Biography
KiNo is a poet/singer from London who expresses himself with works of music, films and literature.
His musical nature took hold of him at the age of 6 while making songs only on the black keys of the family organ. In his teens, his use of video camera and VCR recorder led him to grasp the technical aspects of filmmaking. His literary heroes, the surrealists, gave him his concerns about history, language, civilisation; social and spiritual constructs of the human psyche.
After graduating from the University of Middlesex, London with Film Studies and Art History degree KiNo arrived in New York, where he developed his artistic expression under the wings of his mentor/producer, a long term Pink Floyd collaborator Jeff Blenkinsopp (Vangelis, The Sweet, Secret Machines).
Inventor of analogue sonic devices, Blenkinsopp produced KiNo's debut, the concept album Map of the Universe which is constructed on the following evocation: "Come and see the pretty chaos, in another form, the map of the universe is a human".
Blenkinsopp developed one of a kind equipment to engine KiNo's live presentation, processing the live music to psychedelic dimensions.For these performances, he has been joined by legendary musicians such as electronic music pioneer Malcolm Cecil (Producer of Stevie Wonder, Gil Scott Heron, inventor of the world's largest synth Tonto) and Andy Rourke (Bassist of The Smiths).
Consisting a vast array of influences from psychedelic rock to disco, electronic to classical music, from Godard to Chaplin, Melville to Kitano, KiNo's songs are crafted for his distinct voice and features adventurous forms while maintaining a melodic aesthetic. To him each song is a person, a sequence or a situation in filmic terms. They are the building blocks to manifest the crucial aspects of his character as 9 (pronounced: 'Number Nine'); the child-core of the poet - the self within the self that refuses to be bound by the impure constructs of the world, i.e., nationality, language, class, religion, economy, etc.
In 2011, KiNo began documenting his creative journey and collaborations in the format of an ongoing web series called Live! (pronounced as in the verb). Site for Live!
In 2012, he shot Film Istanbul. A short feature that alludes to Istanbul's psychological and historical layers, set against the backdrop of Jane Birkin's musical collaboration with Ilhan Ersahin (Nublu). Site for Film Istanbul
In the summer of 2012, KiNo started the production of his second record, Corpus Enigma in Rome, Italy. The album is formatted as a collection of film-songs. KiNo conceptualised Corpus Enigma to be in a poetic kinship with Michelangelo Antonioni's film L'eclisse (1962).
The first finished piece, Cast a Pall of Win, seeks a new form to save a song from the music video format. The themes about inspiration from alienation, self-criticism on being an independent in the isolating conditions of the current culture emerge in this 10 minute film. Site for Cast a Pall of Win
KiNo is the writer, cinematographer, director and editor of his films. He is a self-taught multi-instrumentalist and a versatile lyricist. He engineers his recordings and (co-)produces his music. His texts are 'sharp, melodious pinprick of images that shock the eye of one's subconscious'.
KiNo is based in New York City and lives in Los Angeles part time.
