Death By Piano Reimagines Greek Mythology on Empowering New Single “Fire & Snow”

Photo by Anna Azarov

Brooklyn electronic project Death By Piano is turning ancient mythology into something distinctly modern on new single “Fire & Snow,” a dark, empowering collaboration with Domenica Fossati of Underground System.

Led by singer, songwriter, and keyboardist KALEN, Death By Piano has built its sound around electronic beats, analog instrumentation, strings, synths, and KALEN’s expansive vocals, moving comfortably between darkwave and shoegaze influences. A fixture within New York’s underground music community, the project has brought its atmospheric live show to venues including Rough Trade NYC, Elsewhere, NuBlu, and Sultan Room.

Following the Greek mythology themes explored on “Pandora” from the VOW EP, “Fire & Snow” once again revisits familiar stories through a feminist lens. The concept began with a conversation between KALEN and visual artist Lena Rudnick about imagining Greek goddesses joining forces to finally confront Zeus over his history of abuses.

KALEN takes on the role of Metis, goddess of wisdom, Zeus’ first wife, and mother of Athena, while Fossati embodies Hera. Rather than retelling mythology from the perspective audiences have heard for centuries, the song gives its women the floor.

Produced by Eric Zeiler, “Fire & Snow” carries that reclamation into Death By Piano’s shadowy electronic world, with Fossati bringing another dimension to the track through both her vocal performance and flute. KALEN describes working with Fossati as a dream, praising the artist for bringing her full personality and interpretation to the material.

Ultimately, “Fire & Snow” isn’t interested in treating mythology like untouchable history. Death By Piano pulls it apart, changes the point of view, and asks what these stories might sound like if the women at their center finally got to tell them.

“Fire & Snow” marks Death By Piano’s first release of the year, with a remix from Aaron Nevezie of The Bunker and a collaboration with No Surrender expected to follow.

Fire & Snow reimagines Greek mythology through a feminist lens, with Metis and Hera finally getting their side of the story heard. What made these two goddesses the right voices for this particular song?

In my musings with Lena Rudnick, we were discussing the goddesses who had the most notable or deepest relationships with Zeus. Hera is very commonly known as the queen of the gods, alongside Zeus as the king (yes, they were siblings before they were married — yuck). However, Metis was Zeus's first wife, advisor, and mother to Athena.

The concept started with the idea of Greek goddesses essentially forming their own Me Too movement against Zeus. How did you balance the humor and playfulness of that premise with the much heavier themes underneath it?

It's hard to say exactly. Conceptually, I feel like that balance is important, but I think it happened more organically than intentionally. At the time that Lena and I were having this conversation, I was opening up some older beats that Eric had sent me, and suddenly the two ideas converged and found a home. And while there are elements of cancel culture that I find to be absurd, Zeus was such a dramatic bastard that it felt like delectable justice to tear him down.

Domenica Fossati takes on the role of Hera and also brings flute to the track. What did she add to "Fire & Snow" that changed or expanded your original vision for the song?

I'm very used to musicians interpreting my songs and bringing themselves to them. Even when I have a clear idea of how I want something to sound, it's still so important to me that the personality of the player and their interpretation are also authentically present.

But this was one of the first times — at least in a while — that I had another artist interpreting a lyrical script. The verses are so wordy and tight that Domenica really had to adhere to a certain flow for things to fit. Even within that, though, it was really cool to see the way she would stretch or move some things so that the timing reflected her own intonation and emotion. She's such a fire sprite goddess herself that she helped energize and lift up the song, amplifying both the seriousness and the humor. Not to mention those flute parts — fire.

"Fire & Snow" continues the mythological thread you explored with "Pandora." What keeps pulling Death By Piano back to these ancient stories, and what do they allow you to say about women and power today?

Good question. So much of Death By Piano's music has always dealt with darkness, light, drama, and alchemy. Greek myth is such a literary blueprint — a narrative structure through which to explore the same themes, but in a more modern realm. I love that the single art also plays off the study of the archetype in tarot. Roland LeFox, an amazing graphic designer and guitar player, really nailed it when he elevated a sketch that artist and musician Brett Wintle had done of Domenica and me.

Well, history and human patterns repeat themselves ad nauseam [I'm assuming this is what "and nausea" was meant to be — let me know if not], and there's something comforting in connecting to the universality and timelessness of so many struggles.

With a "Fire & Snow" remix from Aaron Nevezie and another collaboration with No Surrender on the way, what does this single reveal about the direction Death By Piano is heading next?

Well, the backbone — bread and butter, I wish — of DBP is still downtempo darkness, but I'm definitely beginning to explore and play with the way that dancier beats can electrify and even accentuate the bruised noir tones. This song, certainly Aaron's remix, and a couple of tracks off the core EP (which will be released next year), lean into more dancier experiences. No Surrender and my singles will still live squarely in the world of sad, sparkly lofi downtempo goodness.