{"id":106933,"date":"2023-09-26T16:42:55","date_gmt":"2023-09-26T20:42:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/?post_type=interviews&p=106933"},"modified":"2023-09-27T12:52:58","modified_gmt":"2023-09-27T16:52:58","slug":"pop-montreal-kmmortal-explores-gender-inclusivity-and-mental-health-in-new-album","status":"publish","type":"interviews","link":"https:\/\/panm360.com\/en\/interviews-panm360\/pop-montreal-kmmortal-explores-gender-inclusivity-and-mental-health-in-new-album\/","title":{"rendered":"POP Montreal | K!mmortal Explores Gender Inclusivity and Mental Health in New Album"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Vancouver-based spoken word hip hop artist K!mmortal is coming to Toronto and Montreal this week! These two shows are at the tail-end of her East Coast North American tour, which aims to promote gender inclusivity and raise awareness about mental illness.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAN M 360: Tell us about your journey as a musician. What brought you to where you are today?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

K!mmortal: <\/strong>I do all the arts \u2013 I\u2019ve been performing in theatre since I was a kid, I used to be in hip hop dance \u2013 and music acts as kind of an umbrella for me to use all my mediums, to create a universe. I got into a lot of spoken word poetry when I was hitting up open mics. One of the first places I ever performed in was an open mic in east Vancouver called Back to the Source, where I met a lot of artists in the local scene. It was started by Gabriel Teodros, an Ethiopian Seattle MC and one of my inspirations that really kickstarted me in writing my own rhymes \u2013 I\u2019m really influenced by the artists and activists I grew up around in Vancouver. He\u2019s one of my good friends now and we just finished up a show in Tacoma. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAN M 360: Speaking of your tour, “This Dyke Tour” is a pretty provocative name for a series of shows. Why use a term that might upset some people?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

K!mmortal: <\/strong>It\u2019s all about reclamation. Even when I released the track Instagram banned it \u2013 my team and I worked around it, coding the “Y” in dyke. But it\u2019s all about reclamation. For us, who identify as dykes, we have every right to use the word, especially with everything that\u2019s happening now with queer and trans youth being oppressed. The track too is a sexy song for dykes and queers. It was definitely an intentional move. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAN M 360: Can you tell me about where your spoken word hip-hop style comes from?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

K!mmortal: <\/strong>I\u2019m inspired by radical hip hop. I grew up listening to Bambu, Gabriel Teodros, Blue Scholars, Bobby Sanchez \u2013 these are trans black and brown MCs and lyricists. I\u2019m drawn to them because I\u2019m queer and brown myself. When I heard their music, I felt it reflected me even though they were telling their own stories. I resonated with them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAN M 360: How do you feel like that style helps you tell your own story?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

K!mmortal: <\/strong>It\u2019s forthright, honest, narrative\u2026 It\u2019s grounded in liberation and empowerment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAN M 360: You address a lot of heavy topics, including abuse, mental health, and discrimination, through the lens of empowerment in your latest album, Shoebox<\/em>. What\u2019s the impetus behind that?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

K!mmortal: <\/strong>Shoebox<\/em> is my third and most personal <\/strong>album and I wanted to share my own story through it. I talk a lot about supporting family members dealing with mental illness. Also supporting myself through mental illness. It starts with heavy topics but it\u2019s a journey. Ancient<\/em> is all about painting a picture of where me and my ancestors are from. Then it travels time to where I grew up in Surrey, BC. It starts from a powerful place of darkness and throughout the album, it expands into light. When I named it “shoebox” I was thinking of a box of memories, from personal memories to experiences I\u2019ve had with my friends and family. Some of the songs are 10 years old, and some were produced three weeks before I released the album.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAN M 360: What else would you say factors into your “multi-dimensional” approach to music? You make your album covers, for example, out of artistic dioramas.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

K!mmortal: <\/strong>I created this album over the pandemic when I was trying to have fun again with art. I was playing with clay, scribbling, doodling, and animating music videos, and I really wanted to have fun with this album so This Dyke\u2019s music video is a claymation animation by a queer Filipina animator in Vancouver, NoFace. The album cover is also claymation with me in the crevice of a tree native to the Philippines. It\u2019s a balete tree and it\u2019s connected to a lot of Filipino folklore and horror stories. I\u2019m also influenced by theatre because I grew up acting. The character in this album is like my inner child, a playful K!mmortal, so I\u2019m always wearing overalls on stage that my friend made for me. I\u2019ve been wearing them on tour, which is a lot of fun.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAN M 360:<\/strong> You were pretty busy in the US, going from Washington to Oregon to California.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

K!mmortal: <\/strong>This is my first West Coast tour and it\u2019s been incredible because I\u2019ve met people who have been listening to me for years. I\u2019m like \u2018Wow, my music has travelled.\u2019 The Bay Area was my favourite show. The last time I performed there was in 2016 and I performed in a historic Filipino theatre. It was packed, there were a bunch of queers and one of my favourite MCs, Bobby Sanchez, came out. People brought gifts. Some travelled hours to see me. They were telling me how my music helped them in hard times, and they gave me triple the energy of any audience I\u2019ve had. I\u2019m really happy that people fuck with me here. I really want to come back, and I want to hit up the east next time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAN M 360: You\u2019re also planning two more shows in Toronto and Montreal. What are you looking forward to there?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

K!mmortal: <\/strong>Toronto <\/strong>is a reunion show with Maxhole, who\u2019s releasing their debut album. I haven\u2019t seen them since 2018. It\u2019s also a reunion with Eyeda Sophia. They\u2019re incredible. And at POP Montreal I\u2019m performing with Vancouver-based artist Naudh. I\u2019m excited to connect with my friends at these Canadian shows!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PAN M 360: We hope you have a great time reuniting with them. Good luck with your shows!<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For information and tickets (Friday Sept 29, 8 PM) , click HERE<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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