15 questions with… KELLY LEE OWENS

The producer behind acclaimed album Inner Song talks sonic warmth, love/hate MIDI relationships and calming the heck down with our gear obsessions

You know you’re having a moment as an artist when you think “hmm John Cale would be good on this track” and months later… boom! With a little “You don’t ask, you don’t get” gumption, the avante garde icon has willingly put down some vocals for you [for album track Corner Of My Sky] and it’s all go from there. That’s the short story of what happened to Welsh producer Kelly Lee Owens but let’s face it, the privilege could well be seen as all Cale’s. Owens’ crossover indie-dream pop-electronic appeal has earned her famous fans all over. The former nurse’s recently released album Inner Song builds on the critical acclaim of her self-titled 2017 album, itself the product of years working alongside artists such as Daniel Avery and Ghost Culture. We were excited to get Owens in the magazine, and get to know more about her deeply human being-led approach to electronic music-making…

1 Tell us about your background?

KLO: “I come from Wales and have lived in London for 11 years now. I got into music production and writing around 24/25 and I’m super glad I did that now. I knew myself better and think I ended up making better music because of that.”

2 What is your production philosophy?

KLO: “Use your intuition. Production is about taking the ideas and maximising or enhancing them. So things don’t have to always be technically correct, it only has to sound and feel good. Anything else is just limiting.”

3 How did you get into production?