Konessi talk new EP and 'SOPHIA' visualisation, a young man's search for purpose

"Crescendoing experiences that are as equally powerful on a sound system as they are enjoyed solo on an empty road."

Ryan Edwards and Simon Horne have paired up under the alias of Konessi and released a five-track EP ‘FKOFd053’ plus a stunning music video for lead track ‘SOPHIA’, out now on Fat Kid On Fire (FKOF).

FKOF was founded in 2010 and launched as a label in 2013. It has since being recognised as one of the UK’s leading digital publications and has won awards from The Guardian and the dubstepforum among more, they have released bass-focused music across physical and digital formats from some of the most exciting producers across 140bpm.

Simon Horne of Konessi released with the label when he was making tunes under the Nanobyte alias and it was one of their most popular releases from the label’s last 8 years. The new collaborative EP is the second after the Mr. Shadow EP on Kokeshi last year.

The dubstep-esque tunes sit at 140 bpm but tend toward the tonality of Four Tet – equally as suited to the dance floor as they are for listening at home or on headphones. Next year there will be a live (instrumental) show to look out for. Dummy caught up with Ryan and Simon to find out a bit more about them and chat about the EP, which consists of tracks ‘SOPHIA’, ‘SHIVA’, ‘KAMBO’, ‘SUTRA’, and ‘UNION’.

Where are you from?

We’re born and bred Welsh boys from Cardiff.

What music are you influenced by?

Burial was a game changer for us. When ‘Untrue’ came out it blew us away. Following on from there, people like Thom Yorke, Lapalux, Floating Points and Gidge to name a few.

What’s your joint-writing process?

Pre-pandemic we used to meet up regularly in the studio. During the lockdowns we learnt to work remotely, which has proven to be very fruitful. We now start most ideas separately and send them to each other. The ones that catch our ear end up being worked on in the studio together.

What’s the concept for the music video?

Inspired by the title of the music and the depth of the emotion the track has at its core, ‘SOPHIA’ is about the desire for wisdom. Told in a symbolical and ambiguous way, the story represents a young man’s search for purpose as he grapples with mortality, the question of God and the path to enlightenment.

What can we expect for the rest of the EP?

‘SHIVA’ steps things up a notch and has it’s grounding in dub. ‘KAMBO’ is a bit more lowkey, with its percussive frameworks and meditative framing. ‘SUTRA’, is a good example of what to expect from our live show, crescendoing experiences that are as equally powerful on a sound system as they are enjoyed solo on an empty road. ‘UNION’, has smoky Untrue-esque spaces with more organic textures and Ry’s warped out vocals.

Stream the EP here or watch the video for ‘SOPHIA’ below.