefits of world class facilities and equipment that otherwise would be out of his reach. “They’ve got a real eye and ear to the scene, a real finger on the pulse with what’s actually good – it’s cool to be tied in with that,” Frost enthuses. “And the network that is made possible [via Red Bull], it’s with other musicians that I genuinely do and would want to work with.”

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Away from the energy buzz things have been kicking just as hard, with Frost teaming up with fellow Kiwi beatmaker Polo (stylised as Pxlx) on mesmeric, post-chillwave seven-track As Above, So Below. Mainly put together over the internet due to the north/south island divide (Polo is based in Auckland), Frost calls the creative process “relaxed”, adding that the friends were “on the same level” during the collaboration.

He’s eager to reshape that audio world for the club though when he jets to Oz for his first Australian show. “What I’m trying to do is bring that balance of shit people could listen to and appreciate on headphones, but mixed with the reality that it is in a club setting,” he says excitedly. “Hopefully people just go away thinking, ‘Fuck I had fun.’ Maybe look me up on the internet.”

And by keeping that eclectic sonic nature, Frost hopes to maintain and develop Kamandi in the future, without losing the identity he built in the first place.

“I never want to be someone who’s just riding a wave and has one banger,” he stresses. “I mean, I have songs that do better than other songs – that probably can’t be avoided – but my goal is to try and keep my sound evolving. Even without trying there’s going to be a Kamandi element [in my music] that people can and will start being able to pick, but I don’t want to be in a box and fade out when that sound dies.”