Big Latto, Big Winner!

August 12, 2021

The Atlanta-based rapper formerly known as Mulatto has a new anthem, “New money, new crib, new whip, new name… LATTO.” While shattering records and winning at a game designed for men, Latto has navigated her experiences through Rap with a flow that fuses southern Trap and Hip Hop. While famously breaking out onto the scene with the industry-shattering single, “Bitch from da Souf,” Latto has risen to the top, and has left the negativity behind. A journey motivated by her Southern roots and a circle of women propelling her to greatness, Latto has prospered into an artist defying convention while upending an archaic industry.

Stepping on set, Latto epitomizes Southern royalty and triumphant energy that adds to her bright style and demeanor. While covered in hot pink tulle and crowned for the gods, Latto has entered an era where winning is second nature — the first is being a ‘Queen from da Souf.’ Succeeding decades of men occupying the Rap industry, a renaissance of female Rap has emerged, and Latto reigns supreme. From spitting bars at a young age to releasing her first mixtape at 17 ‘Miss Mulatto,’ the multi-talent has proved that she is made for this, and she isn’t going anywhere.

Text by Michael Hall
Interview by Tiana Randall
Creative produced by Tiana Randall and Oona Oglesby
Photos by Danni Ordonez
Styling by Miso Dam
Makeup by David Velasquez
Hair by Keshaun Williamson
Nails by Johnethea Johnson
Photo Assistance by Rheagan Dukes
Styling assistance by David Jung
Production assistance by Michael Hall and Oona Oglesby

With millions of patrons, The artist has built a platform that not only influences internationally but inspires little girls all over the South. With a growing following and a list of accolades, she desires a legacy disconnected from negativity. The beginning of 2021 marked a new era for the rapper where she replaced her former moniker, “Mulatto,” an identifier that many viewed as outdated and offensive. A newfound outlook allowed Latto to embrace constructive criticism highlighting her willingness to learn. Apart from a year of change, Latto remains a prominent figure putting out music that speaks to the complexities of her life.

Singles “Bitch from da Souf” and “Muwop” featuring Gucci Mane positioned Latto as a rapper with bars to match her drive. As she resonates on her upbringing in Atlanta, a mecca for up-and-coming rap, the lyricist released her first album ‘Queen from da Souf’ in 2020, solidifying her lifelong craft. In the essence of winning big and staying on top, Latto continues to show out, performing festivals, featuring on hot tracks, and starring in campaigns including Fenty. A vibrant personality and captivating persona makes Latto an artist to watch.

As she wraps up her year, she alludes to a new project that explores various sounds and styles with extraordinary features that embark on an endeavor that highlights her range and versatility. Adorned in fabulosity, mirroring the victories and drama of winning the crown, Latto stands front and center, expressing vulnerabilities and her creative process to office.

Read our exclusive interview with the Atlanta-based rapper below.

DRESS: EveRRythingRRouge EARRINGS: Nana Jacqueline

DRESS: MCQ

You're only 22, you're so mature for your age. What are some key events in your life that made you into the mature woman that you are today?

I think just like starting out rapping so young, eight years old, I seen a lot —good and bad that just exposed me to reality. So, I feel like that matured me. I had very open parents, a household that didn't really shield us from anything. It was more so like X, Y, and Z upfront. So you don't learn it elsewhere, you know what I'm saying? And then, I'm just like a very goal-driven person. So I think just comes off as mature because usually young people aren't as focused. So I think I've always been focused. I don't know if it's my Zodiac sign, my household —

Wait, what sign are you?

I'm a Capricorn.

Oh, definitely. They're very like money-driven, business-driven people.

Yeah. Very business savvy. And I've always been like that since a kid. Like people have always told me, "Oh, you're so mature for your age. You're so mature for your age" before I was rapping. So it might have something to do with that. It might all just be working as a collective, who knows!

DRESS: EveRRythingRRouge EARRINGS: Nana Jacqueline

And, what are those "things" that older women have instilled within you from an early age? What are some of those lessons?

Just being headstrong, independent, knowing that the world is not peaches and cream. You got to come in this thing knowing your goals or what your plan is, and knowing it like it's the back of your hand. I think like the women in my family were all like very strong women that are super independent, and just taught me to be the same way.

Congrats, you're moving into a new era. What are some things you're moving on from? And how do you think moving on from them will impact you positively?

I feel like I'm moving on just from the name [Mullato], and I think that just makes me move on from the negative energy. I feel like I was kind of holding myself back in a way with the name, and just being stubborn. And I was not willing to listen to the world, and what they had to say, and how it affected these people that were outraged by the term. So I feel like it's just turning over a new leaf, and just leaving that negative energy behind. And, Latto being short for the lottery, I feel this was not even just financially, but spiritually and just overall good fortune. And so, I'm excited for this new chapter.

How often do you take in some of the words that people say to you, whether it's online or in your real life? Because I feel like we often see artists or celebrities become a bit stubborn and avoidant with accountability. So how do you decipher what's constructive criticism from fans versus what's harmful?

Yeah, I feel like that it's just kinda like a live and learn type of thing. And I'm still learning and living. So I don't got it down pact yet. But I am realizing when they say don't read the comments, I can decipher like, okay, yeah, don't read the comments, but certain comments and certain feedback you do need to listen to because at the end of the day, as an artist, your target audience is gonna respond to you, and your actions, and your music. They're going to respond to anything that you put out. So to a certain extent, you do have to listen to them, read the comments, and be open ears to things that are going to change you, your beliefs, and your morals.

Right. And like you said, the more you travel, grow, and learn, the more you have an open mind towards ideals. If I would've stayed in my childhood town, where I grew up, I would've been so close-minded and stuck in my ways. You know, certain non-black races were saying the N-word, and I thought that was okay. And then when you grow up, you realize that's not okay. And you just kind of live and learn through those situations, but you're put on a pedestal, so it's amplified times 10.

Exactly, I think it's just about taking accountability and responsibility. It's just knowing that even though your intentions weren't ill, if they're being perceived in a way that you didn't intend for them to be received, then at that point you got to self-reflect.

DRESS: MCQ

Right. Getting into the shoot, on set, it seemed like you were super into the concept — When we were figuring out a concept for you, we were like, "Okay. So she's from the south. Let's think of some things that represent winning, a new era, reigning in victory in the south." So were like football, horseback riding, etc. And they were like beauty pageants! Do you have any like relationships with beauty pageants?

I don't! The only thing that's like similar is that I've been rapping, doing shows, and talent shows, open-mics, and all that since a young age. And I know the girls who do beauty pageants and stuff, it's pretty much like the same story, but that would be like the only similarity. I don't really have a history in beauty pageants, but I do get glammed up for shows in a similar way.

Yeah. And what are some southern traditions you miss?

I would say just like aesthetically, there's not really nothing I miss. Like everything I still do, like Southern traditions. There's like how we eat, big family cookouts, soul food, cooking in the kitchen with grandma, granny, auntie cousin TT and em'. I grew up on four-wheelers and dirt bikes, all that type of stuff. I feel like that's a southerner aesthetic.

And you were super confident too, and it just seems like you knew what you were doing at all times. Where did you grow this confidence from?

I think just like home, my parents just raised me to be super independent, super headstrong. Even my dad, like my dad, has two kids and we are both girls. So just raising us to be independent, strong women. And then the women in my family are also independent and strong. They're very, just like headstrong, like not really going with the gender roles, like the women in my family get money, and are just boss-bitches. So, I think it just comes from home, really.

So behind the shoot, the beauty pageant was supposed to represent an act of winning. what was the coolest thing you have done in your career thus far that made you feel like a complete winner?

I've had so many moments like that just because I've been rapping for so long. It's like everything is like super, — it was like a lot of work that went into all these accomplishments that I'm receiving now, like a lot of work and time, and effort that went into all the accomplishments. So I'm so grateful for everything. I'm trying to think of like my first like super like, 'okay. I'm winning' moment. Oh, probably my first certification, my first plaque, I got was when "Bitch From Da Souf" went gold. And I was like, 'Oh my god! I can hang a plaque up in my house or whatever!' And then my label calls me back or whatever. And they're like, "No, you're the first solo female rapper from Atlanta to go gold or be certified period." And I'm like, "No, no way, no way. I'm like no way. I'm like, nah, somebody definitely did it before me. There's no way that I'm the first one." And sure enough, we Googled it. And I literally was the first one. And I was like, 'oh my God, like, I literally am making history!'

So I feel like it's just turning over a new leaf, and just leaving that negative energy behind.

CORSET: What Katie Did SUSPENDER BELT: What Katie Did KNICKERS: What Katie Did STOCKINGS: What Katie Did EARRINGS: Nana Jacqueline

And the drama queen portion was supposed to show the juxtaposition of winning and being victorious. It's supposed to represent some of the more chaotic and darker moments of being a pageant queen, which relates to being in the limelight and having a career in entertainment. What are some dark moments you found within your career that have impacted you as the person you are today?

Yeah. It's so many, like as much as it is good, It's definitely not all glitz and glam. So, just like the critics, listening to the haters, and the comments, and stuff — at the end of the day, we're still human. So it does have an effect on us as artists. Like we're not numb to it. You know, we still have emotions and feelings like everyone else. So yeah, I can get caught up in the comments or like blogs and stuff like that, that can like get me feeling a little down. And it's just people just doubting you, period. It's people not believing in you. It's been so many times that a artists that I wanted to do a feature with, or before I was signed to RCA, labels that I wanted to be a part of, I wanted to sign with or whatever. There were like so many times people told me no, or, you know, "I don't see the vision. I don't believe in it." You know what I'm saying? So it's a lot of dark moments, but you know, at the end of the day, it's worth it cause those same people circled back.

I was going to say I never hear any —besides like the name controversy, I never hear of you doing something or having beef with someone, etc. I just kind of hear you rap and then you kinda go into your corner, and you're kind of quiet. So what are some like ethics and values that you hold true to yourself?

The main reason why I'm not into all that is just because I didn't grow up in that household. Like, I grew up in a very supportive and happy household. Like we weren't raised to be jealous or hateful towards other people. It was always like we were taught you sit back and wait for your turn and you put in the work for it to eventually for it to be your turn. But, you don't have any envy for anyone who's experiencing their moment at the time because your moment is going to come. Like in school and stuff, I was never like the mean girl that just picked on other girls, or hated other girls. Like, you know what I'm saying? So, in the industry, it's no different than cliques in school and stuff like that. Like, I am just super supportive. It's just literally not in my blood. And then I'm just so like business, goal-driven, and it's like, I'm so focused on myself. I really literally do not have time to even look your way to see what you're doing. I'm so busy trying to be a better me, that I really have no regard to what you're doing.

I think people who are often very jealous and envious of other people are insecure within themselves and feel like they lack something that that person has. So let's talk about the new album, what is the biggest difference that we can hear in this music versus what you've done in the past?

I feel like it's just the growth in the beat selections, the flows, the topics of the songs, the features, the producers— just everything is like growth. I really was like— through the pandemic, through just like not being able to perform like that, and not being able to just be outside, like how the industry normally works. You just had time to just like perfect your craft and just try to be a better artist. I feel like you're going to hear that in the music. I traveled across the country to just like catch a vibe, like catching a vibe, and just bring out different sounds out of me. I know my potential is crazy, so I just wanted to work with new people, and be in new environments that could like bring more of that out of me. So, you're gonna hear the elevation for sure.

I saw you're working with Pharrell, what was it like working in a studio with him? And did he give you one of his iconic speeches that he does in a studio session?

Oh, my god! Yes, he did. First of all, I was so nervous because I kept telling my manager "Are you sure he wants to work with me? Like, it's no way that Pharrel even knows who the fuck I am. Ya'll are playing with me!" And they're like, "No, he wants to work with you." I'm like, "Well, why does he want to work with me?" Like my mind could not grasp the concept that Pharrell wanted me to pull upon him in Miami, and lock in for a week. Nah, there's no way. But yeah, we did lock-in for a week and we got a lot of dope records out of it. He definitely gave me a couple of his iconic speeches, and just like made me see a bigger me. And the crazy thing is, is that those sessions were like kind of in the beginning stages of the album. So it was super necessary. It set the tone for the rest of the recording process. He was like, "You know, you gotta see your potential!" And he's telling me this thing called "house music," right?

You didn't know what house music was?

No, listen, he has his own definition for it. So he says "we're making house music." And I'm like, "I don't make the house music." And he's like, "no, no, no, no, no, "house music" is when you dropped this music, you gon' buy some more houses with this music." I'm like "Oooh! I'm making Birkin music" I'm like "yeah, I like that!" So every time we would take a toast, we would cheers to "house music."

I need to make some house music! And, in terms of your process with making music, do you usually start off with the flow or the beat, chords, lyrics first?

I feel like it all depends on my mood. It depends if there's a producer there with me because if the producer is there with me, then nine times out of ten, I'm giving him like a direction. Like, 'okay, I'm in this mood and I want to make this type of song, and it needs to have heavy 8 0 8s. It needs to have this sound in there, this BPM.' So in that case with the producers there and we both started from scratch, just cooking, I think it definitely starts with the sounds. But to me, I'm in there with the engineer, probably my ANRs, and just going in there and just going off top. Definitely start with a good beat that's already done. But I guess all and all, it really goes back to mood because both of those situations depend on my mood.

Who are the most exciting features you have? And is there any stories you can tell us?

I haven't locked in all the features yet, so I don't want to go too in-depth because I'm still waiting on some like heavy-hitters. But you can definitely expect like a plethora as far as gender, as far as genre, I'm like literally tapping into like a lot of new shapes. So it's going to be like lit as bitches, lit as niggas, and all type of different genres. Like it's going to be some R&B on there. It's going to be some real rap shit. It's going to be some OGs on there. It's like, it's lit.

You seem like an imaginative person. So let's say hypothetically we're living in Latto's world. Latto is the dictator. What does the world look like? What are some of the rules? What's going on?

Oo', First of all, girls run the world. So, we got to have a female president, female police officers, female CEOs, everything is just girly. It's boss-bitch ran. So for sure that, I'm heavy on like self-expression, I feel like I come from a household— like my parents didn't really shelter me from anything. They kind of just told me this is what it is. And that's the reality of the situation too. So, they were like very accepting of all beliefs and just everything—sexuality. It was just very accepting, self-expressive parents. So like we were allowed to like dye our hair, we were allowed to bring our friends that were bisexual, or, lesbian, or gay home and with no judgment. It made me a well-rounded person. I really take pride in like how my parents parented. Like it made me a real, well-rounded person. Like I can pretty much sit with any type of people and feel comfortable. You know what I'm saying? So my world be girl run the world. It would be very like accepting of — you know, everyone can come and just get themselves, but girls come first.

Last question, so you often say in interviews, these interviewers ask you "what do you do outside of rap?" Well, what is it?

Shittin' on bitches!

Period!

Music

CHASING ROY BLAIR

November 18, 2024

For those of us a little too deep in our feels in 2017, Roy Blair was an oasis in an age of uncertainty. It was the era of interpersonal lyricism: vulnerable storytelling set against synth-heavy backdrops tied together with grounding hooks. Lost in the ruins of Spotify, stumbling across artists who brought raw emotion to life, we found ourselves captivated by Blair’s debut album, Cat Heaven. A mind-altering introduction to his genius, the album became the soundtrack to our year—from the joyous highs to the moments where only his words could describe the anxieties we couldn’t articulate. Roy did for us what other artists tried to do.

But then, when we needed him most, he vanished. Fans turned to Reddit deep dives marked with threads like “r/WHERE_IS_ROY_BLAIR?” as rumors swirled about an imminent second album. Years passed. The wait grew longer. But, half a decade later, the rumors proved true.

Intro + Interview by: Cassie Jekanoski
Photography by: Jeret Cheatham

Suddenly, notifications were lighting up phones everywhere: Roy Blair was back with a new project, Chasing Moving Trains. First came “Panavision” — a sweeping accumulation of his past, present, and future. Then, “Strawberry,” an upbeat, serotonin-laced track destined for replays. When the full album finally dropped, it was unmistakable—this was the purest embodiment of Roy Blair yet.

In an exclusive interview with the artist, office sat down with Blair to discuss the long-awaited release of Chasing Moving Trains, the headspace that defined his hiatus, and what lies ahead.

Read on as we delve into the truths behind those restless Reddit threads and answer the questions we’ve all been dying to know the answers to.

CASSIE– It's been a year for me since I've done an interview with somebody, so thank you for taking the time to do this. So first off, hi. How are you doing?

ROY BLAIR– I'm good. Sick. Yeah, just taking it day by day right now, honestly.

Cool. And where are you now?

New York.

Well, first off, I just wanted to say that I've been a fan of your music since literally 2017, 2018, and some of your songs have really just been the soundtrack to some of my happiest/most sentimental memories that I have had over the years. So thank you for sharing your art with us.

That means a lot. Thank you. I mean, it's so nice. I did another interview with someone and it's been half a decade or more, so the people who would be interviewing me are like, "Oh, I listened to your music." And that's so cool. Whereas when I was first doing interviews around Cat Heaven, it was like, "Who are you?" That was more of the vibe.

Damn. I mean, well, yeah, I'm coming out of interview retirement to do this. So let's get into it. So Chasing Moving Trains, what is the significance of this album title for you?

It's a few things. So I would say the main point of it is just always wanting some sort of perfection or the thing that you dream in your head to fully come to life. It’s always chasing this non-existent utopia of achieving what you want to achieve in life. It's sort of, the grass is greener on the other side always, and so you’re never really settling and appreciating what you have in front of you. The steps along the way I think are beautiful and worth just as much of your time, or maybe more of your time, than getting to the final thing. The point of the title is always chasing this ideal that you have in your head. And then the other thing is this is a record about finding yourself and going out into the world and learning more about yourself by meeting more people, by experiencing more things. The title is also literally this- I'm taking so many trains that I'm almost missing the train, if you will.

The train itself.

Yeah, or I'm traveling so much, whether it be on tour or just working on the record. I recorded the record in a few places. It's just this nonstop travel and exploration of the world and in turn yourself as well.

Sick. I feel like as an artist, I mean, correct me if I'm wrong, but it's in searching for that end goal, that maybe sometimes you stop to kind of realize where you've been, the different things that you've learned, and the different people that you've met along the way.

Totally.

I got a chance to listen to the album and I've literally been listening nonstop.

That's amazing. Thank you.

It's so good. In the title song itself, you repeat the phrase, "sometimes I can't recognize myself." Is that something that you would want to dive deeper into?

I don't know if anyone else has this experience, but sometimes I think I have a depersonalization, or I think there's an actual phrase for it, where you almost don't feel like you're in your own body. I think the thing I'm talking about is where sometimes you literally feel outside of your body. You're watching a person live your life, and sometimes I think I have that. I think sometimes I can feel so empty or in such a strange place in my life that I almost feel like I'm not recognizing the person I am. I'm not living in the moment or being present that I don't even know sometimes who I am, which is, I think that goes back to that album title and why that's the title track. There's this recurring kind of narrative thread in the record about shadows and reflections. I was trying to connect this surrealism thing where basically- I don't know. I don't want to maybe ruin it or maybe over explain it, but that does tie into this thing I was trying to tell with basically a shadow of me following me, being paranoid about my career, and my life. The main concept is really just that sometimes I literally look in the mirror and be like, I don't know who I'm looking at sometimes because maybe I'm just so out of it, or not in the moment.

Well, would you say that, especially with this new album, would you say that this a cathartic release for you and by putting this album out you're able to recognize yourself and know who you are?

Yeah, I think so for sure. I think in a funny way, spending as much time as I did with this record and falling in and out of love with making it. There was a time where I was kind of just like, “I don't really like making music anymore.” I think I was so stressed about the concept of, "Oh, I have to finish this. People are waiting for this." At this point, I'm off social media and I have to come back at some point. Then it started to pile onto me, and then I was like, "Okay, I'm going to take a step away from this." And then I started DJing in New York. This was summer 2022, and that kind of got me excited again about making music. I started locking back in on the record and I think in a funny way, even the process of making this record was cathartic because I sat with it for so long and I sat away from the audience for so long. This record is so me. You know what I mean? There's no, "Oh, I'm trying to keep up with a system." It's really just me being indulgent in a good way and being confident about it. I think it's definitely cathartic for me.

No, that's sick to hear. I'm glad that all of those different experiences brought you back into making music. But a big question that I feel like many fans are curious about was what you kind of brought up a little bit, but just taking some time in between Cat Heaven and Chasing Moving Trains. Was there anything else that you kind of wanted to bring up that was going through your mind during those years?

Yeah, I mean, the main idea is I started working on this record in January 2019. Well, honestly, I was trying to start the day after I finished Cat Heaven and I think all of 2018 was me trying to figure out what the record was going to be tonally. And then the first song that is on the album that we made was "Garden" and that was December 2018. And then the newest song in the record is 2021.

Which one?

It's "Belmont."

Okay, cool.

Well, that song is actually from 2019, but we flipped it completely. I would say that when I was working on that song, it was much different, and I was working on it a lot in 2021. But technically the newest song is "Strawberry" from Summer 2020 in terms of fresh idea. But I would argue that "Belmont" changed so much that it's almost a different song entirely. We were in London when COVID happened, working on this album, I had just made "Plum," and then the lockdown stuff was really getting serious, and we got back from London the week before everything actually closed. We were going to go to Tokyo, but that got canceled. We were going to go in April, and then it was kind of just like, "So what are we going to do now that there's this big space in between?" But now with as much time that has passed, people haven't fully thought about that being a part of this story.

I mean, it definitely is.

Yeah. And then we started basically picking work back up at the end of 2020. It was a lot of figuring out what I wanted to say that honestly took the most amount of time, just lyrics and also me growing up in real time. Maybe there were songs, ideas, or verses where I felt that was an older version of me, and that didn't really feel like the future of who I am and what I really want to be. The album took this long, might as well make it count, you know? I don't want to put out something just to put out something. At this point it's gotta matter.

Definitely.

The lockdown and everything in 2020 really kind of made me take a step back and just start existing more in real life. And then I started just growing up and the record took a long time because of that.

Yeah, I mean, that totally makes sense. I feel like especially in these past few years, there has been so much change happening that no one really had control over. So I totally get that break and need to figure out who you are, not even just as an artist, but just as a person in general, especially at such a pivotal turning point. How would you say you've grown as an artist since Cat Heaven to where you're at now? And has that growth been reflected in this new album?

First thing is just taste wise. My taste has expanded a lot just in terms of what I'm listening to. There was a lot of electronic music I got into in 2018 that just shaped a whole section of who Roy Blair is going forward that you hear on Graffiti and you hear a little bit more on this. I think that's a big component. I think Cat Heaven, Chasing Moving Trains, and even Graffiti, are pretty similar, and I think if you're a fan of me, you can clock that. I think obviously there's a lot of production differences, but I think at the core, you could listen to Cat Heaven, Chasing Moving Trains, and go, "Okay, he's kind of doing similar things with structure here, or narrative. This feels like the climax of both records." I still love Cat Heaven, still go back to that record, and go, "Hey, I didn't really know what I was doing other than that I think I have good sensibilities for how an album should feel front to back." I figured it out, and that resonated with people, and I knew that, so I wanted to do a better version of that basically. So I think the only things that have really changed is just that I got a bigger budget to do this, and I'm working with maybe more people, but honestly, I've kind of kept some of the things very similar because I think the things that mean a lot to the fans also mean a lot to me.

I can definitely see from 2017 to now, and even your project in between, you have influences from both of those, and it's kind of the perfect culmination in Chasing Moving Trains where you get that synth, you get that techno. But then it also breaks down to where it's just you being raw and singing the lyrics that are still really impactful and meaningful, but it's kind of a whole big present all wrapped into one.

I really connect "Rain" on this album to "Grand Theft Auto." Originally it was supposed to be the same amount of tracks, but I cut it down because it's about the album being better, not always about narrative. But there are a lot of counterparts in terms of you could look at this song and it's this song, or you can look at that song and it's kind of similar to what he was doing with that song. But yeah, I think there's a lot of similarities. There's a lot of threads between both records, or all three records for that matter.

Yeah, definitely. I think I'm kind of deciding what my favorite track from this album is. I think as of right now it's Amberwood.

Oh, sick.

The first time listening to it, I literally got the craziest chills and had to text all my friends. I was like, "Oh my God, just wait until this song comes out. You guys are going to freak out." I feel like it's raw. The lyrics are really beautiful and also a bit haunting. At least what I took away from it was what you were going through and talking about those first feelings you had when first starting to make music and the aftermath of that. So can you get into what you were feeling when you were writing this song?

I think the idea started in Iceland. Originally it was basically up until when the drums drop was the original version, and then there was kind of a different hook, and I was like, "Nah, this hook, it's not very good. Let's just take it off. And I don't like where the song goes." In London in February of 2020, we got to the part where the drums drop and then we were trying to figure it out, but I didn't write that second verse until summer 2020. So if you think about it, it's kind of funny because those verses feel different in energy, or just maybe where my head's at in terms of where I'm at in my career, you know what I mean? When I first started that, just to be honest, I didn't have an idea. We were making music day in and day out in Iceland, and it kind of just came to me and I was like, "Oh, this is a cool concept." As I was sitting on that, my energy towards being in the music industry started to shift slightly, and just the tone of my career or certain things that were frustrating me a lot, being independent at the time started changing. Then you got the third verse where it almost feels like the tone of where it's getting to where I'm at, and the feeling of where I'm at shifting. You can kind of feel it shift in real time over the song.

You definitely see it. It's really interesting to hear your insight on it and where you were spatially location-wise and everything when you were writing that song and finishing all of that up. Do you have a personal favorite from the album?

Yeah, I think so. I think that it changes a lot for me, which is always a good sign where I'm like, "Oh, this one's actually clicking." I think it used to be "Panavision" for a while, and then now I think a lot this year it's been "Garden." For a long time it was also "Plum." And then I think the title track to me these days, I like listening to it a lot. I think that run from basically Chasing Moving Trains to the end of the album is pretty fucking great. Maybe I'll start with "Panavision" and then I'll just let the album run and I'll be like, alright, I'm just going to listen to the rest of the record, which is a good sign.

Sick, "Garden's" really, really great. So I feel like throughout this, you've been talking about different locations and whether in Iceland, London, or Japan not happening at that moment. So you were kind of traveling in all these different places. Are there any other places that you were at when you were making the album?

Just New York a lot. So I was in LA and it was feeling pretty stagnant. This was like 2018, and I was doing sessions and nothing was feeling great. I would go to New York for a show or something and I'd do a session with these guys I ended up working with. And then me and my friend Edgar, went to New York at the beginning of 2019 to work with these guys. It was icy and cold, and we were listening to Radiohead and a bunch of stuff, and it was just very different. It was a tone shift the minute we landed, and then it kind of reflected immediately in the music we were making. So I would argue it's kind of like New York, Iceland, London, and then maybe in sort of a fake way Japan as well. I think it's still narratively a part of the record, even if we didn't go, I think the record theoretically ends there or something, or maybe ends with me coming back home to LA or New York. I think that the concept at the end of the record is me stepping off the train and into a new place or into a new part of my life, if you will.

Sick. So would you say that, so now you're living in New York, what is it about the city that continues to inspire you?

All of my friends here are just amazing artists. Everyone I know here doesn't feel like they always have to be online or share everything they're doing all the time. It's not very performative. So it's just me and my friends and we make music at each other's places and we're just hanging out. And sometimes we go to stuff, but not really. I'm able to find more of the stuff that I resonate with hobby-wise. I go to the movies all the time here, I see old movies at Metrograph, I go buy used CDs, or go bike at the park near me. There's just a lot more of a sense that I can go outside and find something that's going to fulfill the non-music aspect of me that for some reason I just struggled to find in LA.

That's cool. I love to hear that. I totally understand where it's so easy to get caught up and wrapped up in a scene. You mentioned it earlier too, about DJing these past couple of years, so now that this new project is out, do you think that DJing is something that you'll continue to do?

Yeah, definitely. I'm specific in what I like. I'm probably not a good DJ definition wise just because I think it's valid that a part of DJing is making the crowd entertained, so I don't know if it's that I'm DJing for the wrong crowd. I don't really like a lot of new stuff, the stuff I play I feel like is not super loud either. It's kind of just quieter music. So I don't know. I love doing it. I don't get offered a lot of gigs, honestly, but I'm not really looking. I don't go out and go like, "Hey, book me, book me." This is kind of like a hobby for me. I'm so down to do it more, it's just a matter of when, or if it gets brought up to me really.

How similar or different your mixes are compared to the music that you make? And what kind of artists inspired Chasing Moving Trains?

One of the big influences that I would recommend anyone to check out is the Trainspotting soundtrack. I was scared by it. The music itself freaked me out when I was younger. But as I got older and rewatched the movie, I'm doing this electronic album studying and I'm like, "Oh, yeah, I love this song." Underworld is a nineties, early two thousands electronic group from the UK and they're amazing. It was really random because specifically "Garden" is pretty inspired by them. We were in London working at the studio that's like three hours outside of London, and they were randomly there at the studio. I was like, "What the fuck? This is crazy." And then I got to meet them, talked to them for a second, and that was really cool. I would say they're a big influence on this. I mean, other electronic acts, Ken Ishii. I like a lot of hard techno stuff. I mean, Daft Punk's first album Homework, I literally have studied the fuck out of that record. I'm obsessed with it, and I play remixes of that record every time. I always find a new remix that someone did in the nineties, and I'll play it every time I'm DJing. DJ Shadow was in a group for one album called Unkle, which is a trip hop kind of duo thing where they brought on a lot of artists like Thom Yorke from Radiohead to sing. That record Psyence Fiction really inspired me, honestly.

Sick. How important is it for you to continue creating all these compelling sounds and visuals as the album continues to roll out?

So I think it's going to be next year. I'm basically going to be working on the world of this all of next year. Even with Cat Heaven, I spent two years on that, and I basically worked on the world of that for the entire, maybe a year and a half after that record. I mean, in reality, all of 2018, I basically just promoted that record or did videos just kept working on it. And I think I'm going to do the same with this.

When I found out that you were putting out something new, I went on to Spotify and I got a notification that you had an album coming out. And literally, I think I scared my friends. I started freaking out, and they were like, "What?" And I was like, "You guys don't understand. Something crazy is happening right now." How has people's reaction been as you've been teasing the album and coming out with singles, and how has all of that been making you feel?

It's just like wow, because anyone who works with me will be the first one to tell you that the business side of this or the "We're trying to make a career," I am so not focused on that at all. I have an idea and I'm going to waste three years of my life on it. All I can do is make the best art I possibly can, or be like, "Hey, would 15-year-old me get inspired or be excited about this?" I've built my entire career off of that concept. If the money comes, or if the success comes based off of that, that's all. That doesn't even need to happen. As long as I can survive and try to execute ideas that I have, I think that's all that matters to me. So I guess with saying that, I think the thing that is the most beautiful about this whole thing is just I don't think this album has crazy buzz at all right now. I put out a song and a video and I'm like, "Oh, sick, a hundred thousand streams in the first week.” To me, that's good. Maybe the full record needs to come out for people to fully get it. I think the amazing thing is that I didn't really know if the fans from Cat Heaven would stay? Would they still check in? And to be honest with you, I think those are the main people. I even checked the backend of Spotify recently, and it was like, my fan base is 90%, 22, 23 years old. And I'm like, that's crazy.

Then that adds up!

Those kids from five years ago grew up, and those are the main, and almost only people listening to me, which is beautiful. I think that's amazing. That whole concept of some kids starting high school and now maybe are either graduating college or something like that where it's this huge life change. I do think this record will impact people in the ways that I was feeling when I started it, honestly. I really think it's going to hit in that way for people where they're going to be like, "Oh, Cat Heaven meant something to me at this time. I was going through this. I was becoming an adult," and then this record will be like, "Oh, I'm out of college. I had my first love maybe, and I lost that." I think the music's going to resonate in a big way with the people who stayed on board.

I feel like you touched on that more specifically in "Amberwood" where you are speaking about growing up. I'm excited for the whole thing to release and to see new people getting to experience your music.

Well, first off, I think this record has more for everyone, honestly, even than Cat Heaven, which is crazy. I think so many people are going to be like, this one's my favorite. Or this one's my favorite. Because it kind of goes over a lot of different sub genres or just tones through the record. I think that it's really a grower thing where people have to sit with the record for a second and the dust kind of has to clear a little bit.

Well, take it from me as somebody that was like, "oh my God, Cat Heaven's the best thing ever." And now also listening to this one, it's all that I've been talking about. I'm really excited for just the mass audience to be able to hear the album from beginning to end, because I really do think that it takes you on a journey and a deeper insight into your mindset. If they were fans of Cat Heaven, they're going to be fans of this one as well.

Yeah. Thank you.

Is there a message that you want your audience to take away from this album?

I think the main thing is just enjoy the moment and enjoy the smaller things in life. We're all in the big race or whatever to do something with our lives and make some sort of impact. But I think more now than ever, the moments spent with people you love or the things you care about matter so much because of how fast everything is. I think the other thing is don't give up hope. I think it's an optimistic record.

I feel like people will definitely take all of that, and you can hear it through your sound and the songs on this album. But, I guess I have one more question left. So I want to talk about plans for touring and performing, and if you have anything in the works.

I don't want to say it too much, but the first half of next year.

Sick so soon. And are you excited about it?

I mean, I've been dreaming about it. The last show I ever did was a fucking nightmare.

Really?

It was a festival show and nothing worked. The line on "Amberwood" where I say "I had dreams of playing Coachella" or whatever. I don't think Coachella's the end all be all for me, but obviously when I was a kid, I was like, "Oh, I want to play shows and everything." I actually had a dream of me playing Coachella, and it actually went terribly wrong. This was three years ago or something, and it was just like, oh, the mic doesn't work and you're trying to plug in your phone. I don't know if I'm crazy, but I feel like other artists have this dream where they're trying to perform, but the mic won't turn on.

It's like Grimes' set.

I literally had that where I had this festival gig at the end of 2019. It was my last show and nothing was working. We literally got the mic working in the last five minutes. I performed two songs, with no in-ears. I couldn't hear the track. I just performed, went to the crowd, sang it, and then left. And that was literally the last show I played. So I have that dangling over me, and I'm like, fuck that. I've always loved live shows for what I think I can do with it. I actually don't love going to see live music that much. I don't go to shows very often other than DJ stuff, because I just have to be a really big fan to be fully in it, or it has to be a really energetic show. Either going to go see ASAP Rocky where everyone's jumping— that's obviously really fun for me. Or I have to go see My Bloody Valentine, where I'm just kind of obsessed and mesmerized. I have so many ideas for what I think the live show could be. I've been thinking about it for five years, so it's going to be easy for me. I think as soon as this album's out, I'm going to start working on it.

I feel like everyone will be really, really excited. Especially people in New York. I feel like so many people will come out for that.

Music

You’ll Never Guess DJ_Dave’s Next Move

Angelina Hazzouri — Before we get into this new remix, how did you get started making music with code?

DJ_Dave — I got started when I was in college, actually. I was taking random classes, trying to figure out what I wanted to do after I had switched my major from fashion. I was doing a bit of basic web development coding, and I discovered that I really enjoyed it. So I ended up taking a class in live coding, and we learned Sonic Pi, which is a live coding environment that I've been using ever since. I knew right away that it was something I was really obsessed with.

I graduated into COVID, so I had a year to just hang around and figure it out, honestly. I had a job—I was fully going in another direction. I didn't fully accept this as my career fate until a year after that. And then I realized this is something I really love and something that other people seem to enjoy discovering with me. So I thought, let me just take a leap of faith and just do this going forward.

That's so cool. Did you play instruments before, or did you kind of just discover [making] music through coding?

I did, I grew up playing instruments. I would jump around—I would take lessons in one instrument for about a year and then would be like, “I want to play something else!”

I never really produced anything though—I just enjoyed music and then discovering live coding and was like, “Oh, this is a kind of production structure that I actually really like. Wow.” I feel like what's cool about this is it's obviously your art, but it's heavily centered around technology.

What is your relationship to technology and how has that played a part in everything?

My relationship to technology is honestly, like, so weird. [laughs]

Obviously, I love certain areas of technology, and I'm very much at this intersection of art and technology, but I just think that it can be such a daunting genre of things. New technologies are really intimidating. It's like a whole new entity to learn how to communicate with.

I think a lot of times, it can steer people in the wrong direction or make them excited about something. I've just always tried to take the functionality of certain technologies and tools at face value and be like, at its core, what can this do? And how does it fit into my life and my work? And I've just kind of gone from there. It's really hard for me to back a new technology, honestly. Really? Yeah. My relationship to technology is interesting. It literally feels like a relationship. [laughs] There are certain things that I like to compromise on and certain things that I win on. So it's, you know, figuring out where we fit together.

Yeah, that sounds like a relationship. It's interesting because so much of what you do is dependent on technology. For everyone else, I feel like there's this whole conversation about whether AI will take over our jobs—but you kind of embrace that.

Yeah. I mean, AI is [pauses]... there are a lot of really obvious dangers of it. Those are what I think of first when I think of AI. Like there are a lot of really bad use cases of AI that we're already seeing, but they’re at face value. It's a really useful tool when used in good ways—like when it's used for making art in a way that's not taking other people's. Using it for unique output. AI is also helpful when it’s used to better our practices in certain areas. For example, I'm collaborating with an AI artist for this “infinite remix” release, but that's really the only time I've dabbled in AI so far. So, it’s like, you know, I'm treading lightly.

I'm super interested to hear more about the infinite remix with Dadabots—I don't even know what to ask because I don't fully understand it. So what can you tell me about it?

That's like the most valid question ever. [laughs] I fully sat in a workshop with my two friends who made this and they explained everything about their process,and I’m still not totally sure how it works. But basically they are fine artists / musicians, and they’ve been developing their AI tools for years. They’re known for a live stream they’ve had running since 2018, which is possibly the longest running YouTube live stream ever and it’s constantly producing unique content.

Oh my God?

High level overview — their AI model is trained on what certain genres sound like, for example, the drum patterns or vocal melodies a genre would use. And so their live stream that’s been running for 6 years has been constantly spitting out a long, long version of a death metal song

Oh my God.

Yeah. I always thought they were super cool ever since we met on my university tour, and I knew I wanted to collaborate when we met. When it came time for Naive to come out, it seemed really right to collaborate with them, and I asked them, “What if you just use the same model that you have? What if you just give it the stems of my song “Naive” and we just start a live stream that remixes it for however long?”

That’s insane, I can’t wait to stream the remix. When “Naive" originally came out, you did the whole thing on Instagram making it look like your account got hacked, which was so sick.

Thank you.

I also feel like it's low-key a risk to make it look like your Instagram got hacked. What was the thinking behind that? Were you nervous at all that people were going to report your Instagram for being hacked?

Yes! Actually, I got my Instagram taken down for a little—it's so funny, dude—because yeah, I knew that there were risks associated. I was like, a lot of people are going to think this is real. I lost a few hundred followers, but I also gained a few hundred new ones. I just know that honestly, there's that element of shock value.

The whole concept was that I want people to genuinely question the origins of everything that I was about to put out for the next couple of weeks and question if it's safe, if it's me. I wanted to instill doubt in people about my motives or whose motives are behind all of it.

Never let them know your next move.

Never let them know my next move. I made sure I was really careful to drop hints as much as I could, because I knew it was going to be a puzzle—something that people could solve. It was actually so crazy because after I posted my first Instagram—the one that really got people—a couple of people in my Discord immediately solved the whole thing.

From one post? They know you too well.

I know, they immediately got it. They were like, “She's releasing a song called ‘Naive’ on August 29th.” It was crazy.

What do you think you'll do after this project with Dadabots? Do you think this will be a series?

After this phase, I'm going to be going into this phase of transparency and cybersecurity. I want to have cybersecurity, with a much more trustworthy vibe.

Because if my last release was all about being sketchy and mysterious and almost malicious, I want the next phase to be all about being transparent.Using technology only for good, having accessible products that people can interact with—that sort of thing.

There's obviously going to be music and then outside of that, there will be projects that have more of an honest identity, which I'm excited about.

That sounds so cool. It sounds like you're building a world, if that makes sense. I feel like what you do obviously transcends just music because it's not just music.

Yeah, it was with Josh [Kohno] and Sophia [Castillo] that we came up with this world-building idea. I've always been almost overwhelmed with the amount of things that I want to fit into my project because if I kept it to just music, I would literally be missing parts. I wouldn't be able to work with certain people that I want to, or I wouldn't be able to have this global perspective on things if I didn't expand it outside of music. So this just ended up being the perfect framework for me to include everyone that I wanted to.

This ended up being the solution, and it's been so perfect and fun.

Infinite Remix of ‘Naive’ by DJ_Dave and Sipper can be streamed here.

Music

Jacob Mühlrad: Where Classical Music Meets the Unexpected

November 15, 2024

Contemporary classical music often struggles to stay relevant, particularly in the U.S., where it's mostly confined to academic spaces. But Swedish composer Jacob Mühlrad is reshaping the genre and he sells out concert halls on his own in Stockholm.

Jacob Mühlrad’s versatility shines through his projects. In November, he premieres a symphony about the biosphere that will even travel to Tasmania. He’s also co-produced two tracks for rapper 070 Shake's new album and is set to release a joint single with her next year.

His work has been performed in prestigious venues like Carnegie Hall in New York and Suntory Hall in Tokyo, but his journey is anything but traditional. Jacob moves between two contrasting worlds: studio sessions with artists like 070 Shake and formal meetings with orchestras.

By Enzo Holdt
Photography by Mikael Jansson and Pierre Björk

Jacob’s drive stems from his family history. As the grandson of Holocaust survivors, he grew up with a deep awareness of life’s fragility. “I’ve always felt my life has to mean something,” he reflects.

His collaboration with 070 Shake highlights his ability to connect across genres. The two first met late at night in artist Alexander Wessely’s studio. Over Hennessy and music talk, they bonded instantly. Their creative process, whether at former ABBA artist Benny Andersson’s studio or in Stockholm, is marked by an unspoken understanding.

Songs like Sin and Blood On My Hands grew from this connection. “She started singing, and we just knew where the other was going,” says Mühlrad. Moments like Shake’s impromptu lyrics became defining features of their work together.

For Jacob Mühlrad, crossing boundaries isn’t just a creative choice—it’s a necessity. Balancing classical and contemporary, he proves it’s possible to bridge musical worlds without losing oneself.