Kungs is a French producer having the time of his life. Starting 2016 on tour with David Guetta, the teenage sensation went on to remix ‘This One’s For You’ (featuring Zara Larsson) and spent the summer making melodic waves in Ibiza’s coolest clubs, including Ushuaia and Amnesia. Of course, his biggest achievement to date is ‘This Girl’ – the most unstoppable track of 2016.
Kungs (aka Valentin Brunel) is a 19-year-old producer from the south of France. He started his musical career with a gembe gifted by his parents to him at the age of five. From these early days Brunel could spend entire afternoons listening to Rock’nRoll classics with his father. From The Who to The Kooks with many in-between, this essential listening forged the first steps to Kungs inspiration as an artist.
Kungs is all set to drop the bass at Zero Gravity Dubai this Friday at DXBeach. Get your tickets here.
We spoke to the up and comer before he plays his set at DXBeach.
How did you get your name, Kungs?
I liked the concept of being a gentleman so I looked it up in lots of different languages and Kungs is actually Latvian. It sounded good so it stuck.
Having achieved as much as you have aged 19, what can you share regarding the best route to “making it” in the music industry?
It’s important to never give up, keep trying new things and take all feedback on board. I have a really great team around me so this really helps too.
What are your preshow rituals?
I don’t really have one. Sometimes I have time to chill backstage for a few minutes before the show but sometimes, due to the tight schedule, I’m arriving like 1 minute before my set, so I just go straight to the decks and plug in my USB keys!
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What can the DXBeach audience expect from your set?
It will be a classic Kungs set, featuring lots of brand new tracks from my album Layers that I’ve just released. I’m really excited to see how the UAE crowd reacts to my music, as it’s my first time in the country.
What do you see as the next big movement in the music industry?
Everything is changing so fast I can’t really predict anything.
I think that at the moment, more and more music is coming from US artists. Their tracks are played all around the world through the radio (Justin Bieber, Ariana Grande, Justin Timberlake, Bruno Mars..) so maybe the next big movement will be the other way round. Music from Europe or from wherever in the world will invade the US market! That’d be great!
Who are artists you aspire to have a career like?
Diplo, for his ability to have 3 differents projects at the same time with Major Lazer, Jack Ü and Diplo, and David Guetta because he’s so humble yet consistently successful.
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What’s your end game?
For now, the plan is to keep sharing my music to the world but also to work on the production of my show. Actually, in 2017 I want to start performing something bigger than just a DJ set, so stay tuned!
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