On Our Radar Q+A: Kynsy talks performing and 'Happiness Isn't A Fixed State'

With just two singles under her belt, singer and producer Kynsy is already making big waves.

Pre-pandemic, you spent a lot of time honing your live shows. How are you feeling about being unable to perform right now?

It’s a bit of a tough one. I have definitely worked hard on my live show and tried to make it unique. I never really found that the solo artist thing with just a guitar suited me, that’s why I always went for a full band show.

However, it’s definitely been a positive challenge, as it’s forced me to think of interesting ways to perform in a more stripped back setting, and I’ve gotten into electronics again in a big way.

I’m looking at trying to have two different sort of live/virtual shows, one will use electronic instruments and loops, and the other will have the full live band – for when all this bullshit is over.

Can you tell me about your experience studying songwriting at BIMM?

Studying the thing you love is a great gift and I was lucky enough to be able to do that. It was pretty cool being able to put your focus into songwriting and all the parts that come with it for four years, and not having to worry too much about anything else. Loads of time for drinking Tyskie and eating burritos, too (woo).

The best part for me was the freedom to experiment and find yourself through the work you were doing. They wanted you to seek things out for yourself and play in bands and write, so there was a lot of room for self-directed discovery.

Songwriting is a bit weird, though, and I do think now I’m a bit older, it is a very personal and unique thing. Learning the craft of it can obscure that at times. But I suppose my mentality toward it was that old saying: “Learn the rules, so you can break the rules” (insert meme of some dude with his fist in the air).

What inspired your latest single and video ‘Happiness Isn’t A Fixed State’?

The song came about in the few months after I had gotten out of my first long-term relationship, and it was very much an amalgamation of the contrasting thoughts that come from the end of something important. I was feeling sad, but also free and able to discover myself on my own again.

I wanted the video to hold the same ideas as the lyrics, grasping at freedom but also letting the sadness overwhelm you at the same time. The surreal face paint and clothes were odes to the sadness, but the running around and performance were both odes to the freedom felt through the sadness and the hope I had for the future.

I was also watching a lot of The Garden videos at the time, and they do equally strange stuff with face paint.

Watch 'Happiness Isn't a Fixed State' below.