After a night hosting BBC Radio 1’s weekly slot Kissy Klub, you’d think KISSY SELL OUT, real name Thomas Bisdee, would be ready to hit the hay. Instead, at 3am, the man is buzzing and more than willing to chat about his place in the electro scene. “I would describe my style as jump up electro-big garage with Eddie Van Halen on guitar – no, wait –Eddie Van Halen on keytar,” he laughs in a thick Essex drawl.
Kissy Sellout first made an impact in the UK DJing scene as a teen. It wasn’t until he joined the BBC as an ‘up-and-comer’ in 2007 presenting his new monthly concept In New DJs We Trust that his unique in-your-face sound caught on. The notion for his slot, he is quick to point out, developed from the importance of giving new guys a leg-up in the industry. triple j favourites Art vs Science are amongst those caught in Kissy’s net.
“I love LOVE Art vs Science!” Kissy enthuses. “I put their track Parlez-Vous Francais on my Mixmag CD. They’re tremendously talented. I saw them at the Winter Festival in Canberra last year [Warehouse] and they’ve the best guitar player. I’ve been playing for seven years and I’m not as good as him!”
Modesty oozes from the man, though his musical reputation precedes him. Kissy has done remixes for dance music’s biggest names including Chromeo, Calvin Harris and Groove Armada. His solo efforts, most notably Rikkalicious featuring Hervé, have culminated in the release of his debut album Youth. “The concept for the album [as the title suggests] is about celebrating childhood,” chimes Kissy, still beaming without a hint of lethargy. “That was kind of my mission statement and I think that’s how it’s sounded. It’s quite nostalgic and I tried to reference guys like Tears for Fears and Human League. You know like a young British schoolboy singing about naughty stuff.”
It is with this new material that Kissy is touring Australia. He has become a favourite of our sun-kissed crowds – a point that is clearly not lost on him. “I’ve really been so lucky in Australia, there’s been so many great opportunities,” he says. “The first time I played was at Field Day a few years ago to like 17,000 people which was totally crazy! Electro wouldn’t even be on the main stage in Europe so I would never play to so many people.”
As he prepares to grace the hanging decks at Lot33 on Saturday March 27, his craft has become an introspective process. “I think I toured with the band slightly too early [last tour],” he contemplates. “I’m DJing this time round. I felt like I had to really step up my game as a DJ and do something new. I’m only playing tracks for like 30 seconds to a minute, which means I have greater freedom in track selection I think. I can take more risks so there is an element of danger now, like everything could fall apart at any moment.”
Fingers crossed it doesn’t!
Catch Kissy Sell Out’s DJ set at Lot33 on Saturday March 27.
