FEATURE: Spotlight: KSMBA — Music Musings & Such

FEATURE:

Spotlight

PHOTO CREDIT: Rob Tennet for 10

KSMBA

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I want to shine a light…

PHOTO CREDIT: Rob Tennet for 10

on the amazing KSMBA. They are an incredible artist that I am fairly new to. They had an amazing 2025. I think that this year will be a truly huge one for them. Prior to getting to some interviews with the Naarm/Melbourne-based producer, singer and songwriter, there is a little bit of biography here that provided some background about KSMBA:

“No stranger to the transformative power of music, KSMBA is a rising force in Australia’s underground techno scene. They’ve graced the decks across Australia’s leading clubs and festivals; from Sub Club, to PICA, Miscellania, The Timber Yards, Club 77 and recent editions of Pitch Music and Arts, A3 Festival, Daybreak Festival and Let Them Eat Cake. Their journey has seen them championed by luminaries like Effy, Mall Grab, Sim0ne , Samba Boys and STÜM.

KSMBA’s artistry is a fusion of music, culture, and identity, a deeply personal yet universally resonant expression of self. Their music isn’t just sound, it’s a statement. A resistance to the heaviness, a space for vulnerability and connection in a world that often demands the opposite”.

Ever since discovering KSMBA, I am compelled to follow them. I think that this year will be see a lot of travel and some incredible new music. I am excited to see where they go. Last year, we got singles like Everything, and Eyes. The Eyes – EP came out in the summer. It would be great to see an E.P. from KSMBA that features a selection of original tracks. Maybe this will come later in the year when KMBRA puts out some more singles.

I am going to start out with a triple j interview from March last year. There are some interesting chats from last year. I think that KSMBA will come to the U.K. at some point in the year. This underground talent in the Australian Techno scene, I do think that there should be more airplay here for KSMBA. They are an artist I am excited to see bloom and grow in 2026:

“Finding solace in a “push and pull” and “give and take” nature of a live crowd, this energy exchange acts as the fuel that powers KSMBA’s output.

“There’s something in things that are a little more collaborative, that are a little more engaged with the current social and cultural context”

As an individual who identifies as “Ugandan, settler Australian, queer, non-binary, a classical musician, someone who loves cats” (the list goes on), their multifaceted nature is embodied in every speckle of what they create.

“When I first started producing music, I felt like those things had to come across in an obvious way. But as time’s gone on, I feel more comfortable in my identity and know that it’s inherently a part of whatever I do.”

Priding themself in honesty and authenticity, this transparency paves the way for their creation processes.

They’re a person who’s so clear in their vision and are no stranger to the transformative power of music, crazy to believe that they’ve been producing this type of music for only two years (!!).

So what is the origin story of KSMBA?

Great question!

Formally trained as a classical musician… more specifically a saxophonist, music has always been a part of KSMBA’s world.

As a self-proclaimed ‘party goer’, this project was brought to life after years of being involved in the dance scene. KSMBA felt so much freedom and euphoria in these spaces but never felt fully quite like they were getting what they wanted.

“So I decided to do it myself”

They jumped on the decks and learnt all there is to know about DJing.

Embracing the art form to its fullest, it wasn’t long before they furthered their skills and discovered their love for producing. It was at this point that they “unlocked a whole new world and depth of love for dance music”.

“Literally the first time I touched DJ equipment for the first time, there was this feeling of love at first sight that I’ve never experienced with anything else in my life”

And just like that, KSMBA was born!

When you hit the floor for a KSMBA set, you can expect plenty of grooves, deep techno and boundary pushing. Their intention is to always push the limits and invert the listener’s expectation. Plus, they’re forever chasing that golden feeling…

“I played my single, ‘Everything’ to the crowd at Let them eat cake on new years day, for the first time. There's eight bars before the drop that’s quite lush and synthy and I felt tangibly the energy change in the crowd. This collective “woahhh” made me choke up, even talking about it now, it makes me emotional.

Probably one of the most wild experiences of my life.”

“The next stuff is probably even more emotional, I’m honestly feeling quite nervous to release it, but very excited because it’s very vulnerable”.

The terrific Bella Kasimba created this incredible original and impactful music as KSMBA. 10 interviewed them earlier in the year. An artist that they note is moving the needle, their music is free and unfiltered – just like them. I love the fact they have this incredible background that includes Classical music and time in London. I wonder whether KSMBA will relocate to London a bit again or whether there is going to be more Classical elements brought into their sets:

“Roxy: Was there a shift that made you consciously realise that you wanted to be more honest in your music?

KSMBA: I think my life has been a series of reckonings. I started out as a classical musician from a young age. I pursued that so doggedly, totally fixated, and I loved it. I still love it but classical music never quite sat right in my body. There was always a feeling of constriction or slight unease with it. So I studied overseas and came back to Australia during Covid. I was about to move overseas [again] to do my master’s degree when lockdown happened. I asked myself if this was really the right thing for me. It was also at that point that I came out as gay and then a little after that I came out as non-binary. All this truthfulness in my personal life meant I was able to translate that into my music. About two years ago I switched to electronic music and last winter I had to face up to some things that had happened in my life. I also had a great new psychologist.

Roxy: That’ll do it.

KSMBA: I acknowledge the privilege I have to be able to take up even a small amount of space in the industry. I feel like coming from a community that isn’t often heard or given a seat at the table has made me realise my intention with music is to show up in these opportunities I get as honest. I realised that there was a lot I could be doing to a greater depth. It can be scary to be straightforward.

Roxy: Do you feel the pressure of commercial success?

KSMBA: I think about it a lot, yeah. People say, “Well, this is the way you have to do it.” But they don’t have life experience like mine. I think it’s vastly misunderstood that even if I took the exact same steps and did the exact same thing as, say, my white counterparts, I’m not going to have the same response. It gives me an opportunity because I know that even if I play by the rules, those rules aren’t going to work for me. It gives me a bit more freedom to just decide I’m just going to do what I want to do anyway. I think there can be pressure as a DJ or as an electronic act that you need to be making music that other DJs will play or that’s for partying, but I have to believe for my own sake that the possibilities are broader. That there’s more scope for different kinds of expression. It’s easy to classify people if you stick to one thing.

Roxy: How did you learn to produce?

KSMBA: I just downloaded Ableton. In the beginning, honestly, it was hours and hours of sitting at my computer. I’d say I’m still only just learning how to use it.

Roxy: Do you think classical music has helped you to produce and DJ? I also studied classical when I was younger and always felt that’s how I could understand production and DJing.

KSMBA: One hundred per cent. I’m so thankful for my previous life in music. The technical skills of learning to produce and write dance music is obviously different to how classical music is structured. The emotions and storytelling are different, but in terms of building a sense of musicality and even a musical identity, it has helped. I feel very lucky that I’m coming from a place where I have very clear ideas. The only growing pains are in the sense of trying to understand the software and translate what I want into a keyboard. It’s immensely satisfying.

Roxy: It’s very cool that you went to the Royal College of Music in London. I know you call it a past life but what was that experience like? What have you taken from it?

KSMBA: I look back and I actually don’t know how I did it. I was 18 when I got a scholarship to go study there and travelled across the world. I was the biggest nerd you can possibly imagine. I love that I just went and lived in this huge city on my own with no life skills. My degree was four years and it was amazing. There’s a lot of pressure there to keep performing and achieving. It was extremely difficult and I don’t know how I got through it, but it was unbelievably rewarding. I was extremely driven back then and I’m very emotionally greedy. I like to pursue things intensely and see how far my brain can take it. I’ve taken that with me. I’m still extremely close with my saxophone professor”.

Whether you see KSMBA primarily as a D.J. or artist, you can’t ignore the fact that they are getting so much buzz and love in Australia. I think some sites in the U.K. are getting behind KSMBA, but they are better known in Australia. I think that this will shift. I am ending with Mixmag and their interview from last summer. Even though KSMBA is a new talent, they have this experience that is not that common with artists we see as ‘rising’. I think that this year is going to be the biggest one yet for them:

“Unrestrained isn’t only a musical commitment when it comes to KSMBA’s relationship with electronic music. Becoming intertwined with Naarm’s queer culture and its music resulted in them dealing with a great deal of introspection. “When I left classical music, I was straight, aka in the closet, pursuing something that didn’t feel quite right. I hadn’t unpacked myself. I hadn’t come out as non-binary then. So it’s interesting to me, because my relationship with dance music has become so intertwined with me becoming more myself, more who I am. It’s letting myself just ‘be’, and exist with more ease.”

Music isn’t always the sole catalyst for change within a person however. It’s the sum of all of KSMBA’s experiences that made them open to the idea of change in the first place, and to be ready to adopt an entirely new way of thinking about their own relationship with music up until that point.

“If I had left it up to chance or luck completely, I would be where I was five years ago, which was in the closet and not a DJ,” they laughed. “It's like I finally found the right language for me, so how can I resist not doing that, you know, with every spare moment in my life?”

Drive, desire and determination have been the calling cards of hustle culture. It might be easy to assume that someone so clearly wanting to do or make something of themselves is ‘on that grindset’. Dance music has, to many, become another playground for metrics, trends, insights, data and business. Social feeds are littered with tips, tricks and courses designed to lure people into the idea of ‘hacking’ gigs and nailing transitions between some old R&B song and the latest hardgroove banger.

This idea couldn’t be further from it KSMBA’s idea of luck or chance. To them, dance music exists as complimentary to their changing outlook on life and the world around them.

“There are such limitless possibilities in electronic music,” they shared. “DJing is kind of like jazz. It’s a conversation, an improvisation, a push-pull relationship with the crowd or whoever’s experiencing it. To me, that just feels so limitless and free, and that’s why it’s probably going to take me ten, maybe fifteen years to be half decent at this thing.”

It may be somewhat ironic, then, to consider KSMBA’s genre of choice, techno.

Mixmag Australia / NZ · KSMBA: Mixmag ANZ Cover Mix 05

Techno has, in many ways, just become a word. It’s become interchangeable with ‘EDM’ to refer to dance music by those who aren’t familiar, and even to those within dance music it’s become a word to simply define hard, four-four music. For KSMBA, the definition of techno is flexible. Not in the sense that each time they use it it changes, but in the sense that it refers to music of different levels of harshness and emotion.

KSMBA is not one to mince words. In the modern day, artists have had to learn to become everything. Some might benefit from the presence of dedicated videographers, photographers and PR teams, but for the most part, the modern artist is expected to do this all themselves, to a point. The involvement of morally dubious global brands in more ‘underground’ dance scenes has forced an entirely new skillset for artists, one arguably ignored by the optimistic masses dominating more commercially successful lineups: politics.

KSMBA is not afraid to talk politics. Within modern dance music, and even on a broader political spectrum, the idea of being a ‘diversity’ inclusion is a conversation that still gets a lot of airtime. They’re under no illusion that, often, they are the only member of a lineup who is black, queer and gender diverse. They have, like so many others, been forced into political engagement due to who they are, and how hugely it differs from who most of the scene are: white men.

But KSMBA hasn’t shied away from what being in this position means, instead, they appear to relish the opportunity it provides to mix things up. This isn’t just on an industry level, but to them, on a broader cultural level too.

“In our culture at the moment a lot of people are asking ‘what can I take from this? What can I get from this? What can this give me?’ Something I’ve tried to reframe my thinking around is actually: ‘What can I give? What can I contribute? How can I make this better off than when I entered?’ People coming into any kind of relationship with the outlook of what can i take from this; that relationship is understandably going to become strained”.

Let’s end there. Such an amazing multitalented artist and D.J., I am glad to have discovered KSMBA. I do think that they are going to go a very long way. Last year was such a busy one for them. You know that things are going to go from strength to strength. This is a hugely impressive force in modern music that is…