Diandra Interviews KiSMiT: Turning Your Choices Into Music

Happy, positive, and in love KiSMiT’s Carly Barnette opened up about how, as a person and artist, she works to stay uplifted. While it is phenomenal that the world is opening up to hear and discuss human suffering, the lines between feeding and healing can be blurred. Yet, music is the food for the soul, and Kismit wants make sure that they serve a genuine, joyous meal. With that being said, Carly has worked hard to see what makes her happy and discussed her music as her journey to that. 

Diandra: What do you most love about each other, and how do you feel it reflects in the music? 

Carly: That’s a beautiful question! We have been asked so many times how we met (she laughs). I think what I really love about Bas is that he really falls through. He is super present He really does what he says he is going to do and finishes what he starts. We are very opposite, and there is a balance. He is really calm and collected, and I am this energizer bunny: buzzing around with passion and a million ideas. He gives me an accountability that I really cherish. There are some times when I am shocked how we make it work, but we have found the ways not to talk to each other and keep a happy home. 

Diandra: Your sound is vibrant and all about being energized and imaginative. What are other things, from books  to yoga, that spark your energy and imagination? 

Carly: Something about yoga is really grounding. It tells me, “Girl you did it!”  It helps me smell the roses because I can be in another universe. It helps me pull my energy inward because I can run away from me a lot. So much of my life has changed since I started doing yoga, and I try to do it every morning. On a physical level, it has helped my voice and nervous system. On a spiritual level, it helps me be in the moment and gives me permission to be alone. If you don’t fill your cup then there is no water you can pour for anyone else. 

Diandra: Singing to romance, what has music taught you about relationships and their maintenance?

Carly: We write about a lot of positivity. I think because we are together, you do not really get the pissy, angsty “I am mad at you” song. I write those at the piano but they do not make the final cut. I think there is a magic that I just keep believing in, and, when I write about something, there is a preservative or a time stamp. Relationships hold a big ol’ mirror to you to face your own stuff, and the music says, “Don’t forget!” 

Diandra: What is your most magical memory of love and music? 

Carly: Great questions! This is fun! I think when we are traveling. Basti has a pretty international family. He’s from South Africa, his grandparents are from the Philippines, and his sister lives in Australia. I’m very musical and I am always singing and dancing and he always has his guitar. So we have had several moments, when we are traveling, when the pressure is off and we do a James Taylor cover or invent a song. Its special.

Diandra: Spiritual lightness and darkness are common themes in your songs. How would you define the lightness and darkness of life or love?

Carly: I have realized as I get older that I have really high highs and really low lows. It is like that growing metaphor, like a canoe; if you go in one direction then you will go in the other. There are times, after a show, I am like, “Oh my God! That was great!” then, 4 days later, I am like “Oh my God! There is no money in this account!” As I get older, I am good at seeing my patterns, and telling myself, “It’s okay. Have a seat at the table! Breathe! Eat some pie!” I know how to better confront my fears and anxieties. I am not getting in my way anymore and calming myself down. 

Diandra: I noticed that, in your duo name, the “i” is lower case. Why is that? 

Carly: You are the first person to notice that it is small. We kind of like the idea that it looks like two people. By taking the big “I” out of it, it is taking the “me” and ego out of the duo. Basti is really pensive. I call him an “annoyed gargoyle.” (she laughs) Yet, I loved the idea. We are two people trying to give the most that they can. This feels bigger than us just writing songs. I want KiSMiT to be something people believe in. 

Diandra:  Kismet means destiny. How do you feel destiny has played in getting you to this moment in your life?

Carly: Ugh, that makes me so emotional (she laughs). Basti and I met in Boston. We were about to graduate from college; so no one was looking to find their soulmate. Your twenties are a time when you want to bash “s**t” up, and yet it is marvelous that we get to wake up next to each other. I also did not come from a musical family, but they were very supportive and said, “Let her sing!” When I lived in New York, and auditioned for musicals, I felt like I was just swimming upstream. Before I knew it, my friend in LA had a room open up and asked me if I wanted to move in. I think you have choice in everything, but I am grateful to trust my intuition and how it shows me whether I am choosing out of fear or out of love. They can be confusing and mask each other. II think it’s cool that we are living in a time when people are speaking more about their emotions.

Diandra: You have said you write mantras. What is the most cathartic mantra you have written?

Carly: Of all our songs, “Every Shade of You.” It is about all the light and dark in that, when you choose to be in a relationship with anybody, it is because you love them for all of them. I love “Every Shade of You.” We wrote that song because we love each other, and gave each other permission to see each other: flaws and all.

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