Exclusive Interview: Pop Culturalist Chats with KiSMiT

If you’re on the search for new music, look no further. We’re here to introduce you to a funky duo that has taken the industry by storm with their velvety vocals and infectious melodies: KiSMiT. This past week, the pair, consisting of Carly Barnette and Baz King, dropped a brand new single that has heads turning. Pop Culturalist chatted with KiSMiT about “Look No Further”.

PC: Introduce us to KiSMiT.
Carly: In 2013, Baz and I met in a songwriting class at Berklee School of Music in Boston. We realized pretty quickly that we had a yin-yang dynamic, complimenting each other in a way we hadn’t felt in any other partnership before. Fast forward six years, we are a funky fresh duo that has been described as Katy Perry meets Earth, Wind, & Fire. It always makes me laugh, but it’s pretty dead on. But, let’s be clear: “Teenage Dream” Katy Perry.

Baz: We formed after graduation. We decided to take a duo gig aboard a cruise ship getting paid to play music, travel, and live together. It was such a great opportunity to get acquainted with each other musically. Also, to clarify, we were a couple before getting on the ship.

PC: Who or what has had the biggest influence on your career?
Carly: Musical theatre! Growing up, my mom and grandma would bring me to see regional theatre and my eyes would widen and my heart would be pounding. I knew it was where I belong. Chasing the Broadway dream for a while out of college transformed into writing my own songs, narratives, and stories.

Baz: My dad has been a full-time musician my whole life. His influence runs through my veins. My mom has supported whatever path my interest has chosen from being a kinesiologist to a Formula 1 driver, a soccer player to a musician. Also, just the power of music itself is my influence. It’s universal and unifying. To wield such a power daily is an honor and something I don’t take lightly.

PC: What is your creative process like when you’re working on a song? Has it evolved through the years?
Carly: It’s definitely evolved, and will continue to as we refine the optimal way of channeling creative energy. Sometimes songs are therapeutic: I will sit at the piano and weep, and make sense of the murky, gray feelings I’m experiencing and won’t get up until something more beautiful than that mess has come out. Sometimes a bangin’ hook falls out while I’m belting in the shower. Most of the time, we sit together in the studio and meditate before getting to work. Baz will focus on a few chords that feel right, and I’ll riff over it until something that interests us both comes out and assembles into a cohesive song.

Baz: Songs can be born from many origins: a melodic fragment, a groove, an image, an article, a movie, a situation, or elsewhere from the mystical lands of inspiration. All I wait for in the writing process is a strong foothold from something that says it wants to be heard. From there, it’s the job of the creator to honor that seed and water it justly.

PC: Tell us about your new single, “Look No Further”. What was the inspiration behind the track?
KiSMiT: “Look No Further” was inspired by wanting to explore a sexier sound and side of our music. We write a lot about love, but haven’t ever shared about our magic connection in the bedroom, on stage, and in the studio. It’s a blessing to work this closely and love each other more with each day. Opening up feels personal, but it also feels very right. The core lyric of the song “Look No Further” explores the idea that no one escapes human desire, and in committing to a relationship, you choose over and over again. The reward of persistence is sharing experiences beyond imagination.

PC: As we look ahead to 2019, what does the year hold for KiSMiT?
KiSMiT: Tons of exciting stuff! We have lots of new content to share with our fans: a new single and a music video will be coming out every month until July. Then, we have tour plans starting in April up on the West Coast and all over New York City.

Pop Culturalist Speed Mouth

PC: Guilty pleasure TV show?
Carly: Good Girls Revolt

Baz: Hot Ones

PC: Guilty pleasure movie?
Carly: Legally Blonde

Baz: The Fast and the Furious

PC: Favorite book?
Carly: The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Baz: The Age of Reason by Jean-Paul Sartre

PC: Favorite play or musical?
Carly: That’s a tough one! Either Hair or Chicago

Baz: Singin’ in the Rain

PC: A band or artist that fans would be surprised to learn is on your playlist?
Carly: Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. I’m a sucker for “Oh, What a Night”!

Baz: Celine Dion

Carly: [laughs]

PC: First album you bought?
Carly: *NSYNC’s No Strings Attached

Baz: Limp Bizkit’s Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water

PC: First concert you attended?
Carly: Jewel at seven-years-old and I caught her pick. It was a moment.

Baz: Janet Jackson in Cape Town when I was eight.

PC: A venue on your bucket list to perform at?
Carly: Radio City Music Hall

Baz: Red Rock

PC: Hidden talent?
Carly: Adding glitter to anything and anyone! I’m an embellishing queen.

Baz: You’ll never know. [laughs]

Keep up with KiSMiT by following them on Twitter and Instagram, and pick up “Look No Further” on iTunes or Amazon Music.

Photo Credit: Danica x Alena