It’s fair to say that Derry-based singer/songwriter Kid Apollo has had a rather busy 2022. With three singles and an EP already under his belt, the musician has just unleashed ‘Smokescreen’, an airy, uplifting, and poignant tune that actually came to the artist when he was struck with a bad case of COVID-19. “I took one step forward and fell ten steps back,” he sings. “I’ll be lucky if I ever get my senses back”. It’s a track that, whether you want it to or not, will be stuck in your head after just one or two listens, and that’s a feat very few can accomplish.
Kid Apollo’s sound has been compared to the likes of early Arcade Fire and Sam Fender. And, while it’s hard to disagree, it also must be said that he has a unique and distinctive aura of his own. A personal style that we at Indie Top 39 have fallen rather hard for!
An uplifting, poignant, and catchy-as-hell tune. ‘Smokescreen’ is an absolute winner!
INDIE TOP 39
What does the song mean to you?
I love all my songs, but ‘Smokescreen’ particularly means a lot to me. It was the first song I ever took to a professional recording studio and the first Kid Apollo song where other musicians played on the track. It was also written earlier in the year at a stage where I was feeling quite stuck and like I was falling behind – putting those feelings into song lyrics felt therapeutic to me, and I absolutely love what the song ended up becoming.
Tell us about your creative process and how the song came to be.
A lot of my songs come from when I’m outside, usually walking or running. They come to me and then I take out my phone and mumble something into the voice notes, and then rush home to try and get a demo done before I forget what it sounded like in my head! ‘Smokescreen’ started like that too.
I got absolutely dosed with something in the Spring (quite possibly the Corona) and it messed up my sense of smell and taste. The outside air just smelled like burned smoke to me for a long time. So that’s where ‘Smokescreen’ came from, especially the line “I’ll be lucky if I ever get my senses back”. It was just frustration at my senses suddenly being flipped on their head and being so sick that I couldn’t sing or exercise or work for about a month… but I suppose every cloud has its silver lining because I ended up getting this song out of it.
What do you want to achieve in the next 12 months with your music?
I’m putting out an EP called Four Fires on the 12th of October this year. After that… well I’m constantly working on music so I imagine then it’ll be onto the next one! I finally got back on the stage this year after years away, so I’d like to continue with the live element, and hopefully get a backing band going. I’d like to dip my toe into live streaming as well… so many things I want to achieve within the next year!
What would your life be like without music?
Empty. That’s it! I couldn’t even imagine it. Boring and flat and without colour.
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Now you can listen to all the 39 songs in one place, right here on Spotify!
