INTRODUCING
Kimi Stär (pronounced Kee-mee Star) is an electronic alt-pop duo consisting of indie house producer and vocalist ZOSIA and pop singer / songwriter Kaitlyn Kaerhart. Their debut single, 'Wildfire', is about overcoming painful moments in your life. With additional production from Jimmy Vallance of the band Bob Moses, the track explores elements of the light and darkness of our world, with dreamlike intertwining vocals, haunting hooks, and live instrumentals. Their ethereal sound evokes feelings of nostalgia, with Kaerhart’s soulful guitar and smoky voice, combining with ZOSIA’s wistful style of production and lush vocals.
We had the chance to speak with them as part of our Introducing series...
Introduce yourselves and tell us a bit about you both!
"Hey The Lowdown! We’re Kimi Stär, or in other terms, Kaerhart and Zosia. Kaerhart is a critically acclaimed numerologist and singer/songwriter and Zosia is an electronic DJ and producer who also practices Reiki. As both of us are spiritually inclined, we came together in hopes of creating a band that fuses the mystical world with the musical world."
How did you meet and when did you start making music together?
"Zosia threw a Samhain ceremony in Los Angeles in 2015, and through a mutual friend Kaerhart was invited. A year later we both met for lunch to talk about our respective music projects. We quickly realized we shared the same vision, and began to experiment with writing songs together." Is there a story or meaning behind the band name?
"Kimi Stär is a mashup of our Mayan astrological tribes. Kaerhart is a Worldbridger, or 'Cimi' (changed to Kimi because we prefer the aesthetic of a K) and Zosia is a Star or 'Lamat'."
Where are you based and how, if in any way have your surroundings inspired the sound?
"As of now both of us are Nomads. That being said, most of our songs were written in Brooklyn, NY. The energy of NYC is extremely lively and inspiring, so there’s no doubt that it inspired our music. We wrote the bulk of our first EP in the summer of 2019, and what sounds better than two best friends creating music together in a city filled with culture and magic." How would you sum up your sound in a sentence?
"Our sound is a blend of our two backgrounds: electronic indie-house meets acoustic-pop vocals." Who would be your dream artist to work / collaborate with?
"We’d probably faint from excitement if we got a chance to collaborate with someone like Dave Bayley, Mark Ronson or Andrew Wyatt. It would also be super cool if we could one day collaborate with artists like Phantogram, Kito, Nicolas Jaar, The Marías… gosh the list could go on forever."
You've just released your debut single 'Wildfire' - how has the reaction been so far?
"The reaction has been very positive! We’ve been ready to release 'Wildfire' since early 2020, but unfortunately Covid was thrown at the world, and as a new band we didn’t want to lose any momentum from not being able to go out and play live. Needless to say, this release has been a long time coming and it felt extremely cathartic to finally be able to release it."
Tell us a little about it!
"We feel lucky because we come from two opposite sides of the music spectrum. Zosia started out as a DJ in the house/electronic scene, and began her career as a producer. Kaerhart comes from a singer/songwriter background, and has a more pop-acoustic sound. Because we come from such different worlds there is never a dull day in the studio, as we are always teaching each other pieces from our respective puzzles, creating a whole new 'picture' entirely."
Have you got exciting things coming up that we should keep an eye out for?
"Oh yes! We have a song a month coming out until the end of the year. Once we officially have released the EP then we’ll start gearing towards creating a live show. Stay tuned!"
'Wildfire' is out now.
Listen HERE @kimiandstar
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