Even for the country’s close-knit indie scene, the duo of Kimo Rizky and Kallula Harsynta Esterlita, better known by the musical moniker of KimoKal, still caught everyone by surprise. The pair certainly brings novelty to the scene. Their live shows are something to behold, featuring high-tech visuals to enrapture the audience.

The video for their first single “Under Your Spell” is one fine example of black-and-white minimalism that would not be out of place streaming from an indie-oriented webzine like Pitchfork or Stereogum. And then there’s the music. KimoKal blends elements of new-wave, psychedelic pop, British trip-hop and also craft what they personally call electronic pop. With bass beats that thump through your heart and hypnotic synths straight out of Kimo’s keyboard, in every performance Kimo and Kallula succeed in keeping the audience intrigued and wanting to experience their songs over and over again.

Founded in 2014, KimoKal released their debut album O in January 2016 and “Under Your Spell” was the first single from the album, which they plan to also market in Singapore, Malaysia, Japan and the UK.

The band’s history stretches further back. Kimo first heard about Kallula’s unique vocals in 2008 and begged her to join him in his latest project.

It took a while before Kallula agreed to the proposal.

“I was still with my alternative rock band LCD Trip at the time, and the track he showed me was an electronic composition to which I said no. It took him one or two weeks to convince me. When I finally listened to what would become ‘Under Your Spell’, I loved it and wrote the lyrics right then and there,” she said.

The duo worked on the track, which was soon released on iTunes.

The problem came when it was time to christen the band.

“So, I asked him what we should call our band? So we started with Kimo & Kal. But then, it sounded like some Nickelodeon show and we finally settled on KimoKal,” said Kallula.

When it comes to the name of their record, the duo likes to wax philosophical about it. Kimo and Kallula said that it was not a letter and that O refers to the how past, present and future would come full circle and that it would somehow intertwine with all its intricacies.

“What goes around comes around, really. First of all, we sort of took shape unintentionally since we come from different musical backgrounds, yet now we’re here and yes because we have worked quite hard,” Kallula said.

Kimo, however, was nonchalant about what the title means.

“Then again, if people wanted to call it the letter ‘O’, then it’s perfectly alright. We also want to leave it to people’s interpretation,” he said in a recent interview.

True to their independent roots, the duo never has a planned-out business strategy for the musical enterprise and let the music speak for itself. This work ethic was reflected in the song “Take Control Without Controlling” from the album, which turned out to be the two friends’ personal favorite.

“We wanted our first single ‘Under Your Spell’ to be an alter-ego of ourselves so to speak,” Kallula said when talking about their strategy. What matters to them was how they could bring out the emotional and visual experience to their audience through songs on their record.

As for their musical influences, the duo appears to have a taste for musicians that are not too well-known, or a genre deemed uncool in the current music scene. Kimo is very proud about his interest in 1960s and 1970s disco, as well as names like Norwegian DJ/producer Todd Terje. For modern texture in their electronic sounds, Kimo said they owed a great deal to British hip dance music duo Disclosure.

KimoKal is not a copycat though, Kimo insists.

“It doesn’t mean that I want to fill their shoes or try to be completely unique. What I do is adopt certain memorable elements from the music that I hear to create KimoKal’s distinct sound,” he said.

Kimo said KimoKal is heavy on the pop side, allowing people to be able to sing-along with Kallula’s melodies, and catchiness was the first thing that they attempted to create.

Fan favorite “Lonely Child” was an example of their work to blend all that elements. It has a seductive rhythm and blues guitar solo that is evocative of loneliness and languor, but serves as a background to Kallula’s raspy vocals and mixed with Kimo’s hypnotic music, it is surely one number that could keep you moving through the night.

“My purpose is to create a simple hook that people will immediately identify with us,” Kimo said.

When recording their materials, KimoKal puts a premium on spontaneity and by setting a target of one song per day during the session, the duo could catch inspiration and mood as they are happening and would not allow them to lose momentum.

“As a result, the feel and rhythm of 10 songs in the record are quite different because we felt different emotions. It would be almost useless to continue recording on the second or third day,” Kallula said.

That results in a rigid division of labor.

“So, we kind of have some studio rules where Kallula is completely in charge of lyrics and melodies, whereas I handle the music,” said Kimo.

And despite their ambition for going global, KimoKal wanted to start small.

“Sometimes, being diverse will attract foreigners, but I also want to reach out to our Indonesian listeners,” said Kimo.

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The writer is an intern at The Jakarta Post.

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