Kettering-born Maisie Beckwith aka Kid Distance is the 18 year-old already making waves with her impressive deep house tunes. New Boots tries to stay ahead of the curve, and so naturally ordered up an interview!
New Boots: How did you start making music?
Kid Distance: Throughout my childhood my brother and I were always surrounded by the dance music scene. Having two parents who were very much into clubbing and playing dance/house music at any given moment – in the car, round the house, etc. This had a huge influence on my music taste growing up, as dance music spoke comfort to me and has always given me a euphoric feeling unlike no other genre.
I took an interest in making music very early on, but didn’t start properly producing music using software until I was 16 years old. I started off using the basic software of GarageBand, experimenting with the software every day. Very quickly I found myself enthralled in it, as if I couldn’t put it down for more than a day. I was hooked, and always had the urge to start working on a song. Soon after a couple of months had passed I released my first single on my Soundcloud called ‘I Know You Lied’. I was so proud of this little song I had made, despite the little equipment I had. It was created in my friend Jack’s garage, on my old phone, where he recorded his vocals on some old headphone mic. It was all we had, but we were absolutely buzzing; like we had created a masterpiece. This was the song that kickstarted everything, that inspired me to take my music further [even inspiring Jack to start making music of his own].
It wasn’t long before I was producing on my current and favourite DAW ‘FL Studio 20’, which I received for Christmas later that year. I broadened my platforms shortly after, releasing music on Apple Music, Spotify, Deezer and more. It happened all so quickly, as I was, for the first time, truly passionate about something. So I invested all my spare time into it, releasing a new song every few weeks, and slowly gaining an audience through social media promotion.
For someone so new to music you’ve already amassed some impressive streaming stats. How has the reaction been to the releases so far?
I have been shocked, especially over summer 2020, at how quickly and effectively I gained listeners and supporters through promotion. I have made some brilliant like-minded friends, and have had really nice support from people that I have been so grateful for. It encourages me every day to make more music, as want to bring the best to people and add to the dance scene as it develops. Safe to say my biggest supporters are my parents – always asking about my new upcoming music and future plans. It motivates me to make them proud.
Who are your main influences?
The artists I was raised on: the sounds I grew up with, and still listen to today. These include artists like Chase and Status, Calvin Harris, Faithless, Avicii, etc. I feel like you can hear touches of their influences with my songs, with certain elements of production which made me fall in love with dance/house music in the first place.
Who does the vocals on the tracks? is it a guest each time, a sample…?
In future I hope to use a singer/vocalist for my releases, as I currently use vocal samples from online websites which I mix and edit to suit my own style. I aim for my sound to be deep, atmospheric, and that type of music that gets under your skin [in a good way, of course].
Please tell us about this new release, ‘Can’t Sleep Alone’.
‘Cant Sleep Alone’ just came from pure thin air – as most of my songs do. I begin experimenting in the DAW, which soon turns into a project. If I feel it has potential, I develop it until I’m happy enough with it to be released. My personal motto is “If I wouldn’t buy it myself, I wouldn’t release it myself”, which I stick with daily. If it doesn’t give me goosebumps, I won’t bother with it anymore. It has to be best of the best. I like this latest release as it has quite a dark, deep house vibe to it. So far its had a good reaction from my listeners. I feel like its the best produced compared to my other songs, and has amassed 10,000 streams in a month which I see as very positive. It is definitely my favourite release to date.
How has the lockdown year been for you? Helped or hindered your creativity and artistic endeavours?
I feel like the lockdown this last year was absolutely essential for me to reflect on myself as a producer and delve deeper into my music. It enabled me to work towards my goals.
What was the last album you bought/streamed?
The last album I streamed was Bicep’s new album [Sundial], as my mum and I absolutely love their futuristic yet ’90s style sounds. I tend to listen to artists like these for inspiration for future releases – revision and gaining new ideas is always essential.
What is your burning desire to do in the future? What plans do you have?
My plans of developing myself as a producer and DJ, practising my DJ skills and start playing at venues. I want my name to be heard of, to engage with more people across the world and bring the dance music scene to a much wider audience if I can. I especially want to play a part in putting Northampton on the map – musical representation is very important. I look up to artists like slowthai for this, as he has helped boost our name. I also love his unique style of genre. I’d be proud to help him represent Northamptonshire! And it would be awesome to hear myself on Radio 1 over the next few years 🙂
‘Can’t Sleep Alone’ is out now via the usual digital platforms
