Welcome to Unrecorded! For those who haven’t come across Johnny Kulo before, how would you describe your sound?
A melting pot.
You’ve just shared the new Bloom EP, what does this collection of work represent for you and your evolution in music?
I’m constantly evolving as an artist really and Bloom is a snapshot of where I was when I wrote it. A couple of tracks might show a little glimpse of where I’m headed next sonically but I wouldn’t know yet. I’m not tripping though, so far I’ve just been putting out songs I wrote and recorded in my room for fun while honing into my craft and sound. The real shit is in the works right now.
‘Loyal’ has been put to us as the focus track and we can’t ignore all that soul and R&B grooviness. What drew you to this style of music?
My dad used to collect some Gospel cassettes and my love for Soul and Rnb definitely started there. I grew up in a household with just two kinds of music though: sacred and secular. This limited a lot of my understanding of popular music and culture within genres growing up but in the grand scheme of things I feel like it allowed me to stay out of boxes of any kind. I just make music I think is dope and draw inspiration from everything and everyone I consider great.
Nowadays you live in Berlin, although you’re originally from India, what motivated the move to Germany?
Didn’t really plan on moving to Germany and had no clue about Berlin or the scene here. It sort of fell on my lap as the most convenient way to try to study music for the first time and it ended up being the best decision I made, beyond music.
Did growing up in India influence your relationship with music and creativity at all?
Definitely. Being an artist wasn’t an option for me growing up, at least in my setting it was considered unrealistic, almost taboo. I also didn’t really have any born and raised Indian artists in the scene I liked, to look up to. Obviously the lack of representation held me back in many ways but since I never saw it as a career, I fell in love with making music in the most pure way possible, at least I think so, practicing instruments and writing songs with no pressure for it to be anything.
What other artist’s from your local scene in Berlin do you recommend to our readers?
The scene in Berlin for good music been been exponentially growing since I moved here almost 5 years ago and I could name so many artists that I’m a huge fan of, the list would be endless but here’s a couple of my all time favorites who also happen to live here: JuJu Rogers, Noah Slee, Moses Yoofee Trio.
Final question, what other exciting plans do you have for this year? Any more new music or live shows?
I’m working on an extremely exciting project that will be revealed at some point in the first half of next year, stay tuned! I also host a little event every month in Berlin called Family Dinner, to highlight local artists and food joints.
Keep up with Johnny Kulo:
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