Kris ‘Karizma’ Klayton was about to quit music at the start of this year. New album Wall Of Sound, due out next month, changed his mind. Defected's Ben Lovett finds out why.
“It got me back to the music” he begins. “Before I started it I was wondering what I should do. I’m getting older now, and that made me question my relevance. I seriously questioned what my future might look like and whether this career was really worth it anymore. The answer, thankfully, was ‘yeah Kris, it is worth it; what else can you do with your particular skills... how else can you live?”
Klayton locked himself away in the studio between January and March, feverishly producing over 40 new tracks across everything from trademark swinging house to deep tech via bumpin’ dub grooves and peppy hip-hop and downbeat. 39 cuts were eventually confirmed for release, divided between Wall Of Sound’s double-vinyl, double-CD and digital download formats. It was one of the most creative, tuned-up moments of Klayton’s life.
“I’d definitely have left music without this album” he reflects. “It’s the album every artist has to have at some point in their career...the ‘selfish’ album. Every single track came from deep down inside; exactly the tracks that I wanted to make. There was no compromise. Wall Of Sound is a very personal album. The wider problem today is that so much music has nothing behind it. It’s cool, it’s hot, but there’s no feeling or substance. That really scares me, but after questioning my own place in music I realised I had to take a stand. So that’s what I’m doing.”
Wall Of Sound arrives some four years after Klayton’s last long-player, A Mind Of Its Own V2.0 – The Upgrade; a long gap determined by Karizma’s hectic international DJ commitments. “There’s been a lot of touring and I’m not someone who likes to juggle DJing with production. I can’t sit in-between, I need to be able to focus my energies on one discipline or the other,” he declares. “Working this way has given me time to breathe with the music. I don’t worry about trying to do everything, or feel pressured to rush out records or appearances every week just to keep my name out there. I’m quality over quantity.”
That said Klayton’s 20-plus year career most definitely delivers quantity. He debuted on Baltimore’s versatile club scene at the age of 13, playing house parties and fashion shows around the city with a focus on both hip-hop grind and house bounce. He was soon playing hip-hop on Morgan State University’s college radio station, as well as playing in bands (including Baltimore club crew Unruly) before connecting with local house talents DJ Pope and Oji, and in 1995, influential Basement Boys affiliate DJ Spen.
The Basement Boys encouraged Spen and Karizma to combine more regularly. When the pair co-remixed Mary J Blige’s Beautiful in 1999 Klayton realised there was an opportunity to do much more. Subsequently, their distinctive remix brand added feisty soul-house flavour to Kim English, Shaun Escoffery, Louie Vega and Everything But The Girl. The remixes have continued near enough to the present day, whilst productions have dropped for Basement Boys eponymous imprint and Spen’s Code Red.
All of this sits alongside Klayton’s impressive solo output (as Karizma as well as alias Kaytronik) for prestigious house labels including Black Vinyl, Ricanstruction, 83 West, Defected, Objektivity and, most latterly, London-based R2 (home to the new album, as well 2007 debut A Mind Of Its Own and the aforementioned 2009 ‘Upgrade’). There have been punchy remixes of Marvin Gaye through to Blaze, via DJ Gregory, and those aforementioned never-ending gigs.
Spen has had artistic doubts in recent months but surely he recognises the significance of his past achievements? “Sure, I mean, I still find a lot of things surreal, like doing this interview, or speaking to a fan in a club who can talk passionately about something I’ve done. And when I think about Wall Of Sound being my third album... all of it... I’m like ‘wow, I actually did that’! But I’m never totally content. I’m always thinking I can do better. This is a journey for me and I don’t want to get caught up in any one place. I don’t think I’m the best DJ-producer, there is always work to be done – as a musician, a DJ, a person....”
It’s a measured opinion translating clearly to the new record. “It’s really good; as I say it’s had a pivotal effect on me wanting to carry on in the game, but I’m not 100% about it” he says. “That said, I don’t think any artist is truly 100% happy with their work. If they say they are, then they’re lying.”
Karizma is, perhaps, a more thoughtful music-maker than most on his scene. Plans are drawn-up and productions are created “off the cuff,” and yet there is deep thinking behind them and Karizma-tic reason. “I won’t produce just for sales or a trend” he asserts. “I need emotional content whether I’m playing out or producing; everything needs a genuine reason behind it, even a re-edit. I draw a lot of feeling from what I’m experiencing at that time; I’ll be like ‘I’m feeling good today about such and such a thing, so this is how I’m gonna roll....’”
Part of that roll is also down to those Klayton chooses to work with, collaborations that often pinball his ideas in unexpected directions. Wall Of Sound, notably, features guest appearances from house spiritualist Osunlade and fast rising soul-dance spark Sean McCabe. “I didn’t completely isolate myself to make this record. I really love doing collaborations” he says. “What’s good is that they push you to places you wouldn’t usually consider going. I’ve looked up to Osunlade for many years, so to have finally got him on this record was amazing. I’ve been able to touch another part of dance music history right there. As for Sean McCabe, to see him coming up is a beautiful thing. He can always count on my support in plotting his own journey. That stuff we worked on together was also special; I think we both pushed each other to new places.”
So much so, in fact, that Klayton has been inspired to start recording another new album, based entirely on collaborations. He’s giving nothing more away for the moment, so what else can he tell us about the future? What else lies beyond the Wall?
Photo credit: Collin Williams
“There is an album I’ve started on with Atjazz [AKA Martin Iveson] as Exist” he reveals. “I just couldn’t let our partnership [forged back in 2008] sit on the side. Those three months in the dark making Wall Of Sound made me think about all of this stuff...the fact that I just need to keep making good music. I need to have the courage to ask people about working together and not worry as I have in the past that they’re going to say no or not think I’m good enough. I’m really happy now about the future and what it might bring. I’m really feeling the music again.”
Klayton’s second wind couldn’t have come at a better time. The widely documented return of Nineties-style vocal house and garage sits well with his over-arching soulful dance agenda. “It’s real cool” he agrees. “It’s given me the chance to come back and share my sounds. But whilst the current house thing is good for the old cats, we need to see the kids absorbing it and taking it forward to create the future. I have massive respect for people like Ben Westbeech and Disclosure. What Disclosure have done is dope, they’ve worked a major label set-up well without damaging the quality of their music. I mean I’d play their records.”
What does he think about the US mainstream’s fledgling fascination with club music?: “Honestly? It’s a joke. It’s like warming up old soup. I think it’s bad that the so-called godfathers of the EDM scene aren’t really godfathers at all. There are always new people coming through, which means there’s a lack of respect for artists and that carries through to the music. There’s no substance, the turnover of artists and records is incredible.”
Even on the underground, Klayton has noticed a distinct shift in attitude and vibe. “DJing has changed drastically” he sighs. “The audiences are so different today. It used to be about grabbing a girl, a drink and then embracing the music. It’s more of a social event now. People go to a club because they know a certain star DJ is playing and think they should be there. It’s no longer about the actual artist and the journey they’re trying to take you on.”
Klayton, who prefers to play on three CDJs (but really doesn’t mind what the set-up is so long as good music gets played), is prepared to fight for control of the modern dancefloor. “The current situation can’t be helped so I’m committed to doing what I can” he stresses. “People don’t wanna take a ride now they wanna drive the bus. There are always gigs like that so you’re thinking to yourself ‘I might have to go to that particular place and get them to trust me’; you do that hopefully by making the right record choices, reading the crowd well and playing with feeling. You have to filter down to the right things.”
Far from degrading that process, Klayton believes technology can actually help accentuate it. “Technology is all good” he comments. “I have an issue with DJs using the sync button because that takes the fun out of playing. But otherwise, technology is good. It’s potentially a platform for DJs to show off their skill and creativity in a way that hasn’t been done before...create that unique journey.”
Karizma, safe to say, is wholly back on his....
Karizma’s new album Wall Of Sound is released by R2 Records (UK) on September 2.
