The renowned Arthur Kay has colored Oslo music through various musical adventures for a number of years. Now he and his keyboards are finally going solo – and getting the spotlight all to themselves.
/ 04/10/2019 / Kristian DugstadName: Arthur Kay Piene
Current with: Debut album "Arthur Kay" will be released 11/10
TONO member since: 2007
Who is Arthur Kay?
Arthur Kay is just me, Arthur Kay Piene. 34 years old, partner, music teacher and musician. In many ways an ordinary man, with a job that gets you a little extra attention in social life.
Tell us about your musical background?
I'm a jazz pianist, that's what I am and have focused on since I was 15 years old. I grew up in Oslo, and that's something that has shaped me a lot musically. There's such a broad, good and at the same time inclusive music environment in this city, so that's probably one of the most important reasons why I play so much different music today.
You have a long list of musical adventures on your CV, such as the bands Switch and Dr Kay and his Interstellar Tone Scientists. You are also the keyboardist behind rapper Ivan Ave. What have these projects given you?
Good friends, amazing experiences and the opportunity to travel around and play concerts and make records that I will remember for the rest of my life. They have also given me buckets of musical self-confidence, and a belief that I have something of my own musically to contribute, which goes a little beyond genre.
So who is Arthur Kay solo? How is he different from Arthur Kay as a band member?
No, he's allowed to decide a lot himself then. Doesn't need to take so much into account others or have so many others to share the spotlight with. So I just hope he has enough sense to check with others whether his ideas are sustainable or not, before he starts the really megalomaniacal projects. Otherwise, it's much the same.
Now you're alone in the spotlight, but you also have all the responsibility. Is that scary?
Yes, it would be a lie to say otherwise. But it's also a bit nice to just know that you have to fix everything yourself, that there will never be any "Oh, I thought you were going to..." situations, either practically or musically.
Your music is energetic and spherical, jazzy and funky, psychedelic and silky smooth. Do you agree? How have you created your soundscape?
Yes, thank you for that! I think those qualities of my music have always really been there, they've been things I've been very interested in my entire musical life.
How is it to dominate a huge sound all by yourself? Do you feel powerful?
Haha, I guess the only way I can get that sound on my own is to rely on technological aids. So I don't feel so powerful, it could turn against you at any time!
As long as it has tangents, you'll enjoy it - but where do you feel most at home?
I guess I can just say it like the artist Sampha, "No one knows me like the piano, in my mother's home."
What made you start writing music?
It's just something I've always done, since I started playing. It's just something I've always done. Then it's gradually become more of it over time, as I've studied and gained experience in it.
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Do you have any equipment or tools that are indispensable in the writing process?
When I write songs like Arthur Kay, I need a piano, my phone to record sketches and write down broken lines of lyrics as they appear, and my computer to shape with it in Ableton when I've gotten a little further along.
Where does a song begin? A melody line? A chord progression?
In a number of different ways, but often it starts a bit more with a general idea or a mood for me. A kind of genre or a soundscape, a lyrical idea, or just a feeling I want to process.
Where and how do you write? What inspires you?
I write anywhere, at least when it comes to sketches or ideas. At work between students, at home on a quiet day or when I'm out and about. It's probably the feelings in my body that inspire me the most.
Two weeks ago you released your second solo single "Higher Ground". Tell us about it?
It's a very important song for me, as it's one of the first ones I took into this Arthur Kay universe. It was actually written for another band, but it fell through a bit there, so I thought I might as well sing and play it myself.
Next Friday, 11/10, the album "Arthur Kay" will be released. What can you say about the album? What can the audience expect?
It's a small album of 5 songs, which I'm very proud of. I made it together with Erlend Mokkelbost, and it's just the two of us who have been on the record, I play and sing almost everything myself. People can expect a varied release, which has danceable funk, programmed drums and New Age-like ballads all in one. And a lot of keys, a lot of keys.
What are your plans for the time being after the album release?
As for Arthur Kay, there will be some concerts! So far these have been confirmed: Dama Di in Bodø October 18th, Bastard in Tromsø October 19th, Victoria in Bergen November 1 og Crossed in Oslo on November 2nd. Then I'll hopefully be going to a few more places throughout the fall and next spring. And then I'll be making more music, I've got a kick out of it and have made some progress with the writing for the next release.
What is your career highlight so far?
I guess I just have to say winning the Spellman Prize together with The Switch in 2017. I was completely unprepared for how awesome it really was.
Can you share your greatest music experience – as a listener?
There are so many, Paal Nilsen Love and Ken Vandermark at Kampen Bistro in 2004 I think, the first time I heard Våroferet in the Oslo Philharmonic (especially the moment when the horns come in full force in the first part), the 3 or 4 listens to Joanna Newsome's Ys album (when I really understood it). The closest thing to the really great ones I think must be seeing Siwan in Jacobskirken during Oslo World a few years ago. How the different expressions in that fusion music come out so clearly, can stand so well on their own two feet next to each other without getting in the way of each other in any way, I think that was simply very moving.
