MikroBrute reflects on the long evolution of “Kneel,” creative frustration as fuel, remote collaboration, DIY production, and the emotional turning points that shaped the song into its final, deeply personal identity.
1.
“Kneel” evolved over more than a year. At what point did you realize the song
had finally found its true identity?
I think probably when I figured out what I was trying to write about. I had an
idea what I wanted the song to be about but at some point the story behind the
song and the structure aligned and started to make sense - so that was the
point when it finally got to it's true identity when the structure of the song
was supporting the story I was trying to tell.
2. You’ve mentioned boredom with familiar guitar patterns sparked the piano
idea. How important is discomfort or creative frustration in pushing your
songwriting forward?
Probably one of the most important things. I f you keep repeating the same
things, they're not interesting to you so there's no spark. Pushing yourself
into an area that you're not used to sparks your interest and, by extension,
your creativity.
3. The track shifted organically from indie to melodic metal. What was the
moment where the heavier direction felt unavoidable?
The heavier direction was always there but I was originally writing
"Kneel" with the idea of playing it live with a band, and, as such I
limited myself to that context initially. I was just after getting a seven
string that I had intended to use live but when I stopped thinking of it as a
live song and instead something I was recording / producing I could lean into
the heavier elements without having to worry about how to translate that into a
workable live format.
4. Lyrically, Kneel is rooted in witnessing family members face serious
illness. How did translating such personal experiences into music affect you
emotionally as a writer?
Probably a little cathartic. Its nice to have a way to express both the anger
and hopefullness related to serious illness in a format as simple and complex
as music - it communicates things that can't really be put into words and can't
be expressed in other ways.
5. The song emphasizes inner resolve over dependence on external systems.
Was this message something you consciously set out to express, or did it reveal
itself during the process?
Definitely something that came up through the process of writing it. The
initial attempt was very surface level related to standard feelings around
illness but the inner resolve element became part of it, subconciously
initially, from seeing people deal wih serious illness. That's not to dismiss
external systems at all but it's just something I noticed that people developed
as they worked through illness - this kind of steely inner resolve to keep
going.
6. You collaborated with musicians via Fiverr for solos, drums, and vocals.
What surprised you most about working with remote collaborators you’d never met
in person?
That they tuned into the vibe of the songs so quickly. Everyone I worked with
delivered something great and usable straight away and really added to the song
and took in directions that I didn't have originally. The guitar solo bent note
into the vocal is probably one of my favourite parts of the song and it's
something that I didn't really have in my original and as a result I dropped
everything else out of the track to emphasize that part. Originally it just
kicked back in simply.
7. Hearing a female vocalist sing the melody seems to have been a turning
point. How did that change your perception of the song’s emotional weight?
It was the moment I knew what it was about - maybe not totally but I definitely
knew the shape of it. Every decision about the song happened from then on.I
think if it had a male vocal I would never have understood what I was trying to
convey and would have wrestled with it instead of it flowing.
8. You originally wrote the riff without realizing it was in 3/4. Do you
enjoy those “happy accidents” where instinct beats theory?
Absolutey, there's multiple happy accidents throughout Kneel, parts where I
muted the wrong channel or where I played the wrong chords over sections. A lot
of the time they're the best bits, like ideas that fell into your lap that you
get to say, yeah, of course I meant to do that.
9. Recording Kneel at home on a mini PC is a very DIY approach. What are the
advantages and limitations of working in such a stripped-down environment?
In some ways we're in both the golden and dark ages of music. There's no
instrument that's not available using some VST if you want a mellotron on a
track you can load it up in a few seconds, before hand you would have had to go
to a studio with a functioning mellotron. The pallet is limitless in many ways.
Which is probably also the disadvantage, with no limits it's hard not to keep
adding stuff when it's not needed. Also, it limits innovation, when you think
of The Kinks having to cut up guitar amps and cabs to get the tone they wanted,
or George Martin stitching together tapes, you can achieve all that with a
mouse click now. In some ways it takes away intention and limits that creative
process when instead of making do with something you can call up a philharmonic
at your finger tips. Not deafening the neighbours is a bit of a problem and
looking like an absolute prick silently trashing out guitar parts - it's
refreshingly grounding.
10. You’ve said you don’t release music just for the sake of releasing it.
How do you personally decide when a song is truly ready to be shared?
In some ways I don't - it's hard to leave something go and there's always stuff
that you would prefer to be better but mainly I stick with whether it's still
fun to work on or whether it's turning into a job. When it starts felling like
a chore, it's time to walk away.
11. You don’t currently perform live and prefer writing and recording. What
does music give you in the studio that the stage doesn’t?
Freedom. Live is far less limiting than it was but it still is in terms of what
you can achieve and how enjoyable it is. Dragging amps, guitars, keys, drums to
a venue, sitting through another run of the floor toms for soundcheck worrying
about ticket sales - in some ways it's a special kind of hell, that isn't
always balanced out by the post gig glow. Intending to pla something live does
limit your deicison when you're writing as well, maybe not intentionally but
you do kind of wonder whether you're going to be able to get the guitar to
sound like the ten layered tracks you have on the recording and whether you can
play this part live or strip it down. If you're just recording for the sake of
recording then you can do whatever you like without thinking about whether to
midi sync a backing track. Also, I'm a bass player really (possibly
genetically) - I'm not convinced that there's any benefit to playing bass live.
12. Looking ahead, do you see Kneel as a standalone statement, or the
beginning of a broader chapter in the MikroBrute project?
Kneel is kind of standalone. Most of the stuff I have written and am thinking
of for MikroBrute are standalone and it comes back to that same thing as the
not playinig live etc. I don't have to worry about keeping some sort of
consistent style or sound. One of the things I was working on is an 80's synth
song and I have an acoustic song somewhere. In some ways it's nice to be able
to push a song into a style of music that suits the intention of the song and
in oher ways it keeps it interesting. With the music industry the way it is, I
don't think many people are out there trying to make it or hoping that they'll
be the next big thing, so music is kind of a hobby and restricting yourself for
a hobby seems self defeating. It's nice to make music to just make music and,
in some ways, I'd be happy to just have a set of songs sitting on a hard-drive
only I know about but the other side of that coin is that you end up with
snippets and unfinsihed bits and peices. Releasing something kind of forces you
to finish it to at least a reasonable level and then it's done - it becomes
it's own thing. So really, MikroBrute is a means to stop me being lazy but it's
not a defined thing.
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