FKJ (French Kiwi Juice) has been quietly building a reputation for himself for a little while now, and his spellbinding Tiny Desk Concert - filmed in his home studio in the Philippines - looks set to expand his audience even further.
The 17-minute clip sees the talented artist (AKA Vincent Fenton) demonstrating his guitar, keyboard, drum and sax chops as he builds a series of infectious looped grooves in Ableton Live, which is being controlled by an Akai APC40 mkII. There’s some jazzy soloing on Yamaha’s Reface CS, while the Sequential Circuits Six-Trak synth also gets a look-in.
The Tiny Desk performance comes as FKJ releases his second album, Vincent. One track, Greener, features legendary guitarist Carlos Santana, a collaboration that came about after FKJ wrote to him thanking him for his inspiration.
“I told him I would listen to the radio as a young boy, in the days before Spotify, waiting for his song Smooth to come on so I could tape it, and that he plays his instrument like it has its own language and it speaks to me,” he says. “I just didn’t think he’d end up saying he’d be happy to play on my track.”
Santana has also commented on the collaboration, saying: “It is a joy to collaborate and share music with my brother Vincent (FKJ) on ‘Greener.’ Together we have painted a canvas of colour, texture and musicality that we know will bring you courage and a deep awareness of your own light and life. Once that happens, there’s no division, separation, or fear. It’s just joy.”
Other collaborators on the album include Toro Y Moi and Little Dragon’s Yukimi Nagano, while FKJ has also remixed tracks for PinkPantheress and Moses Sumney.
