FKJ: Tiny Desk (Home) Concert

Nisha Venkat | July 7, 2022 Watching FKJ build a song is like watching him play a game of musical tetris. One second he’s coaxing a rasping rhythm out of a drum set — the next, he’s clambering over instruments to get to the mic before the beat kicks in. The process might make you want to tape your eyes open. This is not Live Production 101, and FKJ (short for French Kiwi Juice, the stage name of Vincent Fenton) is not here to explain his genius. The French producer and multi-instrumentalist is perhaps best known for his assist on Masego’s sultry, rollicking “Tadow,“ but there’s only remnants of that energy here. This is new jazz: a synthy spectacle that’s a treat for the ears and the eyes. You get the sense – and Fenton confirms it – that he could spend all day tinkering in his studio. There’s an ease to his motions when he grabs his guitar adding wah-wah sounds to his bassline on “IHM,“ and something very relatable about how even the cameraman stru