Name: Kids Return
Members: Adrien Rozé, Clément Savoye
Interviewee: Clément Savoye
Nationality: French
Occupation: Songwriters, vocalists, producers
Current release: Kids Return's debut album Forever Melodies is out via Ekleroshock / Hamburger.

If you enjoyed this interview with Kids Return, visit them on Instagram, and Facebook.



Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

The impulse to create comes mainly from our friendship. We inspire each other, we are very complementary. We watch a lot of film and listen to a lot of music together.

We like to compose in the countryside or in the mountains, far from the city.

For you to get started, do there need to be concrete ideas – or what some have called a 'visualisation' of the finished work? What does the balance between planning and chance look like for you?

It depends on the song. Sometimes we'll make a melody with just guitar and voice, and record everything at once afterwards, sometimes we come up with the melodies as we produce the song.

Is there a preparation phase for your process? Do you require your tools to be laid out in a particular way, for example, do you need to do 'research' or create 'early versions'?

Yes, we are always doing what we call "demos". But for our first record almost all the demos ended up as songs on the record.

Do you have certain rituals to get you into the right mindset for creating? What role do certain foods or stimulants like coffee, lighting, scents, exercise or reading poetry play?

We like open spaces. With lots of windows, close to nature.

We like to make good recipes of Tuscan pasta. With a good glass of red wine.

What do you start with? How difficult is that first line of text, the first note?

We almost always start with the melody!

When do the lyrics enter the picture? Where do they come from? Do lyrics need to grow together with the music or can they emerge from a place of their own?

In our process, lyrics often come at the end.

The impetus for a lyric can come from either Adrien or me, depending on what we've experienced in our lives. Each one will help the other to write the feeling he wants to evoke.

What makes lyrics good in your opinion? What are your own ambitions and challenges in this regard?

Good lyrics are sincere lyrics.

Once you've started, how does the work gradually emerge?

Yes, from time to time the work may change direction during the creative process, from time to time it follows its path.

This is the magic of music.

Many writers have claimed that as soon as they enter into the process, certain aspects of the narrative are out of their hands. Do you like to keep strict control over the process or is there a sense of following things where they lead you?

You have to keep a certain lightness, follow the melody, when it comes. Don't set any limits.

It's in the second stage that you have to know a little more where to go and what to say when you start producing.

Often, while writing, new ideas and alternative roads will open themselves up, pulling and pushing the creator in a different direction. Does this happen to you, too, and how do you deal with it? What do you do with these ideas?

It's great, you have to take it as a gift, as long as you can find your way around it and it inspires you, and again, you don't get lost.

There are many descriptions of the creative state. How would you describe it for you personally? Is there an element of spirituality to what you do?

Drinking good wine and eating well.

Especially in the digital age, the writing and production process tends towards the infinite. What marks the end of the process? How do you finish a work?

We took the computer out of the studio to compose, precisely for these reasons.

It's too complicated to make music in the computer, there are too many possibilities.

Nothing is easier than a piano, a good acoustic guitar and a minimoog.

Once a piece is finished, how important is it for you to let it lie and evaluate it later on? How much improvement and refinement do you personally allow until you're satisfied with a piece? What does this process look like in practise?

Once a piece is composed and produced, there is still the mixing and mastering. This is another method. Sometimes a song can be mixed on the first try, sometimes you make 50 versions. It's an exercise that we like a lot.

It's crazy to see how much your song can evolve until the last moment.

What's your take on the role and importance of production, including mixing and mastering for you personally? How involved do you get in this?

It's very important.

The most important thing is the melody. But if your song is poorly produced and mixed, you miss out.

After finishing a piece or album and releasing something into the world, there can be a sense of emptiness. Can you relate to this – and how do you return to the state of creativity after experiencing it?

In order not to have that feeling of emptiness, we start writing our second record while on tour when our first record is just coming out.

Creativity can reach many different corners of our lives. Do you personally feel as though writing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

Precisely its timelessness. A melody is timeless, it will remain when we are gone, unlike this cup of coffee.

This is one of the reasons why we called our record "Forever Melodies".