Major Kami is a French collective created by musician and songwriter Camille Miller and independent producer Denis Expert. Their music is quite dreamy, but it takes from a number of different genres, making them a very unique proposition nowadays! I reviewed their EP Infinite Light and absolutely loved it – check out both tracks at the end of this interview if you like what you read!
By Jane Howkins
You released a two track EP titled Infinite Light. What can you tell us about the EP?
CM: Infinite Light is also the title of one of the tracks on the EP. I was handed a barebones track with some hummed sounds and words from the producer, Denis Expert. He often sent me music like this, and asked that I come up with the story and lyrics from his melodic ideas. He is a brilliant producer/writer who creates and speaks in French first. I got the idea for Infinite Light from the first hummed phrases that Denis sent to me. The ideas of Dashboard deities seemed to go rhythmically
with the song and melody. Once the term popped into my head, all of the lyrics seemed to bounce along quickly and naturally. A true collaboration.
The song Mystical Musical Maze is a bit lighter. We were still locked up when we wrote this song, and I imagined that my record player was my daily sonic salvation, and that David Bowie albums were often the vinyl that spun that salvation. As the song originally contained very little apart from a drum beat and a few keyboard notes/chords, we were able to find several different melodies as counterpoint. Denis and Dan wove them all together as a mark of respect for David Bowie, since our songs are dedicated to him, and more particularly as a reminder of DB’s Motown tribute album Young American.
How has the reception to Infinite Light been so far, and where can the tracks on the EP be purchased?
CM: The reception so far has BEEN AMAZING….
DE: This EP and the other Major Kami EPs and songs can be found on all the usual streaming platforms (Spotify, Soundcloud, Amazon) However, I’d like to highlight one of them in particular, Bandcamp https://majorkami.bandcamp.com/), as it’s the only one that pays artists without taking abusive commissions.
If you want to help Major Kami, it’s the only solution before the stages and vinyl records arrive next year!
Thank you in advance.
Are you planning to release a single in the near future?
CM: Major Kami have plans for a new single. We’re really selling the fact that we’re a collaborative band, which means we have a lot of singers and people involved…
DE: Absolutely, we’re planning stages and a lot of merchandising including vinyls and various memorabilia to mark this big moment, this meeting with the public who, I hope, will love Major Kami’s songs.
Are there any plans to release a full-length album?
DE: The plan for 2024 is to release one or two albums and to create a concept name. Major Kami is first and foremost Camille Miller, but we’re open to anyone who wants to get involved in their own country and perform Major Kami on stages there. The aim is to avoid excessive travel and protect the environment when success comes. The idea is also to get artists capable of bringing their energy to the stage to promote the world of Major Kami by performing it themselves and signing agreements with the DAMde8 association, which is in charge of organising the programme.
Our wish is to get a lot of artists working so that they don’t languish in their own corners, depressed
by the changes that have taken place in music culture and the world of music.
Your music has a unique dream-pop sound. What influences you most as artists? What have you been listening to recently?
Our influences come from David Bowie, definitely, but not only. Talking Heads; Ian Dury; Billy Eilish; Kae Tempest (especially for our song Burns In The Barns); Kate Bush; Björk; Kendrick Lamar ; Depeche Mode ; M83.
Major Kami is a French collective. What is the writing and recording process like?
CM: I was asked to take part in this project in 2019/20. We were locked up, and everything was online. The album grew out of a conversation and interest in creating an online album DEDICATED to David Bowie, but his name could never be mentioned. We’re still creating new songs today! Thank you so much for giving us some space to talk about it on your site!
Do you have any other exciting plans for this year?
DE: Yes, we’re currently preparing a second album to present with around twenty songs live on stage, and I’m putting out an advert here for all the female singers who’d like to offer their voices and get involved in this collective adventure. We’re looking for a female singer in each country, as well as a musician and sound engineer, to programme live performances of Major Kami songs.
For more information, please contact us at denis@damde8.com
You come from France. Where are you based? How’s the local music scene? Is it doing well?
DE : Yes, it is. The DAMde8 association that oversees the project is based in Bordeaux. The programming of the French stages requires a period of calm because of energy increases, which means that live performance venues have to add a substantial surcharge to their overheads. As a result, ‘small groups’ like ours are sacrificed for an uncertain period.
Hence the idea, to give Major Kami a better chance of being programmed, of setting up a stage with a minimum number of musicians and technicians in order to reduce the cost of the venue hosting us and, above all, to meet up with you and share a moment of pure pleasure with YOU!
Do you have any tour dates planned in the UK?
DE: Haha, no, it’s too early to say, but I’m putting out an ad to all the female singers who’d like to offer their voices and get involved in this collective adventure. We’re looking for a female singer in each country, as well as a musician and sound engineer, to programme stages linked to Major Kami’s songs. For more information, please contact us at denis@damde8.com
Any last words for the fans?
CM: Thank you for taking the time to listen to us, read this, follow us and do EVERYTHING you do!
The DAMde8 clan: Now our aim is to prepare stages, but with a different look and several faces because Major Kami is a musical identity with several faces. A singer in each port. We designed everything (right down to our relationships) over the internet, with an idea, reinforced by the constraints of Covid: we can develop a universe, a music, a sound, without being physically together. This proposal was created by Denis Expert who, like the hummingbird, wants to help protect the
planet.
DE: So now we’ve got a tour on the go where we’re continuing with the same idea: a strong, alternative, electropop sound with the style of the 80s, nostalgic and with a voice in every port. No big tour with the carbon footprint of a presidential plane, but a smaller team with local co-operation and the same identity for a common cause.
It’s a way of doing things that fits with the times. Concerts are planned for 2024, but we need the public, we need YOU!
In the meantime, take a moment to discover and listen to Major Kami!