Born in Leningrad, Kirill Yurievich Sergeyev adopted his pseudonym and rose in fame internationally in 2014. With an early knack for song-writing and electronic music composition (on his Intel 80486 computer!), he went on to study music business production and develop his craft and diverse skill set. Known for his enigmatic sound, combining electronic with live orchestra performances, he performs both solo as a DJ and as part of bands. His single “The Language of Love” is the opening track and first pre-release of the upcoming album Green Monster and serves as a way to unite all listeners in a common language. Intimate and grand, it epitomises Kito’s two key principles: love and trust.
To bring the song to life even further, Kito worked with Lena Tronina and Nancy Schneider to explore the themes in a visual way. A naturally collaborative process, the three creatives developed a video that is as beautiful in its message as it is in its aesthetics. Nancy utilised still frames and intimate shots to not only depict the necessity of slowing down, but to guide the viewers to do so as well. Lena meets our eyes with raw emotion that exemplifies this narrative and reminds us to appreciate the moment. Almost meditative, you get lost in the video and truly see the world in a new light.
We caught up with Kito, Lena, and Nancy to discuss all things “The Language of Love” — inspiration, production process, and the importance of slowing down and staying present. We also got to hear about Kito’s new music and art foundation, a place for education and collaboration.
Watch the video…
Read the interview…
Kito Jempere:
You worked with 26 artists from all over the world on this album. What was this experience like and how rewarding was it?
Ah yes it was! It always is! Actually the amount and way of working is not that new to me, my live band in different transformations sometimes including up to 30 people on stage at the same time, my previous Yet Another Kito Jempere Album combined music from 20 artists so I’m going a bit further. My model is based on two simple things: love & trust. First thing is to be sure and feel you fell in love with the artist’s vision, way of making it, personality, literally becoming friends and then add complete trust to it — for instance everything on the upcoming Green Monster album and this video was made with this simple rule. Process is to find which opus of mine gets reflections in artists eyes and then give them complete freedom. I never change anything I get after we decide on some track, it is always equal. The only thing I’m doing on top is as a producer getting it really sticked together, with of course great help of my long-time collaborators as Lovvlovver on synth programming, Roman Urazov on the mix and Martin Iveson (mostly known as Atjazz) on mastering side. This time we did a really amazing job for an immersive experience, I do recommend everyone to listen to our recent single “The Language Of Love”, next single “Strong Accent” (May 12th) and the full album in Dolby Atmos.
What was the inspiration behind “The Language of Love” and what ideas and themes does it explore?
“The Language Of Love” was my acoustic guitar easy demo and I clearly remember how all lyrics appeared, all came pretty fast, my mind was playing “Thirty Three” by Smashing Pumpkins and I wanted constructed something like an answer to Billy’s “Speak to me in the language I can hear” and I was wondering which language is absolutely understandable for each human begin — “Speak to me in the language of Love” was the answer. The whole song and trumpet part, lyrics, Adam’s intimate voice and way of the mix everything melted for me into one pot of the feelings which I feel are the most transparent to everyone. The language of love has no borders, no race, no hype or delusions, it’s the only language we do speak through all our lives, that’s what I wanted to indicate and put on music as music is a second language everyone can speak and hear. It came together pretty fast and it’s my motto for the album. I’m happy we delivered this opener for Green Monster. When I saw Lena in the movies I was immediately sure that she is the one to show this language of love with only her eyes. I hope you can dive deep into the video and sound to read my simple message.
Can you tell us about the music and art foundation? What is its mission and how did you develop it? It feels like a natural progression of your career — is this something you always wanted to do?
Actually it’s only about to start, we already have some great projects lined-up but I love speaking on things once they are live and ready. The mission of collaboration with Alexandre Garese is really wide. We are aiming the foundation to include future sound development, media resources, online and off-line events and non-formal wave of music education. It is my natural progression as day by day I was working on understanding how collaborations work in music, F&B sector, design, events, media, even theatre. I’m also including all my experience I got in working as head of A&R for Chicago based label Glenview Records with Yury Rozemnan, our aim was to pick and help artists and talented people to get the first little push and trust. I’m really happy that, for instance, we have released the very first two records of Simple Symmetry which in a way was the first step in their ladder to big success. I just want good ideas to be heard, that’s what we will continue doing in the foundation. For talent it’s sometimes hard to get all together to come to the very first point you should come over, so that’s will be one of the main ideas of support — to support the beginning. As things must be happening and it’s a natural way to give your experience, vision, contacts, ideas and everything you can that can work for as many people as possible.
Lena Tronina:
What initially drew you to “The Language of Love” and made you excited to star in the video?
Kito wanted me to be myself, without acting or pretending anything. I’m living for this kind of feeling, so being able to show that through the camera with the music that I love was very cool and exciting.
What was the filming process like?
OMG! It was a blast! Beautiful girls in an absolutely insane location with all those trees, birds and extremely loud feeling of presence! The process was strong, tender and deep.
What are you most excited for viewers to see or experience when watching the video?
I would love them to feel the moment while they’re watching. Cause what I was trying to do in that video is just stay present and feel whatever I feel. And fortunately, I felt love
Nancy Schneider:
What was the process of producing the video for “The Language of Love”? How did it go from an idea to the finished product?
Well… I was more than glad to get an offer to make something together with Kito and Lena, since I am fond of their work, plus I always wanted to try myself as a creative director and producer. I did some research, talked to people who are into video and film production, then I created an image of Lena’s in a frame. I thought a lot about what love is for me and asked people around, and finally I got a clear idea what the final look of it should be. A location scouting day was an absolutely awesome experience for me this time, looking for a place where music and visuals could talk, it was such a journey. A team was set up, day X is in a schedule. I was a little bit worried when the day of the shoot was getting closer, but then when we were there, I realised that everything worked out just great and that I’m so happy with the process and results in the end.
How do you convey the song’s themes visually through the video and what messages are you hoping viewers take away from it?
We all have to slow down from time to time to see things clearly to fully appreciate them. A static choice of frame I believe was my tool to make it happen.
What are you most excited for viewers to see or experience when watching the video?
I’m afraid that I’m not a person who is responsible for the viewers’ feelings. I truly believe that one of love’s forms is observation with no limited time. You have a limited time as the video will end, but it is a pure moment when all of you stay with us. Slow down and enjoy.
