Introduction

Bringing together an array of musicians, opera singers and a choir, and influences as diverse as hip hop and jazz, The Kyteman Orchestra are one of the Netherlands’ more unconventional success stories. We spoke to ringleader Colin Benders to find out more about the album and his musical commune “Kytopia”.

Questions and answers

You recently performed at the Pinkpop Festival, how was it?

Awesome! It was one of the first big festivals we did with The Kyteman Orchestra so I was a little bit scared about how a crowd as big as that would react. But the concert went perfectly, and people really enjoyed themselves. At least, there were still some people standing at the end so I guess we did a great job. (Laughs)

Did you have a chance to watch any of the other artists?

I went to see Mumford & Sons and that was quite impressive. I really like their music, but it was very intense when they were playing it live. I really wanted to see Mastodon too but they were playing while we had to do our soundcheck...

So can you explain a bit more about the history of The Kyteman Orchestra please?

It all started out in my room, with just a computer and a microphone. I was living with two rappers, Reazun and Pax, and I was just making hip hop beats and kind of twisting them into my own flavour. I invited a lot of local Dutch rappers to write lyrics and to join me on the record. By the time The Hermit Sessions was finished I was thinking, “Maybe I will have to do this live.” But I didn’t want to stand there with a laptop, just hitting the space bar every time I wanted to play a track, so I started writing down a list of all the instruments I used for the record, and came up with so many that I was like, “Oh wow, if I am really gonna do this live, then it’s gonna be an orchestra.”

The whole aim was to do five or six shows but the first concert sold out immediately... I still don’t know how that happened ‘cause I hadn’t done anything before that. (Laughs) And after that first show, everything kind of exploded: the whole tour sold out in no time, we played a lot of festivals, the record went platinum... It was an insane year!

But by the end of the year I felt like there was no real challenge and, for me, music should always be a challenge for those playing, otherwise you can hear that it’s become routine. So I decided to end the Hip Hop Orchestra project to spend time writing new music, but this time really involving the other musicians in the whole creative process.

Is The Kyteman Orchestra a collaborative effort?

This one is, yes. Of course, the basics like the chorus keys and the main melodies are still something that I write myself, but from there on I decided to really involve all the musicians. I really wanted them to feel at home in the music so we spent about a year shaping all the music into something that everyone would feel comfortable with.

At the beginning, I didn’t really have an expectation of where we were going, so we ended up with a record that was somewhere between classical music, hip hop, drum and bass, rock, punk, jazz... There is so much in it, I can’t even begin to describe it: it’s The Kyteman Orchestra!

The album has had a fantastic reception: did you expect it to be so successful?

No, not really. I know that some people are really interested in what we do, following every step we make, but I expected this to be a lot more of a “niche” project. It’s not “easy” music, so to speak, so I didn’t really expect it to be pop material.

Also, I knew that the expectations for this record were very high. There was no way that I could conform to all those expectations so we decided to do it the way we wanted to and not worry. And when we released the record, it went straight to the top of the Dutch charts and it has stayed in quite a high position for some time now. I was quite surprised because it’s not the kind of music you would expect in the charts! (Laughs) These are fun times!

Do you have a favourite track on the record?

Well, one of them is ‘While I Was Away,’. It has this very long build-up, and it just keeps on climbing in tension and atmosphere from the beginning ‘til the end. It took us a lot of time to get it to where it is right now, and it really felt like a victory once we had finished. Whenever I listen to it or play it live, it feels like the whole record is being explained by that one track.

Who would you cite as your main musical influences?

Mostly the artists I enjoy listening to myself. For example, I’ve been listening to Radiohead for a very long time, and I find their music impressive. A lot of my big heroes are from jazz music, like Sun Ra. And Miles Davis’ later work: not so much him as trumpet player, but the music he made.

There is so much good music out there these days that it’s hard to single out people from one genre! Right now, I’ve got a lot of respect for the electronic and glitch and dubstep sounds, yet at the same time classical music is a big, big thing for me...

You’re a songwriter, a musician, a singer, and obviously a conductor: which role do you enjoy the most?

It depends on the phase. In the creative process, I really enjoy being the composer/songwriter for the tracks ‘cause it’s a really lovely feeling to see an idea grow into a song. While playing with the orchestra, the conducting part is what I enjoy the most. I found a lot of freedom too: without playing myself, I can influence how the music is performed. Nowadays, I can stand in front of the orchestra – with no music and no idea of what we’re gonna play – and we can build a song from scratch by me signing out chord schemes and rhythms.

Could you tell us a bit more about the concept behind Kytopia?

We got here two or three years ago and it is like this big compound: a building site with a street, where we all live together. There are two big buildings with 10 or so music studios and different creative spots, and about 60 musicians and artists working in them every day. It’s a fun environment!

Utrecht has always had a very strong creative community and people really enjoy working together, but one of the big problems for us is that musicians don’t make the best neighbours! (Laughs) So it was necessary to find a place where people could make as much noise as much as they wanted, as though it was their playground. It’s the perfect place to be, a little paradise.

Are you looking forward to taking your show on the road?

Oh yes, definitely. We’ve played in Holland a lot and I know we can pretty much make any music we want, so I’m looking forward to seeing how this kind of music works in other places. And it will be a great honour to be able to play with the entire orchestra at the O2 Academy in London on 13th June. If all goes well then, starting next year, we’ll be doing a lot more in Germany, England, France and Belgium.

What has been the highlight of your musical career so far?

Playing in my first band, a hip hop group called Six Of Your Best Friends. It really changed everything for me and how I looked at music. That was the first time that I experimented with music other than classical or jazz: we had no rules and no expectations whatsoever, we were just having fun... From there on I enjoyed every step along the road. Playing with Sting is something I will remember forever too. There have been a lot of sweet spots and moments which are really important to me.

And what’s your ultimate ambition?

If I can just inspire one person to go, “Yes, this is exactly what I wanna do with music!” (or even if someone goes, “No, this is terrible, I am gonna do it completely differently!”) then I’d know I had been part of the continuity of music, so to speak.

But the ultimate thing would be to be able to support music globally with no restrictions or pragmatic boundaries or complications. To set up Kytopia-style places in multiple countries around the world, and really start a big global community of musicians and artists. I just want to spread the idea that music shouldn’t be bound to styles and genres any more, and that the big experiment is open again.

Finally, could you recommend three records that everyone should own please?

Radiohead: Kid A – this is a big one for everyone!

Bibio: Ambivalence Avenue

Maurice Ravel: Pavane pour une infante défunte.

(Photo credits: ©Kytopia)