DELILAH

A teenage bass music prodigy, producer, and DJ Moore Kismet is making waves and history in the EDM scene with their fusion of bubbly melodies and heavy basslines. Creating countless hits and debuting their first album, UNIVERSE, Moore Kismet is embarking on their first headline tour, which is nothing short of impressive.

I sat down with Moore Kismet before their show at Chop Shop in Chicago, and we talked about their journey in music, how they navigate being a teenager with a professional music career, and being a voice to help redefine the industry and inspire other artists to be their true authentic self.

A true gift from the universe, Moore Kismet is just getting started! I can't wait to see what else they do!

So Nice To Meet You! Tonight Is My Third Time Seeing You Perform This Year. So I Am Very Excited To Talk To You.

You're kidding!

I'm Not Kidding! I Saw You This Past May At EDC Vegas.

Oh! In love. Thank you, and thank you for staying up until four o'clock in the fucking morning.

I Couldn't Miss It. I Also Saw You At Pride In Pride. I Don't Know If You Remember, But A Redheaded Child Was Running And Dancing Around During Your Set. And You Got On The Mic And Said, 'Look At This Little Cutie Dancing Around.'

YES! OMG!

That Is My Daughter. She Talks About That Moment All The Time. You Left An Impression.

That's sooo cute! She is chilling and vibing to house music. I remember seeing her in the audience and thinking, "Oh My God, here is this little cutie living her best life and listening to music. And people think that LGBTQ people are indoctrinating children when this happens. But we're over here just having a blast and not doing anything wrong.

No, We Are Not. I'm A Part Of The Queer Community, And It's Nothing But Love Here. She Goes Every Year With Me, But This as Definitely Her Favorite Year.

That is honestly super adorable. That's never happened at any of my shows before. It's always been adults, so it was a nice change of pace to see a young face there experiencing the music, albeit in the sweltering heat.

Yeah! She Loves Listening To Your Album And Was Mad That She Couldn't Come With Me Tonight.

I know the age limit. But I'll be around for a little while, so hopefully, she gets to come to one of my shows again soon.

You Have Accomplished So Many Amazing Things With No Sign Of Slowing Down. I'm Sure She Will Get To See Your Show Again. To Start Our Interview, How Are You Doing Today?

I'm doing good. I'm a little bit nervous, but I'm excited. It's amazing to be embarking on this journey. I'm grateful that I get to do it.

We're So Excited For You! On That Note, You Are Headlining Your First Tour. How Do You Prepare For Shows? Do You Have Any Like Pre-show Rituals?

I tend to stretch before I go on because I jump around and act like a bat out of hell when I perform.
But overall, I try to keep my energy up as much as possible and give myself breaks. Before the show, I chill out in the green room, drink, and eat the stuff on my rider. If people have TVs or screens, I will watch the live feed of the show happening or watch a show. As you walked in, I was trying to get HBO Max set up so I could watch The Amazing World of Gumball.

Watching a show helps me take a moment, calm down, and prepare to go out.

I Can Only Imagine The Nerves. But Every Time I've Seen You, You Do Phenomenal. The Energy You Bring Is Contagious, And It Makes People Want To Move.

Thank you! That is good to hear because I feed off people's energy. I can't keep going unless I see people going.

With That Said, Because You Feed Off People's Energy, When Performing, Are Your Sets Improvised, Or Do You Usually Plan Them Out?

I do a mix of both. Sometimes I will make a playlist featuring songs I'm enjoying, plus a lot of my most recent songs, especially those from my album UNIVERSE, and then I curate a set with those.

But generally improvise my set in an open format and play off the crowd's energy. If they're not digging something at that moment or I've already played too much of it, I transition into something else. Then keep growing and keep building from that point on. I've got to keep that energy going!

I Love That For You! Congratulations. That's Amazing. I Remember When I Got My First Apartment. It Is The Coolest Feeling. Now I Read That You Recently Graduated, Correct?

Yes. I recently graduated from high school.

Oh, My God! And You Graduated And Went Straight To The EDCLV Stage. See, I Just Went From Graduation To EDC, But To Graduate And Play One Of The Biggest Stages, What A Moment!

Literally! I played EDCLV and then came back for the graduation ceremony. The same thing happened when I played the DoLaB stage at Coachella. I played, and then the next day was my prom. It was absolutely insane—definitely a mind-blowing experience.

How Did That Feel Going From Normal Teenager To Being This Professional Human Playing Some Big Stages?

Interesting! Going from professional to a chaotic creature dancing in a dress was actually pretty easy. It was a lot of fun. But when I look at it, I'm like, I just graduated with two honors that aren't really going to affect me in the grand scheme of things, so let me go ahead and play a music festival.

So Aside From Producing And Djing, Do You Have Other Interests That Lay Outside Of Music?

Yes! I have quite a few interests. I've been getting into filmmaking again. I've been relearning screenwriting. I used to dream about being a screenwriter when I was little. And I used to write these like super janky scripts that never really went anywhere. They never really served any purpose, but I ended up getting back into it over the pandemic. I also love visual art. I also love drawing characters, making cover art, and making tour flyers for myself.

I've been trying to get back into reading. But I also enjoy watching TV, playing games on my computer, and talking to my friends on discord. Just teenager stuff.

You Are Very Multi-faceted! How Do You Find That Balance Between Being A Teenager With A Professional Music Career And All These Interests?

I tried to keep some normalcy by keeping Moore Kismet a secret most of my time in high school. But I never had much of a social life. I have my friends, and none of us did much, either. When we started hanging out, we did a lot of stuff together. Then the pandemic happened, and we talked on Skype every day and over summer break. And now we're just trying to get back into it and get together before I move. Once everyone has their licenses, and I've moved into my new place, it will be easier to see one another and for them to come to stay. However, I get that by choosing this career path; I will not have your 'typical' or 'normal' childhood per se.

Gotcha. Yea, It Isn't Your Typical Upbringing, But It Is Exciting, And Hopefully, You Will Look Back On This And Be Glad You Didn't. How Did You Come Up With Your Moore Kismet As Your DJ Name?

My mom came up with it. We were in church one day, watching a video lecture. And one of the lectures mentioned the word 'kismet.' So, we had our scripture readers research what that word meant. When we learned the word meant luck, destiny, and fate, we wanted to build something off of that as a kind of affirmation. Something to really solidify me into following my destiny and wishing for more luck and success in my career.

For my mom, it had a double meaning. Yes, to be a kind of affirmation, but for her, it was the realization that it was the perfect way to take care of and nourish me into becoming this artist. This creative entity.

Wow! What A Great Way To Find Your Name! Was Music A Part Of Your Life Growing Up?

There are so many different parts of my family tree that link back to music. My mom used to be a professional singer in a girl group. My dad used to be the manager/founder of that girl group. And he also used to be an urban music composer for CBS. My grandmother was classically trained in church singing. My grandfather was a guitarist. My cousin, Nina, is a classically trained singer and actress. My brothers are rappers.

None of us ever expected that I would dive into music like this. My mom wanted to keep me away from it for the obvious reasons many people see and experience, especially in recent times. And because I wanted to pursue different career paths before.

Aside From Your Musical Family, Was There a Member Of Your Family That Played The Biggest Role In Your Music Career?

My Mom! I love her! She's fucking awesome.

Moore Kismet would be nothing without her. She's literally the entire reason I'm sitting on this couch with you and talking to you right now. She's the only reason why I push through the industry bullshit to make it to my first tour. She is the reason why I'm as not nervous as I am about embarking on my first tour tonight. It's why I'm always on top of my shit. It's why I'm able to create such incredible ideas.
It's because she has given me the space to feel what I need to feel and create what I need to create in a way that allows me to express my stories to the fullest degree. She is why I continue to pursue this project and do it for myself. I will continue to sing her praises forever and forever.

Come On, Mom!! That's So Beautiful! Going To Make Me Cry! Now, Who Are Some Of The Musical Influences That Inspired Your Sound?

More recently, it's been Flume, Ricky Sand, and Boombox Cartel. I also get a lot of inspiration from Lizzie McAlpine, Jasmine Sullivan, Chloe x Halle, Beyonce, Adele, and Megan The Stallion. Pocket. OMG, and laxcity! laxcity is one of my biggest inspirations on the planet. He's also one of my best friends on the planet today. He's taught me much about the software we use to create music. He taught me much about collaboration and learning from other people's creativity and workflows. I love him a lot! If it wasn't for him encouraging me to take risks, I don't know if I would've been in the place to discover my current sound.

How Would You Describe Your Sound Without Using Genres?

I would describe it as emotional, experimental, and bubbly up-tempo music with the occasional down tempos.

You Can Hear This In Your Debut Album, UNIVERSE, Released Earlier This Year. Congratulations! I Loved How The Sound Switches From Bouncy, Bubbly, Then To Heavy Base. It Really Is A Beautiful Album.

Thank you so much! I wanted to make it a very even blend between the two sounds and to show what I could do! None of my projects have been this versatile or as diverse as UNIVERSE.

How Does It Feel To Have Your Album, UNIVERSE Out?

Happiness! I am so happy, anxious, and excited. I am very grateful and happy that everybody is resonating with this album so much. You know, people feel it, and they understand the stories that I'm trying to tell. I create the music I do because I want people to feel what I'm feeling. I want people to understand the stories that I'm trying to tell. That's been the biggest thing for me. I'm very happy and excited that people finally get a real true glimpse into my life through this album.

It Has That Emotion Behind It. And You Can Feel It As You're Going Through The Tracks. How Did You Choose The Name UNIVERSE For The Album?

I chose the name UNIVERSE when I was like 11. I had finished my mix tape and wanted to dive into making an album. Nothing was sitting with me, so I figured I would return to it when I was older. Fast forward to age 13, I made the songs "Rumor" and "Call Of The Unicorn."
Those sat along with a bunch of other tracks I didn't feel comfortable working on anymore. Then we fast forward to age 14/15 when I started writing more songs. And then we fast forward to late 15/ early 16, and we were all stuck in the pandemic. This was when I did the brunt of the work on the whole album.

Roughly, It Took You Five / Six Years To Create The Album. What Was Your Favorite Aspect Of Creating That Album?

Working with my friends and collaborating with people I never in a million years expected I would get a chance to do a song with. It was so much fun and a unique experience getting a chance to make these stories and share these experiences with them.

You Collaborated With Quite A Few People, But Is There A Collaborative Moment That Like Really Stuck Out For You On This?

For me, it was working with Chuck Sutton & Cookie on our song "Ultraviolet." "Ultraviolet" started when Chuck was working on a live stream for Brownies and Lemonade. He sent the song to me and said my music inspired it. I was blown away that my music had inspired someone like that! As time went on, we kept talking about it, and I finally said to him, 'I don't know if you have any other plans with this, but after you play this on the stream, would it be cool if I worked on this with you?' And that's how "Ultraviolet" got started. We started working together on it. Kept going back and forth on ideas. We talked about every new development we made, everything we wanted to add and wanted to expand on. And it went from this beautiful R&B, Pop baby sound into this insane experimental trap-based banger that goes into R&B in the last verse.

It was the most memorable moment because he told me it revitalized his love for collaboration. True collaboration. And that he had never felt more comfortable doing a track with somebody than he did working with me. That made me feel so amazing. I felt so good because I love him to pieces, and getting to work on "Ultraviolet" with him and Cookie was an absolute blast.

You Are Just Inspiring Everybody Left And Right! Who Are Some Other Artists You'd Like To Collaborate With?

Beyonce. Adele. Halsey. Megan The Stallion. Flume. Porter Robinson. Totally Enormous Extinct Dinosaurs. Jasmine Sullivan. Chloe Bailey. Selena Gomez, Charlie Pluth. Lizzo. Bonobo would be sick. Anomaly! That would be amazing! I love Anomaly so much.

I Am So Appreciative Of You Because We Need Those Voices! By Bringing Your Voice, You Are Helping Redefine The Industry And Helping Bring Those Voices Out Because We Don't Have Many Of Them. What Kind Of Change Would You Like To See In The Industry, Hopefully Over The Next Few Years?

I want to say more queer people on lineups. More black people on lineups. I want to see a genuine change being made, and I know people will say we shouldn't be booking people on race. We should be booking them based on talent. But then you look at the lineups, and they are predominantly white. With the same people playing the same songs that somebody else just played or has played 2-3-4 shows in a row. I want to see more artists pushing the curve with what they perform. Like seeing Wreckno! Wreckno inspires me so much because this bitch is out here playing some of the weirdest stuff on the planet. On top of some of the gayest shit on the planet. And then you have backup dancers with braids and halter tops. Dancing their fucking asses off with Wreckno. I love them so much!

I want to see more people embrace their identities. I want to see more people embracing the weirdness in music. I want to see people being kind to and protecting one another from shitty situations. I want to see a shift in love, acceptance, and tolerance in this community. I hear people talk about wanting to see something different but not being part of the change you want to see.
Discover new artists. Push for them to be on lineups. Do the work!

Did You Ever Think Your Music Would Have This Kind Of Impact So Quickly On People? And Do You Hope Your Music Helps Open Doors For Others In The Community?

Oh, God. No! I have never expected my music to take off like this. But I'm very grateful that it has. And I truly hope my music does. Unfortunately, I don't think I will know that my music is helping open doors for others unless somebody tells me. But I feel very good about what I'm doing.

And At Such A Young Age, You've Accomplished So Much. You're Making Huge Waves In The EDM Community You Started Blowing Up Around 2018/2019. And Since Then, You Became The Youngest Dj To Play EDC Vegas, Lollapalooza, Red Rocks, And Tomorrowland. And Now You Have Your Debut Album Out And Embarking On A Headlining Tour. What's Up From Here? What Do You Want To Do Next?

I want to put out more music. More music that I firmly believe is a genuine shift in the right direction for me and who I am as an artist. I do want to make a Moore Kismet film and music videos. I also want to start including more live performance aspects like singing and dances that I choreographed myself, all while DJing.

However, I don't have any specific goals at this given time. I want to see where the wind blows me.

Well, I'm So Happy For You And All The Journeys You're Going To Go On. One Final Question. What Is Something Unique About You That Might Surprise Your Fans?

On my left hand, there is this very small skin tag. I have essentially signified as my birthmark. It is unique because my mom has the same skin tag. On her left hand. On the exact same place on our pinky finger. So this is how we know that we are meant for each other.
I like to weird people out and say, 'oh bitch, I grew six fingers,' Like my middle finger isn't my middle finger. It's actually my ring finger. Just pull a 2015 karate kid and just hit him with the Chinese middle finger *queue uncontrolled laughter*

Check out the rest of my photos from the show in the gallery