Kinphonic is the newest UK based record label that has been tearing up the scene with their premiere artists and exclusive releases. More than just a record label, Kinphonic also specializes in bookings, management, publishing, merchandise, graphic design, and public relations. It’s an innovative company who’s arms extend into multiple regions of the music industry. Founded by music industry natives Tommie Keeston & Matt Cavender, Kinphonic has been generating noise all throughout the industry with it’s free releases and exclusive Kinphonic events. Be sure to check out their newly launched website thats provides information about their history, artists, releases, and upcoming shows.
Both Tommie Keeston and Matt Cavender have spent their fair share of time in the music industry. Tommie has an extensive background in management and is the head of the Kinphonic agency that handles bookings. Meanwhile, Matt is a music producer and DJ and is the head of the label as well as manager of two Kinphonic artists. Put them together and you’ve got multiple aspects of the industry covered under one united family. Kinphonic is notorious for its free releases and has been unleashing free tunes through their KINFREE series. They have even more weekly free releases planned and an upcoming single and EP in the writing from Stereoliez.
RaverRafting had the opportunity to talk with Tommie and Matt about their Kinphonic ambitions, future endeavors, and expansion of their Kinphonic family. Without further ado, here’s RaverRafting’s exclusive interview with Kinphonic founders, Matt Cavender & Tommie Keeston.
Matt Cavender
Tommie Keeston
In addition to being a record label, Kinphonic also has roots in other areas of the music industry, why is that?
Matt: Kinphonic actually started out primarily as a booking agency, and Kinphonic’s roots actually stretch a lot longer than it’s existence. To sum it up briefly, it started out with Tommie running his own agency that I was an artist on, this was 5+ years ago. Kinphonic developed after years of working closely together and us wanting to expand into a fully functioning brand. We feel that all these different branches such as label, management, PR etc. are actually synergistic, and having them all in one place we would be able to provide the service we want to provide.
Tell me a little bit about your KINFREE series, what was the motivation behind starting it up?
Matt: Our KINFREE series is an outlet for the bigger artists on our roster to put out free downloads with full service promotion, but over time has become a place for us to showcase the new talents we have in amongst our bigger releases. It became apparent to us that KINFREE was a good way to get our audience familiar with new people we are interested in working more with. It has also provided for people a place where quality music is released regularly and frequently.
Is Kinphonic active or looking to get active in the USA dance scene as well?
Tommie: Definitely, we have a big following in the USA, and we are looking to bring some of our talents there really soon. We already work with many artists hailing from the States.
Are there any other markets Kinphonic really wants to establish a foothold in?
Tommie: Our goal is to be able to provide a complete service, so besides what we are already doing, we are looking to expand and develop other departments, covering all regions. We are working on a lot of things right now such as a merch line, expanding our bookings to USA & Asia, developing our KINVASION event, and building our label.
Can any genre of electronic music be released on the Kinphonic label?
Matt: Yep! Quality, originality and production all come before genre for us. Historically we have released a lot dubstep and bass house, it’s where we came from, but recently we have been pushing to expand into other territory regardless of genre. We have had a lot of really great chill and house music come through lately and we are excited to be involved in these other genres
Is there a specific type of artist you look for when discovering new talent for Kinphonic?
Matt: I think most of it is the music speaking for itself. Fresh spins on ideas are a major plus, the production quality is something that comes secondary to that because it can be worked on. Imitating other people or sticking too close to genre staples are a bit of a turn off for us when it comes to demos.
Is bringing smaller artists to light one of Kinphonic’s main goals?
Matt: In my experience a lot of great tracks from smaller artists get skipped over because everyone is focusing on the big names. The thing is, those big names were once small artists and it took their work and help from others for them to make it. This is why we keep our ear to the ground. It’s also just refreshing to hear new takes on things and fresh ideas. We feel bringing in talented new artists is one of our main goals and our KINFREE series is a way to take our first steps with these artists.
I know you’ve hosted Kinphonic events, but could a Kinphonic festival be something we see in the future?
Matt: We did our first event this year in Switzerland and it went really well. At the moment we are looking to hold more KINVASIONs in other major European cities, showcasing our roster. We would really love to do a Kinphonic festival and we feel that is a natural evolution of what we are doing at the moment.
What’s been your favorite part about Kinphonic so far?
Matt: Getting Kinphonic off the ground has been a massive challenge and has taken countless hours of work. The fact that from that, the artists around me will be better off and will have some influence on the world is the pay off personally.
Tommie: I like that Kinphonic has brought together many different people from varying walks of life, from every corner of the planet and united them under one banner. Bringing people together has been a strong value for us.
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