Having taken a diversion in 2023 to work with German Queen Of Synthwave NINA on the ‘Lust’ EP. KID MOXIE is back on the soundtrack trail.
Recorded at her Lemon Tree Studios, the spine-tingling ‘Close To You’ is not a cover of THE CARPENTERS but a self-written song by Elena Charbila for the film ‘Don’t Open the Door’. An independent Greek horror movie by two brothers The Unboxholics has become massively popular in its home. Far from civilization, in a frozen forest on an inhospitable mountainside, a group of researchers is attacked by an unidentified figure. The sole survivor, a young biologist, takes refuge in the isolated cabin of a mysterious man…
Elena Charbila chatted to ELECTRICITYCLUB.CO.UK about this latest commission as well as what else is on the horizon as KID MOXIE…
So was ‘Close To You’ specially written and produced for the film ‘Don’t Open The Door’ or was it a song that you’d had on your computer for a while?
Yes, it was very much specifically for the film, its’ the first song I’ve fully, written, produced, mixed and mastered ever. This film happens to be one of the most successful Greek movies at the domestic box office in decades. It was a scary process as I’d never fulfilled a whole song on my own before. In the past, I’d always done as much as I felt could and then given it over to a co-producer or mixer.
As this was a homemade film, I wanted it to be full home made at my end as well. I locked myself up in my studio and pulled all the blinds down… where I live, there’s a lot of sun usually so for about 3 days, I lived in complete darkness, this is a really dark film and this particular song was going into one of the most pivotal scenes of the film and it’s a really dark scene by subject matter because of the location so I wanted to put myself where the actors were… and that’s how the song was born!
“If you bleed, I die…” is quite a striking statement?
Yes, this might be my favourite lyric in the song, just because it is very striking… I’m into striking things whether that’s a statement or an image. It also goes very much hand in hand the theme of the movie which has to do with karma. It also has something very lethal yet very erotic as a statement, the play on words in that it has something to do with death and has something to do with sex, it’s just very intriguing to me…
… and very Shakespearean too! The Unboxholics have directed the video ‘Close To You’ although the visual aesthetic is quite different from the film trailer?
So part of it was shot on location where one of the film’s pivotal scenes was shot and part of it was shot at The Unboxholics’ home studio which makes it look like I’m in a Ridley Scott set, like I’m in ‘Blade Runner’ or Cyberpunk land or something… I would say half of it matched the aesthetic of the film and half of it matches what I love and what The Unboxholics love which is that neon / vaporwave aesthetic.
You’ve been on social media quite a bit of late, is this a modern “needs must” situation to maintain your profile? Is it pressured or do you actually enjoy it?
I have to say social media has been an acquired taste for me. I’m extremely private, I don’t post private stuff ever, it’s always fantasy stuff. I want people to know that I obviously don’t post very personal or vulnerable stuff for better or for worse. So what you see on social media is not really my everyday life *laughs*
It’s my life in neon, it’s how I would want you to see me. Having said that, it’s a bit of a “needs must” situation in order to maintain it, I’ve put some pressure on myself but then I sort of became an autopilot thing and I just kept it going…
You have a covers album planned for this Fall, can you say anything about its concept and what will be included?
It basically is a recap of all the covers I’ve ever put out and a bunch of covers that are yet to come out. They will be staring to come out in the Fall, one of them is going to be in the new season of the Netflix show ‘Maestro In Blue’ in which ‘Creep’ was featured. I’ve had this need to have all my covers in one chapter because they were all over the place. Call it OCD, I don’t know or call it opening and closing a chapter. I love covers but it’s not what I want to be doing forever. So to put them in one big chapter and call it KID MOXIE ‘The Covers’, that is what is happening.
I know you did a cover of Burning Up’ by Madonna once, will that ever see the light of day?
OH BOY! YES! I DID do a cover of Burning Up’ by Madonna! I was a baby when I did that, I wasn’t very proud of the production or my vocals actually. I had a listen to it maybe a year ago and it was cringey for me! So I will not be putting it out as it is unless it gets majorly reworked let’s just say! 😉
‘Close To You’ is released by MINOS-EMI/A Universal Music Company and available on the usual platforms via https://KidMoxie.lnk.to/CloseToYouEP
Other KID MOXIE releases are available from https://kidmoxie.bandcamp.com/
http://www.facebook.com/kidmoxie
https://twitter.com/KIDMOXIEMUSIC
https://www.instagram.com/kid.moxie/
https://www.instagram.com/unboxholics/
https://open.spotify.com/album/5JTCgRgnG6gqx5XRmaWq8S
Text by Chi Ming Lai
14 May 2024
Follow Us!