In conversation with Kairogen

Maeve de Bordóns Álvarez

January 2025

The name Kairogen stems from the combination of two words: 'Kairos,’ the Greek meaning for 'the right moment' and 'gen,' meaning to generate or create.

Waiting for the right moment has long been a common theme in her creative journey, having initially stemmed from her time in art school, where, through creating her own compositions to accompany her own installations and paintings, she was able to explore the connection between what can be seen and what can be heard, which in turn further deepened her fascination with electronic music as an art form.

This then led to frequent visits to Glasgow, mainly to attend the revered Sub Club, a cultural institution of the city, where she would later find herself working. Making the transition from the dance floor to the bar was something that allowed her to take a step back from the smoke and the strobes and gave her the opportunity to gain a broader perspective on how a club night unfolds. 

Creating and curating her own radio show 'Space-Time' gave her the ideal platform to showcase some of the sounds she is drawn to, based around blissful ambient and hazy downtempo, while maintaining the same cerebral depth when flowing through both BPMs and genres. Along with this, releases on both Soma and Space Textures demonstrated her ever-evolving production skills to a wider audience. It’s easy to see why, soon after, opportunities to play out presented themselves, which she has since seized with both hands.

Hi, thank you so much for joining us on the mix series, can you tell us a bit about how your musical journey started, and how the Glaswegian music scene has helped shape your DJ style?

Hey thank you for having me!

I had a pretty musical upbringing from my parents playing so much music like The Velvet Underground, Smashing Pumpkins etc and when I got my first iPod that really changed the game, ha. I’d spend hours living inside songs. My two Uncles tried to sneakily influence my music taste with Christmas presents like Justice and 2manydjs CDs, which definitely worked.

By the time I was in Uni I didn’t really understand the house and techno scene yet but was ever intrigued and came down to Glasgow frequently, usually to go to Subculture at Sub Club. I ended up getting pretty sucked into the vibe there and soon started working in the club where I met most of the people I know in Glasgow and learned every week more about the music and scene. I was surrounded by so many DJs who I learned a lot from, but it took until lockdown that I felt comfortable enough and had access to decks to get started properly - up until then I was more focused on production and artwork.

What inspires you to DJ and dedicate time to music?

It’s always hard to say because music is ephemeral and sound is such a strange thing you can’t define. I’d say for the most part that it’s a feeling of being drawn to certain combinations of notes and textures, for whatever reason they feel satisfying. DJing gives me the opportunity to weave those together and I enjoy playing with the ups and downs a crowd can feel on the dancefloor, the challenge of balancing the energy in the room through the next choice. It’s a task that is never done but I also love organising music and similarly there’s something satisfying about having an overview of how dots can be connected despite different locations and time periods.

What are 3 artists that marked your life?

Ok Domenic Cappello has to be in there because he’s lowkey been my mentor for about 8 years. Most weeks we chat about our experiences with gigs and he’s given me a lot of guidance and answered so many questions of mine without being any sort of patronising and very much not gatekeeping. I’ve seen him do some pretty flawless sets but also it’s been very helpful talking about the ups and downs.

Grimes actually was a big influence early on and helped me transition from understanding being in bands to actually being a music producer and doing it yourself. Her early stuff I remember hearing and it’s a little bit rough but it’s super creative and she had a whole style and visual identity. There’s still way less female music producers but at the time it was still quite few and far between so I’d say observing her had quite an impact at the time. 

I was always more into bands growing up and Green Day were the first real one that changed my life when I was about 10. I got really sucked into the whole stories behind the songs and went with my boyfriend to see them this year. Whether you like them or not there’s no denying it was an incredible performance and looking back still very creative. Sometimes I think DJing and a lot of house and techno etc is missing this artistic level of development of ideas so it’s good to look beyond that sound to other influences.

How do you find inspiration in your everyday life?

Hearing a set that stands out inspires me quite a bit as I hear so many working in music. Finding sounds that were made years ago but still have a very fresh timeless quality to them. Taking time to not be involved in music and reflect on things alone is important.

I know that you also make artwork for artists to use for their releases, and that at art school you started creating music to accompany your visual art pieces, could you tell us a bit more about this?

Yes, I wish I still had it but I think the first music production I made was an abstract sound piece to accompany a sculpture, on Logic. My tutor told me to just open up the program and start messing around with chopping up the samples into a piece, I remember it being very dramatic, cinematic sounds. This was a really fun part of the project and it came a lot more naturally to me than making a sculpture.

A couple of years later I told my tutor I wanted to transition from painting to working in sound, another student overheard me and gave me a cracked copy of Ableton. From then I always worked in sound and visual at different times. I’m still figuring this out and ideally will combine it all together. In regards to making stuff for other people I love to make abstract images and have set up a website kairoscapes.com for producers to find affordable art to use for their music.

You have released on labels like Soma and Space textures, how has your production journey been so far, and what inspires you to create music?

I’ve been a bit more quiet than I’d like on the production front to be honest so thanks for reminding me! This is very common with DJs and it can be hard to prioritise even though it’s what I want to do the most. I’ve been producing way longer than DJing and wanted to focus on DJing to the point where it felt like I was able to do a set I felt really happy with, which I now can (at times as it’s always up and down). It can be challenging juggling both and yes lots of productions this year is the plan.

What have you been loving lately that is unrelated to music? 

I’ve been loving going swimming and to the sauna to be honest. It’s an ideal time to reflect and I feel quite exhausted from working late nights a lot of the time right now - it makes me feel more refreshed for getting on with things.

What can we look forward to in 2025 and beyond? 

I’ve just joined Headset’s new agency and the Sisu Crew community which is exciting. I’m planning on properly commiting to showing myself more on social media. So many DJs I know don’t get round to it or feel shy and awkward about it but I want to try and show people that you can do it authentically and it be a positive thing that can help you and others.

Keep up with Kairogen on Instagram, Soundcloud.