Joseph Kamaru, better known as KMRU, is an

ambient Ambient or Ambiance or Ambience may refer to: Music and sound * Ambience (sound recording), also known as atmospheres or backgrounds * Ambient music, a genre of music that puts an emphasis on tone and atmosphere * ''Ambient'' (album), by Moby * ...

musician. He was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and later relocated to Berlin, Germany.

Musical career

As a child, Kamaru played the guitar and sang in a choir. He first discovered electronic music in high school, after finding a copy of

FL Studio FL Studio (previously known as FruityLoops before 2003) is a digital audio workstation (DAW) developed by the Belgian company Image-Line. FL Studio features a graphical user interface with a pattern-based music sequencer. The program is avail ...

on the school's computers. Kamaru is known for being prolific; he published almost twenty releases on Bandcamp between 2017 and 2021. Kamaru was part of an Ableton Live ad in 2019, in which he recorded field recordings from a broken piano. His 2019 extended play ''Erased'' used piano, field recordings, and synthesized drums. In 2020, Kamaru released the albums ''Saal'', ''Peel'', ''Opaquer'' and ''Jar''. Released on

Editions Mego Mego was an experimental electronic music independent record label based in Vienna, Austria. The label has been superseded by a new company, Editions Mego, which was set up both to keep Mego albums in print and to issue new albums, run by P ...

, ''Peel'' was created in 48 hours and blended organic and synthetic textures. In 2022, Kamaru toured with

Big Thief Big Thief is an American indie rock band with folk roots based in Brooklyn, New York. Its members are Adrianne Lenker (guitar, vocals), Buck Meek (guitar, backing vocals), Max Oleartchik (bass), and James Krivchenia (drums). The band's debut ...

. The same year, he released a collaborative album, ''Limen'', with Aho Ssan. In 2023, '' Pitchfork'' described Kamaru as a "widely referenced figure in contemporary electronic music". In 2023, he released '' Dissolution Grip'', which represented a sonic shift away from field recordings. The album received critical acclaim from the publications '' Loud and Quiet'' and ''Pitchfork''''.''

Personal life

His grandfather, also named

Joseph Kamaru Joseph Kamaru (1939 – 3 October 2018) was a Kenyan Benga and gospel musician and political activist. He was an icon, a hero, and a leading Kikuyu musician, who has sold about half a million records. He was notable for his politically motivated ...

, was a well-known benga musician. After his death in 2018, the younger Kamaru reissued some of his albums, attempting to introduce a new audience to his music. Kamaru was born in Nairobi, Kenya. He later moved to Berlin, Germany, in October 2020. He moved to begin attending

Universität der Künste The Universität der Künste Berlin (UdK; also known in English as the Berlin University of the Arts), situated in Berlin, Germany, is the largest art school in Europe. It is a public art and design school, and one of the four research unive ...

for a Master's program of Sound Studies and Sonic Arts.

Discography

Albums

* ''Euphoria'' (2017) * ''Variations nstallation' (2019) * ''Saal'' (2020) * ''Variations adiophonic' (2020) * ''Peel'' (2020) * ''Jar'' (2020) * ''Logue'' (2021) * ''Temporary Stored'' (2022) * ''Don't Linger They Might See You'' (2022) * ''Epoch'' (2022) * ''Glim'' (2023) * '' Dissolution Grip'' (2023) * ''Stupor'' (2023) * ''Natur'' (2024)

Collaboration albums

* ''Peripheral'' with Echium (2021) * ''Limen'' with Aho Ssan (2022) * ''Disconnect'' with Kevin Richard Martin (stylized as KRM:KMRU; 2024)

EPs

* ''Noize'' (2017) * ''Erased'' (2019) * ''OT'' (2019) * ''Luft'' (2020) * ''Continual'' (2020) * ''Odra'' (2020) * ''Drawing Water'' (2020) * ''Ftpim'' (2020) * ''Inter Alia'' (2021) * ''As It Still Is'' (2021) * ''There Was Nothing in Between'' (2022) * ''Imperceptible Perceptible'' (2022) * ''Windbags/Lune'' (2024)

References

{{Reflist Living people Musicians from Nairobi 21st-century Kenyan musicians Ambient musicians Experimental musicians Musicians from Berlin Kenyan expatriates in Germany