One of our favourite producers from Australia follows up his 2016 smash ‘Alone’ with his brand new ‘Surrender’ EP. DMCWORLD dives in down under…
A huge welcome to DMC World. What have you been up to today?
Ola! Thank you very much. Today has been catching up on some sleep from a busy few months of touring, then heading into the studio to work on some new music. Same old.
It’s a big moment for you right now with the release of the “Surrender” EP. For those yet to hear the new project, how would you describe the sound and vibe of the EP as a whole?
The record is very much an aural representation of everything I’ve soaked in this year. I’ve done a lot of travelling, a lot of performing and a lot of listening to inspiring new sounds. It’s definitely a genre-less body of music and weaves through a whole bunch of different styles and feels. It’s hard to pin it down any more than that, I think it’s best to just listen and let it speak for itself.
Ola! Thank you very much. Today has been catching up on some sleep from a busy few months of touring, then heading into the studio to work on some new music. Same old.
It’s a big moment for you right now with the release of the “Surrender” EP. For those yet to hear the new project, how would you describe the sound and vibe of the EP as a whole?
The record is very much an aural representation of everything I’ve soaked in this year. I’ve done a lot of travelling, a lot of performing and a lot of listening to inspiring new sounds. It’s definitely a genre-less body of music and weaves through a whole bunch of different styles and feels. It’s hard to pin it down any more than that, I think it’s best to just listen and let it speak for itself.
https://onelove.lnk.to/mk-surrender
The track list includes the single “Ghost” – talk us through the creative process of the track.
Ghost was a real pleasure to make in the studio. It started off with an old drum machine, which features prominently in the track, more than anything else really. I let it go round and round in the studio and I spent at least an hour just listening to it, coming up with ideas but not actioning anything, just listening. After an hour, I went out to grab some food, came back and laid everything down that had happened in my head. It was really organic from there.
You’re obviously known for your skills as a singer, songwriter and producer. Where did your love for music begin? Do you remember your first music memory?
I’ve been reading music for as long as I’ve been reading english. Music has always been a staple in my life and routine. The most exciting and earliest memory of music I have was when my brother bought this tacky Roland workstation keyboard. It had a whole bunch of different sounds and the one thing I thought was incredible was that it had all these drum sounds and you could play a full kit with your fingers. That was the first time I was exposed to the more tech driven side of music. After a week, I could play metal breakdowns with four fingers.
The track list includes the single “Ghost” – talk us through the creative process of the track.
Ghost was a real pleasure to make in the studio. It started off with an old drum machine, which features prominently in the track, more than anything else really. I let it go round and round in the studio and I spent at least an hour just listening to it, coming up with ideas but not actioning anything, just listening. After an hour, I went out to grab some food, came back and laid everything down that had happened in my head. It was really organic from there.
You’re obviously known for your skills as a singer, songwriter and producer. Where did your love for music begin? Do you remember your first music memory?
I’ve been reading music for as long as I’ve been reading english. Music has always been a staple in my life and routine. The most exciting and earliest memory of music I have was when my brother bought this tacky Roland workstation keyboard. It had a whole bunch of different sounds and the one thing I thought was incredible was that it had all these drum sounds and you could play a full kit with your fingers. That was the first time I was exposed to the more tech driven side of music. After a week, I could play metal breakdowns with four fingers.
You had a busy tour schedule this year, which saw you in Australia as well as Europe and America. What were some of your tour highlights.
Obviously touring overseas can get very hectic, so you try to make the most of the down time you get. After performing at Primavera, we had four days off and got to enjoy the festival and saw some amazing acts like Aphex Twin, Grace Jones and Mac DeMarco. Coming home is always great though, in particular a show I played with Motez in Perth was a huge highlight to come back to after being overseas for so long.
How did you come to join Motez on his Australian tour?
Me and Motez have been in touch for a little while. He was one of the first “big” artists to reach out to me when my 2016 EP “Alone” came out. We had a bunch of great conversations about music and had also played a few sporadic gigs together. When it came time for his run of theatre shows, he said he was after something a bit more involved than a regular club DJ set – I’ve been known to take a few keyboards on the road time to time, so I decided to rope together a much bigger, more immersive set up and voila! We had five incredible shows throughout Australia together.
Obviously touring overseas can get very hectic, so you try to make the most of the down time you get. After performing at Primavera, we had four days off and got to enjoy the festival and saw some amazing acts like Aphex Twin, Grace Jones and Mac DeMarco. Coming home is always great though, in particular a show I played with Motez in Perth was a huge highlight to come back to after being overseas for so long.
How did you come to join Motez on his Australian tour?
Me and Motez have been in touch for a little while. He was one of the first “big” artists to reach out to me when my 2016 EP “Alone” came out. We had a bunch of great conversations about music and had also played a few sporadic gigs together. When it came time for his run of theatre shows, he said he was after something a bit more involved than a regular club DJ set – I’ve been known to take a few keyboards on the road time to time, so I decided to rope together a much bigger, more immersive set up and voila! We had five incredible shows throughout Australia together.
As a Sydney based artist, what differences in the crowd, if any, did you notice abroad?
European crowds seem to be much more polite and ready to listen. Similar vibes in America as well, with a bit more rowdiness to it. Australia is a great country to gig in though. If you’re doing a good job, people will let you know by going absolutely mental. You always get what you deserve with an Australian crowd.
European crowds seem to be much more polite and ready to listen. Similar vibes in America as well, with a bit more rowdiness to it. Australia is a great country to gig in though. If you’re doing a good job, people will let you know by going absolutely mental. You always get what you deserve with an Australian crowd.
With shortlists being made for artists to look out for in 2018, who do you think should be on our radar? Who are you listening to?
There’s a lot of great artists in the electronic realm out there, so for the sake of this, I’ll keep it all within Australia. SODF are absolute killers on the house tip, Alice Ivy is making incredibly soulful hip hop inspired tunes and in the more avant garde world (and already blowing the fuck up tbh and a personal favourite of mine) Alex Cameron.
With Christmas just being around the corner, what are your plans for the festive season?
Christmas has always been about friends and family for me, so that’s exactly what I’ll be doing. Eating plenty of food, getting socks from Santa and some more food.
Mickey Kojak – ‘Surrender EP’
Out Now via Onelove
Out Now via Onelove
https://www.facebook.com/mickeykojak/
