In this interview feature, we get to know the most radicalist up and coming stars on the planet.

This time we caught up with the Kenyan-born, Manchester-bred and now London-based duo The KTNA.

Most of us will be familiar with the inevitable descent of disillusionment with our hometown. It’s a universal experience that The KTNA captures to other-worldly effect in their most recent single ‘OWT’, short for ‘One Way Ticket’. Their music is a captivating combination of R&B, trip-hop and future-soul, all glued together by pure grit, determination and an unparalleled love for their craft.

As you’ll discover in the interview below, sisters Hope and Millie Katana don’t cast off their Northern roots, in fact they owe a lot to their childhood in Manchester. It’s more the case that growth sometimes calls for upping those roots and planting yourself down somewhere new. The song and video for ‘OWT’ was written around a pivotal time for the sisters, living in Manchester, lacking inspiration and selling their furniture for extra income. As the old adage goes… should they stay or should they go? In case the answer wasn’t already apparent, the pair upped sticks and left for London. However, the trials of The KTNA wouldn’t be over just yet. With little money and no place to live, a friend of the band offered them a studio to record in for free, one that doubled up as a place to live. What ensued was a year of sleeping on the floor of a windowless studio with their respective twin sister. It was throughout this particularly testing time that they finalised and recorded their soon-to-be-released Life Under Siege EP.  

It’s safe to say that The KTNA has been through the fire over the years, as is the experience of so many unsigned artists. Now, these flames have been lit under their project which has the explicit aim “to break all the boxes that have been handed down to us by no faults of our own. As overly sexualised, dual heritage, working class women from the North, we want to show the world that anything is possible.” In closing, they impart yet more refined wisdom: “We can be whoever we choose to be. You can change the world no matter how small you THINK you are.” 

It’s at our core to continue supporting the rising, the unsigned, the names we believe that are on the cusp of greatest, The KTNA clearly being one of them. Get to know Hope and Millie a little better below.

TMR: Let’s dive right in and talk about the new Life Under Siege EP. What does this release represent for you?

This release is the freedom we’ve been seeking for many years now. It marks the end of a very long chapter in our lives and we hope it is a good introduction to the world we’re trying to create, through music.

TMR: What are some of the themes that run through the EP?

Life Under Siege is about the struggle and hustle of this crazy human experience we’re all currently living. We’re as brutally honest as possible with our writing, especially when discussing our own mental health throughout. We don’t really class ourselves under any genre, so we tried to keep the subjects of the songs as real and consistent as possible.

TMR: We recently shared the apocalyptic video for ‘OWT’, which appeared to be an exaggerated retelling of living through tough time and wishing to be elsewhere?

Absolutely. I’m sure everyone’s had a moment in their lives where they wished everything was different, that you could weather the storm and end up somewhere  completely different. Yeah, that was our lives daily for a long time. So we thought we’d make a visual with that thought in mind, and honestly with the help of a small village, we made it come to life.

TMR: Has music always managed to provide an escape?

Definitely, for as long as I can remember. One of my first ever musical “experiences” was whilst watching The Prince Of Egypt as a young kid. I remember the minute the music and film started it swept me far, far away. Even as a kid. So yeah, I think you can say we’re still chasing that high.

TMR: Growing up in Manchester with its rich music industry and multicultural population, what music and other forms of creativity were you exposed to?

Growing up in Manchester 100% enhanced us as creative beings. When we were growing up we’d go to an organisation called GMMAZ (Greater Manchester Music Action Zone) where we’d meet people from every borough of Greater Manchester and get together and make music. People from every race and religion got together put our differences aside and made beautiful (sometimes strange) music together. That experience definitely had an impact on the way we made music going forward.

TMR: Looking forwards, your music takes genres like trip-hop and R&B and transforms them into something distinctly KTNA. Is this an active choice through the songwriting process or does it come naturally?

Haha well our motto is “don’t do too much, just enough.” So we try not to force anything creatively. If it’s not coming naturally we tend to end the session pretty quickly and start something new. In respect to genre we grew up on - so many different amazing artists from probably every genre imaginable. We just try to incorporate a little of our favourites in everything we do regardless of being put in a genre “box.”

TMR: When it comes to songwriting duties, does one of you take point with the lyrics, and the other composition or visuals or production? Or is it an entirely shared process?

Our process is based off of team work. It depends on the day, or how we’re feeling, or what we’re working on. However, most of the time we work on a 50/50 basis.. it’s the best way we find (No cat fights.)

TMR: The French duo Ibeyi cite the special, and often sacred, connection between twin sisters. Is this something you relate to? And does it influence your music?

We defo relate, it is SO special. Our twin bond definitely influences our music a whole lot for sure! There’s something about when voices blend together as siblings that we just find so beautiful and satisfying. Above all though we just love singing together it’s life joy!

TMR: Did you find the tightness of your relationship was tested while recording the EP in the windowless studio that also doubled as a shared bedroom for a year or did it bring you even closer together?

Hahah both!! We’re not going to lie, it’s very difficult! When you live and work with a person non stop, especially in that environment, it’s very hard for you to turn off and think about anything other than work (making us HIGHLY irritable at times..) It truly tested our bond, but honestly we made the most beautiful music of our lives in that studio and even though it was very hard we had so many beautiful times there, so many beautiful songs and memories were made in that period... we wouldn’t change that time for anything in the world!! It was a life changing time for us.

TMR: What’s next for The KTNA?

LOTS of music!!! (Like sooo much)

LOTS of shows !!!!

AND LOTS OF HAPPINESS!!

By Hannah Thacker