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Writer's pictureBonded
Feb 13, 2022

In Conversation: SYTË

Originally a duo, SYTË formed back when vocalist Nita Kaja was visiting Prishtina and met future partner and band mate Drin Tashi. Nita left New Jersey for Prishtina and the duo worked on their first EP together. They have since evolved into a four-piece band, having teamed up with drummer Granit Havolli and bassist Fatlind Ferati. They are known for their electrifying performances and have played a number of well-known festivals like Pop Kultur Festival, Sunny Hill Festival and Localize Festival to name a few. The group has recently released their first album “Divine Computer”. The ten track epic is a futuristic thrill ride through the world of alt-pop and beyond.



When and how did your band begin?


Originally a duo, we formed back when I (Nita Kaja) was visiting Prishtina and met my future partner and bandmate Drin Tashi. We quickly realized that not only do we have romantic chemistry, but musical and creative chemistry as well. I decided to move from New Jersey to Prishtina to explore my Kosovar Albanian roots, and we started working on our first EP together. Since then, we have evolved into a four-piece band, having teamed up with drummer Granit Havolli and bassist Fatlind Ferati.



Describe your sound in three words?


Three words that would describe our sounds would be: colorful, cosmic, groovy.



Who were your biggest inspirations when recording your latest single?


We didn't really have any particular musical inspirations when writing the song, we kind of built the sound around its lyrical themes. We wanted to express airiness, nostalgia, bittersweetness yet a confident and upbeat goodbye in the chorus.



What's been a highlight in your work so far?


We've had a few great successes, such as: performing over 30 shows, including Sunny Hill Festival, where we opened up for Dua Lipa, Action Bronson and Martin Garrix; Pop-Kultur in Berlin; Localize in Potsdam; Indoor Inspired Showcase for Gigmit, and being featured in the press, such as Noizz.de, The Line of Best Fit, i-D, Lefuturewave, etc. But, a highlight that left a huge impression on us recently was our last show, which was the first real live show since the pandemic; it was sold out and a bunch of new young fans came out to sing along to every one of our songs, not because they were our friends and felt like they had to come but because they were genuinely excited to hear us live and have us sign their merch after the performance.



How does your typical song writing process go?


We don't really have a typical songwriting process, each song is its own unique project. Sometimes Drin will start producing an instrumental which inspires me to write lyrics, or I'll provide a poem I wrote that Drin gets inspired to produce for, or we build a song from scratch together with just a guitar, or the whole band jams at rehearsals and something magical comes out of it.



Which of your own songs is your favorite to play live and why?


Our current favorite songs to play live are "Let Go", "The End", "Crystal Floor (Dance)", however, it varies because we develop different live versions of the songs that makes us fall in love with them all over again. We love to renew our relationships with each one of our songs every time we play live.



If you could collaborate with any artist who would it be and why?


An artist that we would love to collaborate with one day is Thundercat, he's just a groovy genius who also seems so fun and pleasant to be around.



If you could have any lyric or song title tattooed on you, what would it be?


Two of my favorite lines from my lyrics are: "You will miss tomorrow one day too" from the song "Let Go", as a reminder that nostalgia is not something to be hung up about because every moment in our lives becomes nostalgic one day, and "I haven't reached my peak just yet" from the song "Crying in the Club", because I never wanna stop growing, expanding or reaching new heights.




Do you enjoy incorporating visuals into your sound with videos?


100%, because music to me is multidisciplinary, it's a whole experience. It's rare for me to think of a song without imagining visuals and cinematic scenes accompanying them. The only thing I hate is that sometimes my ideas are too grand to be executed, especially with an indie budget.



Is there a message you always aim to convey in your music? And why is it important to you?


The messages that I try to convey are usually just personal mantras and lessons that I'm trying to teach myself. Songwriting is a very cathartic and healing process for me. I guess to sum it up, every song I write comes to me as some sort of resolution for pain or troubling themes that I deal with. It's a bonus when plenty of other people can relate and I'm comforted by the universality of the human experience.



What's next for SYTË?


We've been in contact with Martians who wanna give us our big break so.... sorry Elon Musk. We'll be there first. ;)


SYTË's Links





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