Moore Kismet Talks Biggest Set Of The Year, Upcoming Skrillex Collaboration, Inspirations, And More In Exclusive HIHF Interview

Moore Kismet connected with the Heard It Here First team at Electric Zoo: Hyperspace for an exclusive interview detailing their EZoo set, upcoming projects, inspirations, and more. As a dominant force pushing the boundaries of electronic music production, Moore Kismet has been utilizing their multifaceted skills to curate an innovative project like none other.

From praise from the legends of EDM to serious credibility amongst the underground world, all eyes are on Moore Kismet as they gear up for their newest era. Check out the conversation below to learn more about what’s next up for this rapidly rising star!

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HIHF: Hey Heard It Here First fam, Ty Orloski here at Electric Zoo: Hyperspace with the one-and-only Moore Kismet, non-binary 18-year-old DJ, producer, visual artist, and creative hailing from Los Angeles. With their one-of-a-kind soundscapes gracing the likes of Red Rocks, Coachella, Bonnaroo, and more, Moore Kismet is serving as a trailblazer in a lane of their own.

As you gear up for your biggest set of the year, what is the energy feeling like today? How have you prepared?

Moore Kismet: It’s been pretty crazy so far, of course, I’m sure everybody has seen all of the cancellations. It’s been very stressful for me because this is my biggest gig and festival of the year, so I really just wanted to make sure it was as good as it could possibly be. I’ve literally been working on this set for the last two weeks and I didn’t finish the final setlist until 4 a.m. I didn’t go to sleep until 5 a.m. and I was still worried about whether or not it was going to be canceled, couldn’t go to sleep, and woke up to the announcement that everything was clear and back on. I was like, “Okay cool, I can go into this with no other fears other than, ‘Are people going to like what I’m doing?'”, which is already a pretty crippling fear in and of itself, but it’s one that I’m getting over as I get older and as I do more shows, so I’m getting used to it.

I’ve been preparing by looking through all of the music that I’ve been working on, working on new edits specifically just for this festival, asking my friends for their IDs, and picking the best of the bunch to really just make sure I’m curating the best possible set with the best possible flow between each section. I think this was probably the most work that I’ve put into a set in months, so it’s really important that I curate this energy and this vibe because this new era of Moore Kismet is meant to be one of energy, color, and excitement, so I wanted to let the music match up with that as well.

HIHF: I love that and I’m sure it’s going to translate into your set.

You linked with HIHF for a killer Spotify playlist takeover to prepare us for your EZoo set — What is your process like in choosing what other artists’ tracks you incorporate into your set to compliment your own sound?

Moore Kismet: I think for me, it’s really just a matter of seeing where I am creatively at the time of working on certain things. Once I start placing things in my set, if I go on Soundcloud and listen to my friends’ releases and I hear something that I like that might be the vibe, I tend to download that and see where it fits within a certain section. Typically, the way that I structure an hour set is like the first ten minutes of high-energy dubstep/trap in D-sharp minor, and from there, I kind of go into trap stuff for twenty minutes or so. At the thirty-minute mark of the set, I go into house, which is where I really try to find the weirdest, most fun, most energetic stuff. There aren’t many people doing too much unique stuff with house music, and so if there are people who are doing unique stuff with house music, I try to prioritize that and find the most energetic, hardcore stuff that I can put into fit the vibe of the set, while also just really making sure that that section is one-of-its-kind and one-of-its-own within the set. The last fifteen minutes is back to dubstep, and then I end with my song, “Rumor”.

HIHF: Speaking of house edits, it seems like your creative gears are always turning, with Shadient teasing an unreleased ID between the two of you in his most recent mix. How did that collab come about?

Moore Kismet: Yes, which I will be playing today! Morgan and I have been friends for a really long time — a couple of years now — but more recently he’s been expressing his admiration and respect for what I’m doing as a creative which made me feel really great because I’ve felt the same way about him for the longest time. We’ve been trying to work on something together for a while, and we had started an idea but didn’t really like where it was heading. So, we ultimately decided to completely reevaluate what we wanted to do creatively and collaboratively, start completely from scratch, and that’s how “Bulletproof” — which is the working title of the song right now — came about. We both work in FL Studio and so I used a lot of stock plug-ins to make the main synths and basses in the drop and went from there, sent it to him, and he added a bit of his magic to it. I’m really excited to continue working on it with him and finishing it up, because I love him a lot and he is probably one of the most insanely talented people I know.

HIHF: You have such a distinctive sound, listening through the mix the first time, I didn’t even have to check the timestamp… I was like “Yeah, that’s the track”.

Moore Kismet: That’s really comforting because I’ve been working really hard on making sure that the Moore Kismet sound is as distinguishable but as fresh as it possibly can be.

HIHF: Of course. You’ve been praised by so many electronic legends from Alison Wonderland to Skrillex and beyond. From your Horizon remix with Noisia and Skrillex, to Skrillex spinning your Animals remix in his own set, the exposure you’ve received is incredible. Can you tell us a little bit about your rumored upcoming Skrillex collab?

Moore Kismet: I feel like this might finally be the best place to talk about this. It’s really kind of more about what he’s feeling and wants to work on creatively at the time. I think both of us were just kind of in our own lanes at the period where we initially started the record, and now we’re in a completely different place with our creative flows. I think it’s just a matter of revisiting something soon, but in the meantime, there’s nothing actively going on that we had before. I know a lot of people have been asking about it and poking around to see if I might’ve played it before. For me, I just wanna make sure when it happens, it happens right, and it’s special, iconic, and when you hear it, you’ll know.

HIHF: What can you tell us about the new music you hinted at dropping next week? Can fans expect an album or project anytime soon?

Moore Kismet: Yes, so no album, no project soon, but I am working really hard on two projects for the foreseeable future that I’m really excited about. In the meantime, this release next week is actually a remix I have for my dear friend, MAX. He’s worked with a lot of electronic legends like Whethan, Flux Pavilion, and so many more, and I have a remix for his song, “Strings” which features JVKE and Bazzi. I literally knocked it out in like two days; it was a lot of fun and it’s definitely something that people won’t expect from me, but it still has the perfect amount of Moore Kismet unicorn flavor to it that I think people are gonna be really excited about.

HIHF: Legendary, we can’t wait to hear it! Can you tell us anything about the animated show you are working on?

Moore Kismet: My series, Stargazers, has been dormant because a lot of the people I worked on it with are my close friends from high school, and a lot of them are now in college, forging their own paths. It’s just a matter of us resuming conversations about it at some point when we all feel right coming back to it, but I still have so much love for what we have done with it so far. Hopefully, once the WGA strike quells, and writers, actors, and everybody else in the industry is paid what they deserve, we’ll be able to revisit conversations about making it a reality.

HIHF: Lastly, at HIHF, we love to spotlight up-and-comers in the electronic space. With the Moore Kismet project taking off, who are five emerging artists who are on your radar that you want to spotlight?

Moore Kismet: SØNATA is incredibly talented and adds a very unique flavor to color bass. Laxcity, my best friend in the entire world, incredibly talented, African-born, UK-based artist best known for his chill stuff, but is also a beast when it comes to making bangers. There is so much about creating music the way I feel comfortable making it that I would have never known if I hadn’t learned it from him. I will also again mention Shadient — super, super talented. Akeos and Syzy are the last two. Syzy specifically has an album coming out sometime in the future that I’m really excited about because it is probably some of my most favorite, creatively freeing music of theirs I’ve ever heard. So SØNATA, Laxcity, Shadient, Akeos, and Syzy.

HIHF: Thank you so much Moore Kismet, you heard it here first, we are so excited for your set today. Thank you for talking with us!

Moore Kismet: Absolutely, thank you for having me!