Interview: PETRU KSS reflects on his debut album ‘Kolibri Live’

Petru KSS follows the release of his debut long player ‘Kolibri Live’ with an insight into how the project changed and developed over time, his passion for all things live performance, and the work of delivering an impressive remix package featuring Hannes Bieger, Dubfire, and DJ T-1000.

Where are you right now and what have you been up to this week?

I’m in London but I’m about to take off for a gig in Cyprus this weekend, I can’t wait for it! The LP was released not so long ago, it’s been charting on Beatport and receiving heart-warming reviews so far and now I’m taking care of rolling out remixes.

Recently we had DJ T-1000, Kaiser, Hannes Bieger, and this week BONDE. I’m also working on my PhD in electronic music, mostly compiling artist interviews from the last two years. It’s been an intense but exciting few weeks!

Your debut album ‘Kolibri Live’ was just released, why is now the right time for you to put together a long player?

Looking back, it was the right moment because my ‘THRiPPS’ setup and my overall sound finally felt mature. I’ve spent the last few years refining my live system, and this album is a milestone of that process. I could have pushed it out last year, but I realised it takes time to prepare a proper launch, and I wanted to give it the frame it deserves.

Finding the right engineer was a big part of that too. I worked with Hannes Bieger, who did a stellar job on the mix down, and finalised everything at Calyx Mastering to make sure it translates well on massive sound systems.

Coordinating the remixes also turned it into a much bigger project. Everyone is touring and busy, so things move at different speeds. You learn to adapt to different timelines, and when someone you admire is motivated to contribute, you just have to catch that momentum!

Throwing a remix contest also added to that, it was a way to include emerging and underground artists in the process, it went amazingly well. 2026 also happens to coincide with the 25th anniversary of my distributor, EPM Music, which makes the timing feel even more meaningful.

You’re quite passionate about live performance, so we assume a lot of these tracks came out of live jam sessions?

Absolutely! Music is my passion, techno is a focus, and ‘live’ is a way of expression. While I love DJing, the freedom and creativity I get from messing around with machines goes beyond spinning tracks. I actually like being on the edge, with machines things can be a little unexpected, it forces you to find solutions on the go. This is a trend in PhD interviews I’ve had with live performers, we like the thrill!

Circling back to the core question: Most of the album is the direct result of a session recorded in Corsica, with the exception of ‘Genesis’, the intro, and ‘Landing’, the outro. I had prepared a set list and nothing went as planned, of course!

That’s the beauty of it: the initial structure helps me to get started and gives me a sense of safety, but I quickly drift away from it. Some patterns and sequences are the result of previous jams that I called back on the spot.

And a full remix package is coming out now across multiple releases, which includes edits from Hannes Bieger, Dubfire, DJ T-1000, and Saytek, among others?

Edits? Hell no! These are re-interpretations. For some of them, I couldn’t even recognise the original material, sometimes it feels like a treasure hunt trying to find what material they used, which is fun. I’m incredibly grateful for the variety of artists involved.

It’s been a rich journey bringing together people from different corners of techno, in terms of genre, intensity, story, artist background, and also for all the interactions I had with everyone. Scenes can sometimes become very genre focused, but I think there’s value in creating dialogue across those boundaries.

Funny enough, the album plus remixes could almost fill a Berghain weekend line-up! Here’s the full A-Z list: An On Bast, Andrømeda, Arnaud Le Texier, Black Lotus, Diego Montiel, DJ T-1000, Dubfire, Hannes Bieger, Joton, Kaiser, Ross Harper, Ryan Davis, Saytek, Tobias., .VRIL. Joined by Ømen, Alinep & Mica [UK], and BONDE, who won the Kolibri Live Remix Contest.

Do you have any live performance shows scheduled for the album release?

Some exciting ones lined up after that gig at Hammahalle, I’ll be supporting Dave Clarke in Brighton on May 15th, and I also have a set in Cyprus for a new collective called Die Technologen.

What else are you excited about heading deeper into 2026?

The next album! No, honestly, getting ‘Kolibri Live’ LP out is already a big challenge, and while it’s true I’m advanced on the second album, the focus now is on completing my PhD and giving this first release the attention it deserves. A couple of EPs are in preparation as well, and gigs, bring them on.

Anything else to add?

I’d love to say a few words about Baptiste Bianciot (artwork) and Acid Thermal (visuals), two incredibly inspiring artists who helped translate the Kolibri universe into light, texture and motion.

Baptiste has provided the main artwork, which captures the spirit of the Kolibri series, inspired by space travel, constellations and the celestial bodies we observe in space. His work has been striking to me since day one.

Martin and I met in Barcelona nearly 10 years ago and we’ve been waiting for the right opportunity to work on a project together, so I’m really excited to see my music take on another dimension through his space visuals. His clips have been a huge inspiration for a while, and I’d love to dive into Resolume myself if I had more time.

All in all, it’s been an exciting journey to bring all of this together, and I’m grateful to finally share it. Thanks for having me, see you in space!

PETRU KSS – Kolibri Live LP is out now on Kolibri Space Shuttle.

40 Questions: Ramon Tapia