Kamandi, the Last Boy On Earth, is a fictional survivor and hero in a post-apocalyptic world. Kamandi (aka Tyrone Frost) is another kind of hero. Born in Australia, but raised in New Zealand, he's saving ears, hearts, and minds one track at a time. His soundcloud page brings hope; a clear and powerful signal amidst the noise of these overloaded post-internet times. There's a life to the remixes, an imagination to the beats, and a vitality to the arrangements that points to a better tomorrow and a healthy future for music. Kamandi is visiting Australia for the first time at the end of this month. He's performed alongside premier artists such as Tokimonsta, Daedelus, Gold Panda, Julien Dyne, and now joins locals Silentjay and JPS for a live display of his production prowess. Ahead of the trip, we caught up with Kamandi to hear the story of his rise.
THUMP: We're really looking forward to catch your first Australian show. For those recently arriving to your music can you give us a bit of a tour through your history?
Kamandi: I started when I was really young, performing in bands at like 16-17, mainly playing bass guitar, badly, for the love of it. I performed at a show once where I was drinking liquor on stage with no pants on and ended up getting beaten up afterwards for something I had said on stage when I was trying to urinate on a wall. Eventually I ended up studying music and got a bit better at it, still performing with other people in bands. All during that time I had been playing round with production with friends. Eventually I decided that doing a solo production thing was what I really wanted to be doing, and it meant I could dodge a lot of politics that can happen in bands. As far as growing as an artist I think every time I make a track or play live as Kamandi I learn something. I'm not always sure exactly what that is, but it's something. Also I've always tried to represent myself with my tracks, so I learn more about how to convey my own shit, and it's cool when people respond well to that.
THUMP: We're really looking forward to catch your first Australian show. For those recently arriving to your music can you give us a bit of a tour through your history?
Kamandi: I started when I was really young, performing in bands at like 16-17, mainly playing bass guitar, badly, for the love of it. I performed at a show once where I was drinking liquor on stage with no pants on and ended up getting beaten up afterwards for something I had said on stage when I was trying to urinate on a wall. Eventually I ended up studying music and got a bit better at it, still performing with other people in bands. All during that time I had been playing round with production with friends. Eventually I decided that doing a solo production thing was what I really wanted to be doing, and it meant I could dodge a lot of politics that can happen in bands. As far as growing as an artist I think every time I make a track or play live as Kamandi I learn something. I'm not always sure exactly what that is, but it's something. Also I've always tried to represent myself with my tracks, so I learn more about how to convey my own shit, and it's cool when people respond well to that.
People are obviously responding well, and others have been keen to work with you. In fact collaborations have formed an important part of your recent output. There was the seven tracks in seven days project with Polo and more recently a release with Azizi Gibson. Can you tell us about these?
I think part of being a solo artist means you can choose when to work with someone, and who you work with, and that usually makes for a better product. Working with my good friend Polo was inevitable because he's dope and I knew we would work well together. The AASB thing is an abbreviation for 'as above so below' or 'as it is above so it is below', which is a saying from an esoteric school of thought but it can be interpreted however people want to connect with it. I guess in the context of the EP Polo and I made it means anything (infinity) can be done by people, and people are, or can be, divine. I hate getting preachy or whatever about the songs so I really just leave the meaning of those names and tracks up to the listener to decide. I'm sure Polo feels the same way.
Working with Azizi (Gibson) was an amazing time. It was teed up through the Red Bull Soundselect platform - we're both on that platform. I always wanted to work with a quality MC and I love what Azizi's label (Brainfeeder) aligns itself with. So when I was asked by my Soundselect connection which artist from the American platform I'd like to work with I had to try for Azizi. After the connection was formed I sent a tune to Azizi's camp and that tune ended up being "Crown Violet". From there we knew our sounds gelled well together and soon after he was flown over to record with me in the Red Bull Studio in Auckland. We also played one of the most fun live sets of my life together at the Red Bull Block Party. We had hilarious times not just making music but partying and chilling outside of the studio. Azizi Gibson ended up convincing me the only game console I should fuck with is Nintendo and he put me onto some cool new anime
I think part of being a solo artist means you can choose when to work with someone, and who you work with, and that usually makes for a better product. Working with my good friend Polo was inevitable because he's dope and I knew we would work well together. The AASB thing is an abbreviation for 'as above so below' or 'as it is above so it is below', which is a saying from an esoteric school of thought but it can be interpreted however people want to connect with it. I guess in the context of the EP Polo and I made it means anything (infinity) can be done by people, and people are, or can be, divine. I hate getting preachy or whatever about the songs so I really just leave the meaning of those names and tracks up to the listener to decide. I'm sure Polo feels the same way.
Working with Azizi (Gibson) was an amazing time. It was teed up through the Red Bull Soundselect platform - we're both on that platform. I always wanted to work with a quality MC and I love what Azizi's label (Brainfeeder) aligns itself with. So when I was asked by my Soundselect connection which artist from the American platform I'd like to work with I had to try for Azizi. After the connection was formed I sent a tune to Azizi's camp and that tune ended up being "Crown Violet". From there we knew our sounds gelled well together and soon after he was flown over to record with me in the Red Bull Studio in Auckland. We also played one of the most fun live sets of my life together at the Red Bull Block Party. We had hilarious times not just making music but partying and chilling outside of the studio. Azizi Gibson ended up convincing me the only game console I should fuck with is Nintendo and he put me onto some cool new anime
I'm finding now that I can get inspired by almost any tune I hear, I used to be a bit judgemental or hate on certain music for one reason or another but I've almost come full circle with that to a point where I can learn from any piece of music I hear.Catch Kamandi perform his first Australian set at Ferdydurke on Thursday July 31, alongside JPS, SilentJay and Simon Winkler
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