In 2013 an EDM producer named Kris Keogh started a label named Zzaapp Records. What makes this different from the thousands of other labels being started each year is that Kris is based in Arnhem Land, at the top of Australia's sparsely populated Northern Territory.Growing up in the former mining town of Nhulunbuy, Kris is no stranger to sound; creating an album of harp works combined with the sounds of Osaka train stations. He's also collaborated with various NT-based artists.Now he's turned his attention to electronic music, starting Zzaapp and putting out releases under the names of Laptop Destroyer and Toekeo. One year on, the label has a sound that's different from what's coming out of Melbourne and Sydney. We talked to Kris about what he does, and why the fuck he does it there.THUMP: Hey Kris, shall we get into it?
Kris Keogh: Take it away.How does Arnhem Land inform your sound?
Growing up out there in a small mining town that was built on Yolngu land, despite their clear protests against it, has left me with a very strong sense of never really being able to fit in. That feeling of always being an outsider comes with me when I make music. I think it makes me want to make a sound world that's truly mine, somewhere I feel like I actually belong.Nhulunbuy, where you were brought up, has a median age of 32 and a population of 3,900. Growing up it seems like it'd be pretty hard to find a club playing electronic music, or even a person. How did you get into electronic music?
Haha, nah, there were no clubs, nothing. I grew up before the Internet; so you had to hear about music in a magazine that arrived three months late, and then drop $22 ordering a cassette from Retravision. Six weeks later it would arrive and, fingers crossed, it would be something you actually liked. I got into electronic music via industrial music, after seeing Einsturzende Neubauten on Rage one time, and through classic rap music like Public Enemy, NWA. That kinda thing. Eventually I got hold of one of those early Warp Artificial Intelligence compilations, which sealed the deal.What was it like as a kid, liking electronic music when others around you were into other stuff?
I always felt kinda weird compared to the kids I went to school with, so one more layer of feeling like an outsider really wasn't a bother. After a lifetime of it, these days I feel normal when I'm not fitting in.It must have been awesome then when you finally experienced it in its natural setting. When was the first time you went to a club, or even a large-scale party?
Man, really late! I was living in Darwin at that time, and you need to make your own fun there. So I joined up a crew DJing at a club called Kongo. It wasn't until I took the plunge and went on an adventure to Germany that I understood how music could really work in a club. Tresor in Berlin was an eye-opener and brain-expander. On that trip I discovered that the bass massage provided by a well-tuned, big PA is one of the nicest feelings in the whole world.I read that you left Nhulunbuy is 2008 and moved to Osaka for a few years. What was it like moving from such a small town, to a thriving city, especially one with an incredible underground electronic scene?
After growing up in Nhulunbuy, I freaked out when I first moved to the big smoke of Darwin! I was freaked out to just catch a bus, which was totally 'big city' to me. I was a proper small town kid. Heading to Japan was that same overwhelming sense of craziness, but also totally inspiring. The underground artists in Japan rule. People like Biohannya, Doddodo, Miii, Toriena, gulpEpsh, Shaka-Itchi, and the newer juke kids are all pushing things forward in a big way.Is that when you started making your own musical software?
No. In 2003, after saving for ages and ages, I dropped $1000 to buy Reaktor 3. A thousand bucks for a single CD-Rom! Man, kids have it easy these days I tell ya… Anyway, after only making music using an old Akai sampler before that, this new world of software was amazing. With no other music tech nerds around me, I learnt to use Reaktor by trial and error. Now, 10-plus years later, I've finally got it to a place where creating software instruments and audio processors is now an integral part of my music making process.
Yeah, it is hard not having friends close by that are into the same things as me. It does mean I have slumps where there is no inspiration; I just try and work through them regardless until it comes back. Luckily, its 2014, so everyone I've ever known is just a click or a call away, so it's really no biggie. I just love Arnhem Land. It's home. I live in a tropical paradise. I literally ride my bike down a bush track to get to the supermarket. The beaches are to die for, and there's zero traffic. Beats city living any day.It does sound beautiful. I heard Toekeo's "Weasal Face" on your YouTube page. I take it you're not a fan of our PM? What do you think of what's happening with Australia politically at the moment?
I vote with regard for how the poorest people will be affected by an incoming government. Over the last year, people doing it tough have started to be well and truly fucked over, and there's no sign of it easing up. Australians are simply selfish, with the majority voting to better their own personal circumstances rather than look out for the vulnerable. It's shameful. Every once in a while it all boils over inside me and I try and do more than just clicking petitions. The last few times have involved me writing a regular column opposite Andrew Bolt's one in the NT News.Last question: When most of us think of the Northern Territory, we don't really think of electronic music. Are there any other electronic artists we should be listening out for?
In Darwin I really dig Broaden City, Force 5000 and Stix. Alice Springs has a good little scene as well, check out MUSTAPHAA and the whole SubTraction crew down there. Some southern defectors worth scoping are Monk, Sietta, and Nyarla who are all now in Melbourne. And 'Alanechi' in Sydney.Find out more about Zzaapp and Kris Keogh projects here. You'll never never know if you never never go.
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Kris Keogh: Take it away.How does Arnhem Land inform your sound?
Growing up out there in a small mining town that was built on Yolngu land, despite their clear protests against it, has left me with a very strong sense of never really being able to fit in. That feeling of always being an outsider comes with me when I make music. I think it makes me want to make a sound world that's truly mine, somewhere I feel like I actually belong.Nhulunbuy, where you were brought up, has a median age of 32 and a population of 3,900. Growing up it seems like it'd be pretty hard to find a club playing electronic music, or even a person. How did you get into electronic music?
Haha, nah, there were no clubs, nothing. I grew up before the Internet; so you had to hear about music in a magazine that arrived three months late, and then drop $22 ordering a cassette from Retravision. Six weeks later it would arrive and, fingers crossed, it would be something you actually liked. I got into electronic music via industrial music, after seeing Einsturzende Neubauten on Rage one time, and through classic rap music like Public Enemy, NWA. That kinda thing. Eventually I got hold of one of those early Warp Artificial Intelligence compilations, which sealed the deal.
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I always felt kinda weird compared to the kids I went to school with, so one more layer of feeling like an outsider really wasn't a bother. After a lifetime of it, these days I feel normal when I'm not fitting in.It must have been awesome then when you finally experienced it in its natural setting. When was the first time you went to a club, or even a large-scale party?
Man, really late! I was living in Darwin at that time, and you need to make your own fun there. So I joined up a crew DJing at a club called Kongo. It wasn't until I took the plunge and went on an adventure to Germany that I understood how music could really work in a club. Tresor in Berlin was an eye-opener and brain-expander. On that trip I discovered that the bass massage provided by a well-tuned, big PA is one of the nicest feelings in the whole world.I read that you left Nhulunbuy is 2008 and moved to Osaka for a few years. What was it like moving from such a small town, to a thriving city, especially one with an incredible underground electronic scene?
After growing up in Nhulunbuy, I freaked out when I first moved to the big smoke of Darwin! I was freaked out to just catch a bus, which was totally 'big city' to me. I was a proper small town kid. Heading to Japan was that same overwhelming sense of craziness, but also totally inspiring. The underground artists in Japan rule. People like Biohannya, Doddodo, Miii, Toriena, gulpEpsh, Shaka-Itchi, and the newer juke kids are all pushing things forward in a big way.
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No. In 2003, after saving for ages and ages, I dropped $1000 to buy Reaktor 3. A thousand bucks for a single CD-Rom! Man, kids have it easy these days I tell ya… Anyway, after only making music using an old Akai sampler before that, this new world of software was amazing. With no other music tech nerds around me, I learnt to use Reaktor by trial and error. Now, 10-plus years later, I've finally got it to a place where creating software instruments and audio processors is now an integral part of my music making process.
Living remotely can be quite isolating though, don't you feel like you're missing out on the inspiration from the electronic communities in the larger cities?
Yeah, it is hard not having friends close by that are into the same things as me. It does mean I have slumps where there is no inspiration; I just try and work through them regardless until it comes back. Luckily, its 2014, so everyone I've ever known is just a click or a call away, so it's really no biggie. I just love Arnhem Land. It's home. I live in a tropical paradise. I literally ride my bike down a bush track to get to the supermarket. The beaches are to die for, and there's zero traffic. Beats city living any day.It does sound beautiful. I heard Toekeo's "Weasal Face" on your YouTube page. I take it you're not a fan of our PM? What do you think of what's happening with Australia politically at the moment?
I vote with regard for how the poorest people will be affected by an incoming government. Over the last year, people doing it tough have started to be well and truly fucked over, and there's no sign of it easing up. Australians are simply selfish, with the majority voting to better their own personal circumstances rather than look out for the vulnerable. It's shameful. Every once in a while it all boils over inside me and I try and do more than just clicking petitions. The last few times have involved me writing a regular column opposite Andrew Bolt's one in the NT News.Last question: When most of us think of the Northern Territory, we don't really think of electronic music. Are there any other electronic artists we should be listening out for?
In Darwin I really dig Broaden City, Force 5000 and Stix. Alice Springs has a good little scene as well, check out MUSTAPHAA and the whole SubTraction crew down there. Some southern defectors worth scoping are Monk, Sietta, and Nyarla who are all now in Melbourne. And 'Alanechi' in Sydney.Find out more about Zzaapp and Kris Keogh projects here. You'll never never know if you never never go.