Kit Downes and me have been buddies ever since meeting on MySpace sometime in 2006/2007. I can’t remember how exactly I came across his profile, but I definitely remember loving the recordings on his page right away. (There was one track in particular, which I still ask him about these days… a string quartet which was kind of the backdrop for some amazingly beautiful piano lines by him. I so want to hear this again!) We sent each other messages and quickly became friends, bonding over our shared love for certain things (John Taylor, loads of video games, movies etc.)
Apart from hanging out together a lot throughout the years, we got to play duo concerts, did a double-bill tour with both our trios trough Germany & UK, shared the piano chair for a record of our friends Veronika Morscher & Matthew Halpin (“The Owl Ones”) and finally in 2018 I started a new band which features Kit on organ. Getting to witness Kit’s musical and personal journey over the years has been a wonderfully inspiring experience and I always look forward to hearing what he’s up to next- I’m a huge fan of his music!
I love the records of his first trio with James Maddren and Calum Gourlay (“Golden” , “Quiet Tiger” & “Light From Old Stars”), his duo records with Lucy Railton (“Tricko”) or Tom Challenger (“Wedding Music” & “Vyamanikal”), the ENEMY album and of course his ECM solo organ masterpiece “Obsidian” and much more!
Right from the start, It was clear to me that I had to include Kit in this series of interviews. In fact, Kit was one of the very first people I talked to about my initial idea to interview musicians and his encouragement was essential for me actually doing it.
Talking to him about music (or anything else, really) is always highly inspiring, deep and fun! I’m happy we can share this with all of you now. Enjoy!