An Introduction: Klassik
(5 min read)
We’d like you to meet one of the Milwaukee area’s most exciting artists, Klassik. He has been creating innovative work for over a decade, seamlessly melding styles like jazz and hip-hop, bringing them to totally new and unexpected territory. We sat down with the multi-instrumentalist, performing artist and producer to talk about his new record, where a new fan should start, and the creative community in Milwaukee.
LAB NOTES: For those unfamiliar with your music, how do you describe your sound?
KLASSIK: Multi-layered; lush. Equal parts jazz, hip-hop, R&B, and overall pretty alternative. Soulful, intimate, insightful, and sometimes haunting or eerie.
LAB NOTES: What are your favorite things about the creative community in Milwaukee?
KLASSIK: Our unwavering commitment and dedication to the city, and to cultivating and maintaining its intensity. Right now it feels like everyone is really putting their best foot forward and it's a motivation/inspiration circulation. Self-sustaining fuel for the artistic fire. We all want it to be great, and have always wanted it to be something respected and recognized; now that quality is there across the board and has depth and variance.
LAB NOTES: Tell us about your newest record, QUIET. Where does the title come from? What can listeners expect in terms of sound and subject?
KLASSIK: I took a trip with some friends shortly after releasing the last album, SEASONS. It may have been a year after. We were on the river bank hanging and talking, and at this one magical moment, all of the side conversations and small talk stopped, and all you could hear is the river. It was the most beautiful feeling, that quiet, and it felt immensely important. I remember waking up the next day and the word "quiet" was the first thing in my head. My artistic direction for the next few years was born from that moment, really.
Shortly after that, I got an OWI, and really went down this dark path of depression and alcohol and drugs. This whole time, I'm kind of in this downward spiral and "quiet" is the only constant. It becomes emblematic of my growth and me dealing with trauma and addictions and all of this internal conflict, and slowly, piecewise, these songs come out of me over that three-year span. It really became a multi-layered, conceptual project. Every song relates back to the theme of quiet and really calling out all that which threatens the peace and serenity of being rid of the noise that society throws at us, 24/7. Sound-wise, there are variations on themes, and there's this vocal-loop sampling I use on almost every song that is this sonic metaphor for the river and the significance of its fluidity, even in its perceived stillness. Introspection theme music.
Right now it feels like everyone is really putting their best foot forward and it's a motivation/inspiration circulation. Self-sustaining fuel for the artistic fire.
LAB NOTES: If you had to pick just one track to entice a potential new Klassik fan, what would it be?
KLASSIK: The last song on the album. It's a song called SPIRIT, and it features my basically-family SistaStrings, along with some trumpet from my good friend Sam Neufeld. Kinda gospel and pretty harmonies, a dash of inspirational and clever raps, a fire beat (produced by me of course!)... I think that song gives a lot of hope and closure to the album, and has all of my skill sets on display. It was only recently moved to outro position, as I was really fighting the cliche upbeat hopeful ending. But the song is so upbeat and hopeful and big that anything after that was getting crushed lol, so it made its way to its rightful place, and I think if I wanted to give someone the summation of Klassik as an artist, I guess starting with the summation of my latest body of work would be a good spot!
Find more info on Klassik, his music and videos, head over to his website: www.iamklassik.com