"Although I didn't write this song, it spoke to me in a way that made me feel as if it was my own story,” Brandon said. “I found myself playing it over and over again in my bedroom, remembering situations that I've been through.”
Check out the video for yourself below.
I’m curious where artists’ influences play into who appreciates their sound, how it’s composed and who composes it alongside them. Clearly there’s strategy in place in the music industry to predict success for acts that follow direction. But there is a path less traveled, and success can be found on it by a select, and very special few. Elke is one of them.
Exactly a year ago, I saw Elke perform at Elsewhere in Brooklyn. At the time, she was promoting her first EP No Pain For Us Here, a dreamy avant-garde tracklist that drifted from the punk sound of her previous work. But minutes into the set, it was clear that Elke was embracing the ethos and energy of punk music with more fervor than ever before. From the white t-shirt she wore, onto which she’d Sharpie-scrawled “I <3 TO SING”, to her wild movements, flying limbs and crooning, beautifully and shockingly low-pitched vocals — Elke embodied nothing but pure authenticity and freedom, and that energy was tangible throughout the space.
On Friday, the Nashville-based artist released My “Human Experience”, a five-track EP that is as eccentric and emotional as the last, though this one pushes the poetic nature of her previous songwriting and experimentation in sound into new territory. Elke told me “It’s about using words to evoke feelings… it’s as much for me, creating, experiencing and feeling something — as it is for the listener.”
It’s an experience, and whether it’s based on her human one, it’s now available to be ours. As a (fellow) creative being with ADHD, Elke has channeled her attention span into meticulous creative direction across the board with her act, and welcomed us once again with this project into her well-crafted world. It’s one driven by poetry — the likes of C.A. Conrad who she cites as her biggest inspiration and “icon”, for their lack of shying away from shallowness — and community, friends from across the country who came together to create this EP and offer us it’s big, bizarre and beautiful energy.
Her passion for words is prevalent throughout this EP, as it is seeing her perform in the flesh: Elke wants to evoke and share a story, a narrative. With smooth sentimentality, My “Human Experience” twists and turns from track to track, coasting on her unique, romantic, and at times harrowing voice and rich, thoughtful lyricism through what should feel like dichotomous rhythms and sounds, slipping in and out of “genre” definitions with elegance. It’s art, more than anything, I told her, to which she eagerly agreed, “Art Pop, actually, which derives from the Talking Heads, is the genre I’ve been classified as and feel the most content with.” And after seeing her live a few more times, I have to concur. There’s something about seeing real dancing on stage that hits a deep-set need many musical acts today cannot unlock for the audience. And Elke dances.
Towards the end of our conversation, I asked Elke a question I ask many artists. Is it you, up on the stage? Or is that just Elke? “It’s 50%, 50%. When I talk between songs, that’s all me. But when it’s Elke, none of my nerves are there. I’m just in it. I let go, I feel it all.”
Listen and dance to My "Human Experience" now, on all streaming platforms.
In anticipation of the album's release, the artist is premiering his track, 'Formation', exclusively on office. Of the track, Bjørke told me, "I wanted to create a very slow progression as this piece is interpreting the actual formation of our planet, which lasted around 10-20 million years... 'Formation' is one of the longest pieces of music I have ever produced, around 21 minutes, but given the subject matter, I think it makes a lot of sense to keep it this long. Its ́a journey that should make you feel like this is the beginning of everything, really."
For an artist to be tapping into a subject that is such a shared reality, so sensitive and upsetting, I had little to ask of Bjørke, and rather let the artist touch on the topic of his latest release himself.
What is the background for the new Kasper Bjørke Quartet album Mother?
As in any artform, I find that the most poignant music carries a meaningful message... With the Quartet project I try to encapsulate big subjects we as humans face in life, through instrumental compositions within the neoclassical / ambient realm – both to spread awareness around the message of the music and maybe even provide some sort of personal release or revelation for the listener. On the new album, Mother, I set out to explore what the evolution of our planet sounds like.
Sort of a testament to earth. From its formation 4.5 billion years ago up to humankind’s current destruction of our only home and also suggesting that Mother’s resilience will create a new beginning.... I wanted to create a circular listening experience from a calm beginning with a dramatic almost unbearable crescendo towards the peaceful end... Our planets history and the climate crisis felt like a suitable subject matter for the second Quartet album, after The Fifty Eleven Project, which besides the main theme of my personal history, actually contained a second layer, hinting that the human race is the cancer on earth. It is very important for me to point out that I could not have succeeded in creating Mother without all the extremely talented musicians who are part of the album.
In total we are ten performers on this album - and the recordings have taken place over a period of almost two years in different locations, from small studios to the Royal Opera House in Copenhagen. I started to be very concerned about climate change around eight years ago. But despite doing what we can as a family (we haven’t gotten on an airplane for five years to go on holiday, we mainly live as vegetarians by now, we recycle everything, don’t own a car, wear mostly vintage clothes, try to consume less, etc...), I still feel a strong sense of guilt towards nature, animals and the planet on behalf of our entire species. I have tried to learn more by reading books and articles about new technology and sustainable energy sources, I follow the work of environmental organizations, trying to find some hope... but let ́s be honest, overall things are going in the wrong direction.
However, recently I have found some sort of reconciliation in the theory that at this point we are too late to stop global warming and the climate tipping points that comes with it. But also that earth will survive this manmade crisis — and at least a fraction of humanity will also survive and hopefully learn from the mistakes that we have made these past hundred or so years. At least, this theory somehow feels more hopeful to me than being stressed that we may or may not turn this around. The climate scientist James Lovelock, who recently passed, has some interesting points on this theory in his books.
Marisa Kalil-Barrino — Tell me where you are right now in life and in your music career.
Robb Banks — I’m happy, you feel me? I feel like I’m happy–I’m trying to just find happiness within myself and within music…well not even within music, moreso happiness just within myself, within life, and my personal life.
MKB — What does that entail?
RB — A number of things, a variety of things…whatever I want to be honest with you. Whatever I wanna do I’ll just do it.
MKB — Tell me about your songwriting process and how you come up with the perfect combination of your lyrics and beats.
RB — It’s real weird to be honest with you. It’s all over the spectrum damn near. It’s crazy–it’s a lot going on. Sometimes I'll just jump in, say the first thing that comes to my head, and just go off that. Sometimes I'll write the whole song, sometimes I'll write the first four bars and then just go off the top of my head for the rest. It just varies on the day, I don’t want to say the beat, it’s not ever really the beat to be real with you. The beat could be fire as hell–the perfect beat for me–and I might not even get to it that day. I might wanna do another one just to warm up. I might just be freestyling all that day or it could be a beat I don’t really find that fire but it’s like, ‘Alright let me just knock it out.’ I’ll write the best song to it. It varies on my mood.
MKB — You’re widely-known for your dirty lyrics (which is one of my favorite things about your music). Does it come from experiences, fantasies, or both?
RB — Both. 100%.
MKB — What are some of your favorite collabs you’ve done and any that you have coming up?
RB — One of my favorite collabs is for sure with Sonny Digital just because I’ve looked up to Sonny music-wise for so long. I grew up hearing his tag on beats for some of my favorite artists and shit like that. Being able to work with him and having a friendship with him now is real cool…I’ve been working with Tony Shhnow–he’s real cool. When we’re in the studio we got good chemistry and that shit hard, like we make some good music. There’s many more people I’ve been working with a lot lately. I don’t wanna unwrap too much right now.”
MKB — There was a two-year gap between “Tha Leak 2” and “Falconia.” How is “Falconia” different from your previous projects and how do you plan to take every project to the next level?
RB — ‘Falconia’ is different just because it’s ‘Falconia.’ It’s the best body of work that I feel like I’ve put out ever. I feel like it exceeds all the other projects to be honest with you. How am I gonna be different in the future?: I couldn’t tell you to be honest. I’ve been in the studio but I haven’t really been focused on like, themes, and things like that. I’ve just been doing whatever I want to…I go to the studio when I want. It’s not a sense of urgency like it was with ‘Falconia.’ With ‘Falconia’ there was a sense of urgency that I had to give to y’all and I really wanted to prove something to everybody and I feel like I did it. Whether I got my point across or not, I got it across to myself–and that’s the only person I really gotta prove shit to these days. At this stage of my life, it’s just all for me. So, as far as right now for the future, expect the unexpected. I don’t know what’s gonna come.”
MKB — How was the tour? It looked really lit.
RB — The tour was great. I had a great time. It just felt good to see everybody again, especially since the pandemic. I had shows during the pandemic also, but, it just wasn’t the same; seeing everyone out with no masks and all of that shit. That shit felt good.”
MKB — On Instagram, there’s a girl holding your socks at your Atlanta show. What was happening there?
RB — She asked for them. I always take my socks off. I always go barefoot on stage. I need traction to jump. When I started doing that on the Revenge tour, I’m like, ‘That shit is better.’ You can move around more easily. I took them bitches off and she’s like, ‘Let me have ‘em, let me have ‘em!’
MKB — One of my favorite things you did recently was the “Flo Milli Shit Freestyle.” Why did you choose that song?
RB — My homeboy actually said I should do this, like, ‘You should freestyle over this song.’ I was like, ‘Alright, bet’ and I just did it that night. I know a lot of people think it’s deep, crazy thoughts that I put into shit–and it is when it’s projects and shit and overall life–but stuff that I realized that is liked by my consumers is usually the shit that just came out of nowhere with no thought. It was a no-brainer like, ‘Let me do this real quick.’
MKB — The Lil Uzi Vert collab; “Shootout.” How did that come about?
RB — It was spontaneous at first, but then it had to get planned out because Uzi is under a label–whereas I’m independent. You gotta go through labels to do certain things. By the time we had already got all this shit done with talking to everyone over at his team and shit like that, I was kinda over the song. I wanted to revamp it a little bit–make it a little newer. That's why it’s not the original version or the snippet people heard. A few people didn’t like that and wanted it to be the original. But, you know, fuck it. You feel me?
MKB — You kind of have a signature flow, but how are you also able to accomplish different sounds and flows?
RB — I couldn’t really tell you. I feel like I just strive to try to be different when I make music. I don’t wanna sound like nobody. I want people to know, ‘Oh, yeah…that’s Robb’ and not, ‘Who is this?’ I want them to know from the tone of my voice to the content I’m talking about in the lyrics to the flow. I want it to be distinctive–I want everything to be distinctive that I do. It’s either that or I don’t do anything. If I can’t find a way to be different, innovative, and influential, then I’m not gonna do anything.
MKB — I think it should be like that for all artists because then they’re just making meaningless shit.
RB — Yeah, but it’s not. You know what I’m sayin’? That’s the reason why I feel like I’ve bombarded y’all with a lot of music recently. I know I was saying I was gonna flood with music. But, I’m not stepping back from, but I’m kinda digressing from that a little bit because I feel like music is too oversaturated and I don't wanna become oversaturated. I don’t feel like I’m like them.
MKB — If you could collab with another rap artist, who would it be?
RB — Future; that’d be really cool…(Lil) Wayne; I’d love a song with Wayne.
MKB — If you could collab with one non-rap artist, who would it be?
RB — Sade, the answer is always Sade. She’s the GOAT, period.
