Music Artist Alexian Kernel talks about his life and music

Alexian Kernel, also known as Percy Meza, is a 25-year-old Peruvian artist. Kernel has become a legacy for the Iquiteño music scene that had been hopeless by the lack of connectivity that had seriously affected the cultural development of that Peruvian city. Graduated from the Scientific University of Peru as a Bachelor in Communication Sciences, Kernel has released 5 singles and 1 album to date, officially debuting in the streaming sphere in 2014 with Instant Freedom;, an EP that includes two tracks: “A-OK”; and “Hey Joven Charapa”, the last track mentioned being as a colorfoul EDM tribute to his city nightlife and inspired by the iconic band Los Wemblers de Iquitos.

His latest single “Do It Right” is so far the most reproduced in its catalog, obtaining mainly listeners of Los Angeles, making him one of the most internationalized artists born in the Peruvian Amazon.

We are sharing our recent interview with Alexian.

Twist Online: Our readers would like to know about start of your professional career.
Alexian Kernel: My interest in music started through friendship. I had two best friends, one of them was very fan of metal music as well as Daft Punk, and cult films. In those days, I was very involved in finishing my fantasy novel. And one day, mid-2010, I met the FL Studio and I was fascinated by the platform. When I loved the idea of creating sounds, I concentrated on using the program, and I composed environmental and very experimental ones. I was inspired by Mr. Oizo, Chemical Brothers, Calvin Harris, Björk and Crystal Castles, and in science fiction films like Bla Runner and A Space Odyssey. In those days I was known as Percy Meza. My alias Alexian Kernel was born in 2013 with the need to separate my earthly personality from music, which is projected as something more versatile and colorful.

Twist Online: Who or what inspired you to get into music industry?
Alexian Kernel: In front of the whole list of artists who inspire me, Björk was the main one. Besides, whenever I finished watching the movies, I would run for the soundtracks and spend hours and hours listening to that. The pop style appeared later when I saw the possibility of developing more commercially the forms of composing, without escaping from my signature. Little by little, I realized that my music entered an eclectic spectrum: Eurodance, House or Industrial synthlines, a Sprechgesang-esque singing voice and flexible formula.

Twist Online: Tell us about your recent track “Do It Right”?
Alexian Kernel: “Do It Right” is my most pop release to date. The song was intended to belong to a larger album, but it held well on its own foot. Following the recommendation of a friend, I sought to put more insight into the songs. In this case, “Do It Right” talks about doing things right, freeing you from regrets, and doing it before the inevitable deadline. Empowering lyrics, a throbbing rhythm, enough to dance to.

Twist Online: What kind of response you have received from the release?
Alexian Kernel: To check the impact, I approached the song to a selected audience, and most liked it. They reacted that the song would work very well in the British territory and the lyrics are easy to remember. On the other hand, “Do It Right” has had more than 3,000 streams in Spotify, mainly having listeners in Los Angeles. One person reacted to the song with an interesting interpretation, saying that he feels “older these days” but the song motivates him a lot.

Twist Online: What attracts you more performing on stage or working in studios?
Alexian Kernel: I am very fan of the videomapping world too. If there are opportunities in the future to play live, I would give a great plunge to create fantastic visuals that sync with the songs. It would be a complete exercise for both the audience and myself.

Twist Online: What’s your favorite music genre?
Alexian Kernel: I love Eurodance, Progressive Trance and House very much. They are powerful and epic genres, on many levels, so much that you can dance in club and can congenial within a movie. A great reference of film-music fusion would be “Dark & Long (Dark Train)” by Underworld that lives in an impressive way in the Trainspotting abstinence scene directed by Danny Boyle.

Twist Online: Have you set some goals to achieve as a music artist?
Alexian Kernel: Beyond deploying the electronic world, in the future I would like to merge the Amazonian musical roots of my hometown Iquitos with the globally contemporary. It would be like following the steps of Björk and the implementation of Icelandic music in popular culture.

Twist Online: Are you working on any new project?
Alexian Kernel: Now I’m working on a great material for an album. “Do It Right” is like the prelude to that. A new electronic era for my musical repertoire.