Gaika is rolling through to Hong Kong for special audiovisual presentation at J-01, and you don't want to miss out on this one. The Brixton-born beatmaker was titled by Dazed as electronic music's answer to Basquiat. Take a read at the interview below:
So how did you get into making music?
I never set out to be a musician ā I was more of a visual artist. But on nights out Iād end up drunk and freestyling. At some point I think I just started making tunes and people around me were like āthis is sick!ā
It sounds like it happened quite organically.
Massively. I think it has to be organic doesnāt it? If you put out a record, itās going to live on the Internet forever so you should only be yourself. I made my mixtape in isolation with a few mates, and the only audience we made it for was ourselves. If people get it, then they get it.
Definitely. Your music is so full of different styles and genre crossovers. What music has inspired you?
Growing up, I liked everything thatās not in the middle. I was definitely into Bristol stuff like Tricky, and I come from the garage and grime scene in London. I was also quite into grunge music like The Melvins. I am a huge FKA Twigs fan, like massive fan. I just love dancing, thatās my favourite thing.
That seems like a pretty eclectic mix.
I think itās eclectic in terms of peopleās perceptions. But to me, making a piece of music is the same as making a visual composition ā itās all about layers. I donāt really think about the context, I just think about the sound. So a Melvins track might be the same shade of red as some trap record, but itās only afterwards you realise they come from two disparate worlds.
Why did you call your mixtape Machine?
Because I make music at an industrial pace. Also, I come from a technical background. My old man is a scientist and my brotherās into robots ā thatās what weāre all about. It might sound strange, but a lot of the inspiration for this record is how humanity is being digitalised. I like the idea of putting these organic sounds into a weird, mechanical space. So itās a nod to this machine fetish, a nod to the streets, and a nod to the fact I rebuilt myself and made this in about two weeks, like Robocop.
Ha! What were you rebuilding yourself from?
The breakdown of friendships, the breakdown of a relationship, and also years of self-doubt. A few years ago I kind of went a bit crazy. At some point, you have to do something drastic. I have started just being me and not worrying what other people think. This is definitely a kind of rebirth. I left behind all that bad shit, bad juju and these days, being fit and healthy is important to me.
The mixtape itself is quite dark. Have you always been attracted to these sinister themes?
Yeah, I really like that gothic aesthetic ā thatās how the world appears to me. Itās not necessarily frightening, itās just the vibe that I like. Itās a clichĆ©, but darkness is part of life and itās everywhere; we shouldnāt be afraid of being in it or expressing it. For me, whatās actually terrifying is being over the top and super happy, like if you imagine 1950s America with everyone walking around with a fixed grin. I prefer to express the darkness of reality. Iām a ānightā person in that sense.
In āHecoā a lyric that really stands out for me is, āAll I see if dead youth sold cheap echoing though the streets.ā Would you say thereās often a political undertone your music?
Definitely. Again, itās not that Iām trying to be ā but how can we make art that isnāt political when you go out of your house in London and you see two or three homeless people by a cash point, and people like me are getting killed by the police. What are we doing as artists? Iām from Brixton, and Iāve seen exactly whatās gone on. People seem afraid and rightfully so. After the riots they threw people in jail for a long time and didnāt deal with the problem, and it hasnāt gone away. The reality is, until people are serious about taking to the streets and we mean it, nothingās going to change.
Saying that, often as soon as you say something overtly political, you become divorced from the street and the very people that need to hear it the most. It becomes this kind of middle class fetish music and you get tagged with āpolitical rapā. A lot of my work isnāt political, but there are some that are, and Iām proud of that.
What most inspires you to do what you do?
Weed. And womenā¦ I just think theyāre beautiful, and I love writing songs about relationships in a kind of R&B way, as cheesy as that is. Thereās definitely a way to say things to people in a track that you find too difficult to say in conversation. What else inspires me? Some of my friends, and being around dope people where I can bounce around creative ideas. Just wanting to change the world; Iām an optimist, or maybe an idealist, or a hopeless romantic, but I want to be able to push boundaries ā not just in politics but in art, and why not?
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