Giuseppe Tria, fondly referred to as Giusè, was born April 15th, 1997. He was born in the port city of Bari, nestled in the south of Italy. He’s 23 and incredibly empathetic — he is empathetic, with not only people but with everything he touches. Sceneries, works of art, his own imaginations. One may wonder what it is to empathize with their own imagination... Kisnou seems to be able to mentally enter the images in his daydream, to inspire new sounds. Until he was eighteen, he had never played a musical instrument; he never had a burning desire to learn it. He simply preferred to spend hours on end basking in the sound: “traveling with my mind and letting my emotions synchronize with the music that I listened to.”, as he calls it.
Some of the artists that have marked his life are Owsey, Sorrow, The Cinematic Orchestra and Koda. Koda, in Kisnou’s words is “a very mysterious musician, surrounded by an atmosphere that seemed to come from unknown places, into which you could delve and discover.” Those places for him, were the dormant emotions that he had suppressed. The first song he touched of Koda’s was ‘The Last Stand’, almost eight years ago. At fifteen, Kisnou finally found a music that was ‘his’. Koda was something so extraordinary — so much so that he wanted to share the ‘K’ in their initial. His moniker finds its roots in the word kismet, meaning destiny; fate. The alteration of a word meaning ‘fate’ was symbolic of his rebellion against a world that did not want him.
Giusè, recounts the bitterness of his life thus far — bullying, discrimination, lack of affection from his own family. Throughout his life, he had been abandoned between stark contrasts — angel and devil, light and darkness, the hurricane and calm, right and wrong.
He was always surrounded by very few friends. A little shy, this quirk had always rowed against him, as his silence was repeatedly misunderstood for weakness. He admits, “I have learned to be very careful to trust even my closest friends, because in one way or another, I have always regretted it.” His father had always made him feel as if he was faulty — “A cold, insensitive heart, which has never shown signs of affection to his own son, much less support every time I returned home with an accomplishment to share.” To this day, his father’s words have left him with dull, muddy scars. He says there were moments where he doubted he really wanted a son. His older sister, “who was more of a ghost than a person”, was a stranger to him. Being surrounded by physical violence, emotional abuse, exclusion, discrimination culminated the creation of a greater monster : depression. Amidst all other currents, his mother “represented the only hold on a life that seemed to lose its meaning with each day that passed.” Giusè reflects, his life thus far has been “a contrast between a tiny light of hope and the great darkness.” It stirred confusion in his adolescent heart —
What was right?
What was wrong?
He felt alone, miserable and lost.
But he wasn’t alone — he found a gem. Music… his way of escaping reality.
“Happiness for me wasn’t out there, it wasn’t in the friends who betrayed me overnight, nor in the family split-in-two. It was in the house, in my room. There were no more friends who could unleash my emotions, I had enough by now. Only music led me to discover those positive emotions that I did not find in reality.”
Kisnou's older banner from 2017, made by Servane Altermatt, (illustrator for the 'Tale of the Lumen Keeper', the latest episode of his adventure story 'The Fireplace')
When Giusè started high school at thirteen, where the bullying turned more tactical, manipulative... 'subtle', if you will. Subtle, but cruel and malicious. Exclusion, discrimination, fake friendships and judging by physical appearances. All things emotionally abusive. “I didn’t have a mentor. I didn’t have someone to inspire me to wake up. I tried to make friends with everyone, ended up alone. I remember I had a passion for justice and truth that seemed to keep people away from me.”
Kisnou speaks on the importance of getting personal with others. "I saw a lack in effort from my friends when it came to knowing me personally. I think this is a huge problem of today's society, because many people are truly in need of help but sometimes friends don't realize that. " This message is more relevant in this modern world that gravely lacks emotional intimacy. On people that use shyer, less boisterous minds as containers for their own failures and insecurities, he continues ー "I truly wish that no one ever finds themselves in the same conditions as mine, because I was lucky enough to be born with a clear mind, even if I had no self esteem and still ended up alone for many years. But not everyone can say the same, and many times we end up marginalizing people and worsening their condition which is a life threatening behavior."
Giusè once met a girl that was unlike any other. He admits “This time, I thought I had found what was right for me. ” She was the muse in one of his very first songs that perhaps long time Kisnou fans know— ‘Nina’ . She was the shy, diffident girl in class, that was in love with another boy, who was not in love with her. He still took his shot, but their interactions were trapped in the confines of WhatsApp. Initially he thought she was merely busy. In his naivety, sent her flowers whilst she was in class, as a surprise. After class, his heart was broken in half. The flowers stared back at him... from the bottom of a basket, splintered and lifeless. Returning home that day, he locked himself back into his room. He let his emotions swell and pour through an improvised piano melody. Simply recording what his gut was playing, he let the music carry him through his feelings and manifested the very song, ‘Tale of a man who whispered to flowers.’
Another one of his amorous track is titled ‘My Love’ — dewy, serene and melancholy. This number was inspired by Koda’s music and the game, Shadow of Colossus, particularly Wander’s love story.
Giusè frankly says, if it wasn’t for his mother and music, he would not be here today. The time he spent in his room, soaking in his music was what kept his broken pieces glued together. He found stillness in his dark room; but the darkness never left him. The music was his own sanctuary, a place where he took refuge, to light a candle. But the one thing we know about a candle is that that the fire burns out — eventually, the eternal night claims its place. He waited and waited, praying someone was out there looking for him, to drag him outside into the daylight, but no one ever came. He eventually chose to rely on songs in attempts to teeter into the sun. ‘Arrival of the Birds’ by the Cinematic Orchestra’ was absolutely crucial for that moment in his life. “The song was something I kept listening to, as it gave him hope. It’s a song that is supposed to represent the arrival of a new life, a new hope, a new page. The arrival of life, the things we were waiting for. I think the song relies on that feeling, reflected in the wavy moments of the strings, which express a moment of relief. It let me travel to distant places that I couldn’t even see from my own room, just through imagination.” All of these powerful and precious songs, were still too feeble to push him out of his four walls. He says, “I might as well have spent years there, just to avoid looking the cruelty of the outside world in the eyes.” Giusè spent eight years in solitude, on a loop between school and his room, until he began tinkering with sounds at the age of seventeen. The compliments and love from unknown people from all of the world, that gave him hope. Kept him afloat. He reflects, “I had found my passion, a burning desire to create something beautiful. I wanted to create what I did not have. I wanted to give shape to the beautiful things I had never witnessed.”
Kisnou's latest logo rework (2020) ー 'The two hands represent the creation of a new destiny, a balance between left and right, right and wrong.'
“Today, I still think about my past.
It feels sad when you think your father was not a mentor for you, but the complete opposite. Something to stay away from. Not an icon.
Thanks to him though, I know who I don’t want to be when I grow up. I try to see the good in the bad. Yes, I was left scarred but it somehow has made me a better person.
It feels sad when you think your father was not a mentor for you, but the complete opposite. Something to stay away from. Not an icon.
Thanks to him though, I know who I don’t want to be when I grow up. I try to see the good in the bad. Yes, I was left scarred but it somehow has made me a better person.
Like a pendulum, I keep switching between moments of pride and instances of depression that make every effort useless. The love I receive everyday from my fans is fundamental, because it continues to balance this relationship of right and wrong, creating equilibrium, lifeblood. Without it, I would be lost.
The ugly and disgusting mass of negativity that grew over these years is a big burden on me. I can’t forget the pain I’ve dealt with. Maybe it will never go away. It lives inside of me. Everyday it grows and tries to take over, but I gather all the strength I have to contain it and put it back in the cage. I know music will give me the strength I need to fight my own fears.”
