CANNELLE wears JACKET by SPENCER BADU ℅ EMCEE STUDIOS, DRESS is VINTAGE from STYLIST’S ARCHIVE, BIKINI by LOS ANGELES APPAREL, JEWELRY by MARTINE ALI, and SHOES are CUSTOM from STYLIST’S ARCHIVE.
CANNELLE wears BODYSUIT by NO SCENE GIRL, SKIRT by 1XBLUE, JEWELRY by OGBFF, and HEELS by ROMBAUT.
How are you doing, what have you been up to?
CANNELLE– I'm good! I'm staying at my sister’s in Paris right now. I had a show this weekend with Live From Earth. It was really fun. So yeah, I’ve just been back home, doing my shows, seeing artists.
How do you divide your time between France and the US?
I'm both in France and America, but I've been working more in America because I wanted to expand my art and see new things since I grew up in the countryside. As a countryside person, I've always wanted to see the city life, see more stuff. I’m mostly in the US now.
What’s your relationship to the internet like, especially as an artist?
Social media helped me have people who could really see me. I've always been at home. I wasn't really going outside - especially as a teenager… I had a lot of social anxiety. That's the age when people start judging you. I've always been on social media - like the early days, early Instagram days, early Tumblr days. It was a tool for me to expand my photography, my fashion, creative direction - I have a strong relationship to [it]. I was more of a social media girly, now it’s the music. I'm really grateful to have a community that can enjoy the music as well, now that I'm expanding. It's good that both can collide.
Yeah I totally agree. It used to be that mostly people who grew up in cities, or random people who were super lucky, got to pursue these creative things.
Exactly.
But you’re coming from more of a rural area…
Yeah literally, I’m from a village. There are no Black girls here, there are no alternative people whatsoever. I downloaded Instagram when I was 11 years old, that’s when I was like ‘there are people like me.’ There are people who do crazy stuff; there are people who do all the shit I’m thinking about. That’s how everything started. Content creators weren’t really a thing back then, it was just cool people.
CANNELLE wears VINTAGE DRESS from STYLIST’S ARCHIVE, BIKINI by LOS ANGELES APPAREL, JEWELRY by MARTINE ALI, and SHOES are CUSTOM from STYLIST’S ARCHIVE.
When did you start making music?
I started music for fun two years ago. I didn’t plan to have a music career. My sister and my dad are both musicians, so I always grew up around that and I played the synth when I was a kid - but I started making music for fun. I was a big fan of my friend’s production on a song he made, so I reached out to him. I was like “hey, can I hop on this?” because I really wanted to make a music video. I wanted to challenge myself - like ‘if I’m doing this music video, then I can do a song.’ If you can be the creative director, if you can be the stylist, you can also try to be the singer… so I said ‘fuck it.’ I made the song. It had really silly lyrics, just a catchy song. Now I’m listening to it and I’m like ‘this is so stupid.’ But it was fun, people enjoyed it. It was raw. I didn't take myself super seriously, even though I take my vision seriously, the lyrics themselves weren’t serious. The passion started from that first song and now it’s an everyday thing. I’m producing, song writing, I also started song writing for other artists… which is insane. I grew so much from it in only two years. I’m just super excited for the next year because I’m gonna drop a project.
It’s such a relatable thing to just want to make a music video but to have to have like something to base it off of.
Yeah, I couldn’t just do the music video… and I didn’t want to give my vision to someone else. I just had to do it myself.
Do you think visually a lot?
Yes, I do. It’s definitely helping me through the lyrics, I have visual ideas, concepts, locations. I’m always wondering how I can make a sound that fits these vibes. I think they need each other. Sometimes I can make a song and I don’t have an idea for a video, but sometimes I have a video idea and I’ll need a song for it.
Is the creative direction you’re going in extremely clear to you?
I feel like I already know the direction I want to go in, the only thing that I wanna keep on building is the stories. I don't necessarily have the biggest budget to do all the crazy stuff yet, hopefully soon, if I work enough. I definitely wanna do crazier ideas than what I've done. The world itself is just so amazing, being able to put these ideas, all these references into, you know, me… it’s super… it’s a passion.
I actually got to see you perform at the No Agency party which was really fun.
Oh yes, that was my first show ever!
Yeah, it was awesome… the whole bar was blue, and your hair was so blue.
Yeah, it was so cute. I was nervous because it was my first time performing ever. I did it, then I threw up so much after that. I was so scared. It was actually horrible.
I don’t think anyone could tell you were nervous. You were great. How do you feel about performing now? Do you view performing and music as one in the same or are they completely separate things to you?
When it comes to performing I feel like I’m always slightly nervous. It’s a good question because I just did a show, and that experience was crazy because I was so not nervous. I don’t know if it was because my friends and my family were there… it was also an early show, when it’s an earlier show I’m less anxious. But when it’s a late show and I have to wait the whole night, I’m thinking about it like “oh my god it’s 8:00pm, it’s 9:00pm, it’s 10:00pm oh my god,” but since it was 7:00pm I was like I’m gonna eat, I’m gonna do the show right away. I wasn’t nervous at all. In the moment, I’m always interacting with the crowd. I want to bring the best energy I can because I’m not the best singer in the world. I didn’t grow up a singer. I didn’t even have autotune. I was just yelling into the mic, but I love the raw energy. People were dancing, and that’s my goal, I wanna make people dance - make people have fun. I don’t want them to be like “oh, let me hear her voice and see if she can actually sing.” That’s not my point. Even I could agree, if you think I’m not good at singing, I’d be like “sure, I don’t care. That’s not what I’m here for.” Performing is really important when it comes to world building in real life. That’s how people see you and your musical and visual world. So I always ask to have a set design, lighting design. I want the world in front of people's eyes. So yeah, I think the performance is important for the music in my opinion.
CANNELLE wears BODYSUIT by NO SCENE GIRL, SKIRT by 1XBLUE, JEWELRY by OGBFF, and HEELS by ROMBAUT.
CANNELLE wears JACKET by SPENCER BADU ℅ EMCEE STUDIOS, DRESS is VINTAGE from STYLIST’S ARCHIVE, BIKINI by LOS ANGELES APPAREL, JEWELRY by MARTINE ALI, and SHOES are CUSTOM from STYLIST’S ARCHIVE.
If people aren’t seeing you live and they’re listening to your music, where would you want them to be?
That’s a really good question. If they listen to my music I think I would want them to be in the dark with a lot of lights all around… I’m literally describing my live performance. I feel like that’s the best place they could listen. Live… in the dark at a club… with a dream-state energy. You know when you’re falling asleep… and you see the stuff in your eyes.
When you’re thinking of your personal style, what are the things that make you feel correct?
First of all, I really like my baby blue hair. I feel like it's really my outfit. Not even clothes. Just my hair is my outfit. I like a cute pair of heels and I love wearing mini shorts. Just looking feminine. Before I used to be into over accessorising, which I love, but now I'm kind of maximalist in a minimalist way. I’ll have the maximalist hair, maximalist shoes - but that’s it. I love having this feminine, confident… just a bold, strong visual style, but I’m not accessorising too much anymore. Which is really funny because I do love accessories. Now I’m gonna wear a really good necklace, and I’m good. A really big, chunky necklace and that’s it.
I feel like it shows that the world you’re making creates a larger context, like you have your signature now.
Yeah yeah, because I used to put everything into my outfit and pictures and now I feel like I can breathe.
In the beginning I feel like you have to ride so hard for yourself and when it starts working you can just…
Exactly. I was trying to show a lot of things because I felt like I couldn’t speak for myself, but now I’m speaking and showing another dimension of it. I feel like my body can rest. If that makes sense.
Yeah totally, resting stylistically. If you could define the world you’re building in three words, what would they be?
I have a list of words in my notes. Glitter, cinnamon, cuz it’s my name, and that last one, I think chic. Glitter, cinnamon, chic.
What have you learned in 2025?
Moving to the US, leaving home and stuff… I don’t know if it’s too cliche, but you really have to be your own best friend. Just be your own everything. Even if it’s hard, you really need to keep on pushing. Even if people are talented, if there are amazing people who can do it for you, no one is gonna do it better than yourself. So just be your own everything. And everything’s gonna come to you naturally. You have your own rules, your own vision, you know where you’re going. At the end of the day, people will never know what you want and how you work, what you stand for, so you just have to be your own everything.
What’s been a highlight for you in 2025?
I did a performance in Paris at this exhibition place called Cinq-Quatre. It was fun because it’s such an interesting place. It brought so many cool artists. I met Frost Children and Kim Petras, who I’m really a big fan of, and Margot, who is my friend now, she's an amazing producer. The show was insane. It was my biggest crowd yet, I've never done a crowd like that before. People really showed up even though it was early, so I was happy about that. I feel very proud. If I could describe the show, it was just some fire, club, French shit. I wanna bring this club scene back, especially in France. And looking back at it, I feel like it happened that night. People were enjoying the show and nobody was on their phones - we were just jumping around. I had blue wigs for the crowd, I was throwing them. People wore them after. It was my second show in Paris. I’m always gonna show up for French people. I’m French - I’m always gonna show up for France. Always.
CANNELLE wears BODYSUIT by NO SCENE GIRL, SKIRT by 1XBLUE, JEWELRY by OGBFF, and HEELS by ROMBAUT.
What are you looking forward to?
I'm excited about the mixtape that I'm dropping next year. This is gonna be my first body of work ever, so I'm just really looking forward to it because I plan to put out a good amount of songs. I have a rule, and everybody’s got their own opinion, but I didn't really wanna do an EP because I have too many songs. Even if they’re not all perfect, I just want to throw in everything, not overthink it. I want to have over 10 songs… not a five, six track EP. I’m still building my sound, I’m still building my audience. I don’t have to be at the top or whatever, these are the moments where I’m allowed to fail. You know?
For sure. It’s definitely real of you to not try and hyper-curate everything like that. In terms of being involved in club culture, it requires this rawness.
I think music is raw, period. In any city or country, people are here to live in the moment and forget about their problems. And you just wanna make memories. In ten years people are gonna look back and say “do you remember these parties?” I want to make good memories. Memories are all that matter.
You make really good music, but you also think in so many other ways. Are there any other long-term pursuits that you're curious about?
If I'm being honest, I'm curious about everything. I wanna touch everything. But my main goal is definitely to pursue this music career. I wanna drop as many projects as I can, and do as many shows as I can. I want to go on tour. That’s my dream. After the music, I love fashion. If I have the opportunity to make clothes or design stuff, I’d love that. I designed for a jewelry brand. I did a little collection for them, so that was one of my first things as a designer, which is fun but I definitely want to tap into something more serious for my own thing. I want to connect the visual, the music, and the fashion. It has to be a whole thing. I don’t want to just stick to the music, but music came to me, and fashion will come to me. In the music world, I’d love to write for artists, even produce for artists. I started producing, I'm not the best producer yet, but give me five years. I really want to put my vision into other artists. That would be the dream. For real.
ASAKE wears FULL LOOK by ADIDAS.
In his free time, Asake prefers to listen to instrumentals and songs written in tongues he doesn’t speak. For Asake, the most important facet of a song is the feeling it evokes rather than the content. He infuses this philosophy into his own music which mirrors the joys, trials and tribulations of his life.
From London to Paris, New York and Accra, all over the world fans sing Asake’s Yoruba and Pidgin infused lyrics. Every session in the studio is a miracle. Every song is a sample of his life. Every moment is a new beginning. Moving from Lagos to LA, he notes that humans and the desires that drive them are the same everywhere.
Asake lives in the present, refusing to fear the future or dwell too much on the past. His only constant is a deep faith in God and deep appreciation for life. office sat down with Asake to talk about his upcoming joint EP with longtime collaborator Wizkid, the importance of dancing everyday and practicing gratitude for waking up in the morning.
How's your day going today?
Very good. I'm blessed.
So why did you start making music?
I didn’t want to do music at first. I found myself around a lot of things around music. My mom, she loves so much good music. My dad is deep into music. So unknowingly, I have it in me already.
That was not my priority when I was young, I wanted to be a dancer or a choreographer. But I think when I went to university in 2013, I ended up being around friends that do music too. Then you end up making a song. Then the whole school went crazy on the song.
Left: ASAKE wears SHIRT by DSQUARED2, PANTS by LOUIS VUITTON, GLASSES by PRADA, GLOVES by Y-3, BELT by STETSON, SHOES by DOLCE & GABBANA. Right: ASAKE wears SWEATER, VEST, PANTS and GLASSES by DOLCE & GABBANA, SHOES by MANOLO BLAHNIK.
You studied theater and performing arts at OAU, right? Do you feel like that background still influences the way you perform now?
No, I think the way I perform now is the way I've been. Because you need to understand, I didn't pick music first. I picked the foundation first which is acting, stage performances, doing monologue.
Who are your favorite actors and movies?
I don't think I have any. I just like any actors that are real characters.
I feel you on that. You've mentioned before that all your songs define the stage you're in. What stage are you in right now?
To be honest, the same way you are curious to know what stage I am is the same way I'm curious to know the stage I am in right now because I'm still in it. I can only define it when I'm outside of it.
ASAKE wears TOP and BEANIE by ADIDAS.
In terms of your music, do you feel like it's in conversation with Black music across the world and diaspora?
I always try as much as possible not to really talk about this because my music is my own life journey which is not attached to anything going on in the world way before me or after me. So I only know the things that revolve around me.
What things do you pull from in your life to make your music?
Everything I've been through and where I see myself in the future.
Where do you see yourself in the future?
I don't know yet. It's not really clear to me.
Left: ASAKE wears SWEATER by WALES BONNER. Right: ASAKE wears CARDIGAN by DOLCE & GABBANA, PANTS by LOUIS VUITTON, GLOVES by Y-3, SHOES by MANOLO BLAHNIK.
Can you talk about the influence of Ayinde Barrister and Fuji music on your sound?
My dad loved real musicians, you mentioned one of them now, Ayinde Barrister. My mom loved the same sound too. So it's like if both of your parents liked Michael Jackson, there's no way if you live with them, you won't end up liking Michael Jackson. Back home, we don't really have too much power in the house to be able to play any kind of sound you want to listen to.
When you got older and had more control, what did you start listening to?
I listen to songs that I don't know what they’re saying, but I can feel it in my heart. When you feel good music, you feel it in your chest. I listen to so much good music and I listen to beats most of the time, just instrumentals alone.
How do you put that feeling in your music? What is your creative process?
I think for me, it's more real life. I can't explain it to you because if I tell you how my last session was, my next session is going to be different. I have to wait to be inspired before I go to record. All my studio sessions always end up being a moment I can’t ever forget. I don’t think I have one way of making music.
ASAKE wears BLAZER and PANTS by LOUIS VUITTON, GLASSES by PRADA, GLOVES by Y-3, SHOES by DOLCE & GABBANA.
Do you feel like your process has changed now that you're in LA? How's your life changed since moving to LA?
To be honest, it's still the same thing. Humans are the same. People are trying to make it in Nigeria. People are trying to make it in America. People are rich in Nigeria. People are rich in America. People buy new houses everyday in Nigeria. People buy new houses in America everyday.
There are so many talents in LA, there are so many talents in Nigeria. I think it's the same thing, there’s nothing different for me. The only thing I can say is I just get to meet new people and have more exposure like from what I've been used to.
Being in LA and navigating fame and success, how do you keep in touch with yourself?
I spend most of my time with myself.
ASAKE wears SHIRT by ZEGNA, PANTS by PAUL SMITH, HAT by ADIDAS x EDISON CHEN, TIE by AMIRI, BELT by STETSON, SHOES by MANOLO BLAHNIK.
How did the EP with Wizkid come to happen?
The first time we linked up, I think we were just having conversations like real life talk. We get to a point whereby I think he seen we have so much things that align us. And he asked me, it would be good for us to have a project together. That was the beginning of it.
What were your favorite moments when you were making the project together?
Every moment counts for something. I genuinely love Wizkid himself. Credit to Wiz. When I was coming up, I was part of the people that listened and see how great Wiz is. I respect what God has done for him and what he has done, what he has used him to do for us back home. So every moment with Wiz is just a good moment for me.
What are things that you want people to take away from the EP?
I don't live in the future, so anything people see they can take away from it. I'm okay with it. Anywhere the EP gets to is where it's supposed to be.
If you were to reimagine the EP as a movie, what would the plot be?
I think it's going to be real, just real people in one room. Genuine people, heart-to-heart conversation every time. People who never change who they are or change their character. They are just the same people. I can just say real. That's the only way. If you have to title it, I'll tell you; ‘Real’.
ASAKE wears SHIRT, VEST, COAT, and TIE by LOUIS VUITTON, HAT by DSQUARED2, BELT by STETSON. PANTS are ASAKE’S OWN.
What’s your dream project?
See, I have this discipline. I don't live too much in the future and I don't live too much in the past. So I might not be able to answer that correct.
You stay present. It's like mindfulness.
Kind of.
You just did the Tiny Desk concert and you also did the symphony. What was that experience like?
So, as an artist I always have different perspectives of the show from what people see. Right in the moment when I'm performing, I'm just present. I don't know if you know about this, when an artist wear their in-ears, you can’t hear the audience scream. You can only hear the instrument. So all the time I'm on stage, I'm just so focused on the music and to entertain people. The only thing I'm in control of is to deliver a good performance to people. Seeing the outcome of the show and how everybody loved the show, I'm grateful. Those are the things I imagined it would take me so long to have, that are now coming together. I'll always be grateful to God for all the opportunities and waking up every day, seeing life growing every day. I'll always be grateful for that.
What are the things that you're grateful for right now?
Number one is waking up. Cause that's like the number one thing. If you don't wake up, then you have no dream again. I think that alone is a good reason to say I'm blessed today. Because I wake up, my leg is still working. My hand is still working. My brain is still working. Every part of me is still very active. I'm happy for where God put me. Why wouldn’t I be blessed?
ASAKE wears CARDIGAN by DOLCE & GABBANA, PANTS by LOUIS VUITTON, GLOVES by Y-3, SHOES by MANOLO BLAHNIK.
What role does spirituality play in your art?
I think if I'm going to weigh my life, I would say spirituality is 80 percent.
What would the other 20 percent be?
I think the other 20 would be life. Spirituality is in everything we make. Because a man who doesn't understand his purpose is an empty man. So I think you just have to understand what works for you and what keeps you moving. So to me, it's God and that's the highest spirituality.
What would you say your purpose is?
I think my purpose is my own life in general, which I can’t explain. If I'm about to explain my life to you, we might spend four days here.
ASAKE wears FULL LOOK by ADIDAS.
We talked about dance being your original focus. Do you still have time to dance outside of performing now?
Yes, I'm a human being. I dance. I dance everyday too. I even dance on stage everytime. I have a song called Fuji Vibe. If you don't dance on that song, there's no way you won't dance. I dance every time. I don't think dance can leave me because that's my first love. I will always be dancing. I will always be smiling.
What's your process like in figuring out dance and movement for your performances?
I don't remember why I wanted to be a choreographer then. When I was in school, because people like the way I move, they always call me to come teach people to dance. “Can you teach them how you move?”
I end up passing myself to people and I see how beautiful it looks. So I think maybe I should just become a choreographer but it didn't work. Music is the one that leads everything and I'm happy for it because it's something I really love.
What would your advice be for anyone coming up right now?
Just believe. As simple as that word is, we listen to it, we hear it every day but it's hard. Just believe in everything you're doing, anything you think about can come to life. If you believe in something always 100%, you’ll always get your reward. My second rule is be patient, you know? Just be patient with life.
OFFICE — You came up in the Christian music scene, right? How was that?
MONTELL FISH — The first recording I ever did, I was 6. When I was 16, I made non-Christian music for a year but had this mushroom trip and I got really existential after that. I kind of had a religious epiphany, so I started making Christian music at 17.
And it was still cool, it was still kind of alternative Christian music and I still had my kind of influences but just with Christian lyrics. But eventually, I realized I didn’t connect with it as a creative stamp. Like, “It’s Christian because you mentioned God, it’s Christian because you check all these boxes…” It started to feel ilke some of the Christian doctrine was getting in the way of the art.
So once that started happening, I started questioning a lot about what I believed. And eventually I released “Hotel” and like some other songs that focused on the darker nature of humanity, and I kind of had a “fuck you” moment. All my Christian fans were like, “I'm sorry, you don't understand this.” But I'm just not making it for that reason. So that was my crash out moment. And then I've just been slowly figuring out what I believe, and what I still would like to take from those aspects of Christianity.
What epiphany did you have on your shroom trip?
I didn’t have an epiphany in that way, but I had multiple moments. Once, I was at church and the pastor said, “There’s someone in here that’s gonna do music.” There would be little things like that that made me feel like God was speaking to me, but that was also paired with the anxiety of feeling like I needed to be saved. I was also in the middle of my first heartbreak, so there were definitely things that pushed me in the direction of continuing on the Christian faith. I think I was just feeling purposeless — more scared, and maybe the shrooms brought me to the point where I felt like I needed God to come save me.
When I think of Christian music, I think of what I heard growing up Catholic in Ohio — very acoustic guitar and ballady, a little different sonically. Do you think there are aspects of Christian music you still find yourself gravitating towards? Or are there aspects that you think you've kind of left behind?
I mean, church was one of the places where I feel connected with the soul or whatever that place is that makes you feel something. There’s a lot of ambient influence in music and I feel like that comes from church. Some days I’d be at church for two hours playing piano while the pastor was just praying over people and people would be crying and shouting. I definitely gleaned from those experiences. Hopefully my concerts can give that bit of cathartic release.
But there’s so many other things too. There’s some really good poetry throughout the Bible. And I like to keep aspects of the divine, or even just pointing to this thing that people believed for thousands of years. So this mixtape, “The Spirit Still Remains,” is a play on the project I released in 2022, “Her Love Still Haunts Me Like a Ghost.” “Spirit” is just building this purgatory ghost world. The Jamie Charlotte Marshall trilogy is in the same world of processing like loss and grief. I love the themes of processing loss and grief because I feel like life is about learning to let go. It’s about little deaths. Your first heartbreak is a little death. So I like to have all these projects that breathe that energy.
And there are these biblical aspects in songs like “Sweet Divine,” and there are other moments where I mention spirits, like in “Devotion.” Those themes pull from that feeling from a partner — when you have someone that’s being your light when you’re in a dark place.
And there are obvious ties between romantic and religious devotion. My favorite sort of spiritual-adjacent song is where you can’t tell if someone’s praying to a lover or praying to something higher than the both of you. And I think you being pushed toward Christianity after your first heartbreak really mirrors that.
Who is DJ Gummy Bear to you?
I created Gummy as a force to keep me pure and experimenting. He was created during the Charlotte era, just after my breakout album Jamie, and I just didn't want to follow the same formulas I knew I could do, so I created Gummy to help me go the opposite way. He's more of a spirit of experimentation. A way to throw paint at the wall.
You talk about him as a totally different person.
I know, I sound insane [laughs]
No, it’s super interesting. Do you see him as a separate entity from you or just a different part of you?
A different part of me, for sure. Yeah, but I use art and music to process a lot. So I almost pin it on the character going through it, so it’s not as close to me, but it still is close to me. There’s not a lot of talk of religious trauma and processing the doctrine of hell on the album, but I think there’s something beautiful in that feeling where you’re kind of uncomfortable. That’s what I was trying to portray with the cover and how the intro sounds.
Yeah, talk to me about the cover art on Purgatory. What’s that mask you’re wearing?
That’s him. That’s Gummy. There’s the deer, which are his ears and his antlers, and to me, that’s a symbol of home, of Pittsburgh. The Pennsylvania state animal is a deer, so when I was creating his face with Pandagunda, who’s this amazing artist, I was talking to him about incorporating that and having something metallic. The album just feels so electronic, so I wanted it to feel like a robotic version of Gummy. And the black and white is how I imagine puratory — it feels like you’d just be in this big white space and you wouldn’t know when you’d be getting out. And purgatory, for me, was the time in between albums. Now we’re in between Charlotte and Marshall, which is the final project to end this series in my head.
What non-musical sounds have you been inspired by lately?
I’ve been trying to sample a lot of machinery. Whenever there’s a saw or any loud machinery, I think it’s really interesting how the low bass notes can feel. I wanna try some more stuff under a different name, maybe sampling sounds around cities.
I feel like with AI coming in, we’re in this weird spot musically where we don’t have a definite sound like the 60s and the 70s and the 80s and the 90s and the 2000s.
We’re in a sonic purgatory.
As a human race, I feel like we’re just waiting for the next sound of the future or something. It was kind of a spiritual statement for me to be like, we have to do something or else music could just be gone.
I mean, this all goes back to that idea of having a spirit that remains, because even though we might not have a distinct universal sound yet, we have things that we refer back to to influence our individual sounds now. I also do think it’s easier to say that the previous decades had defined sounds because of hindsight, but when we look back at the decade, we’re not looking at every individual song that was coming out, just the top 100. So maybe in like 50 years, we'll be able to say, “Yeah, the sound of the 2020s.” I don’t know what that’s going to sound like.
I mean, I love what Jane Remover is doing. A I love a lot of underground hip hop where they’re just breaking rules. I feel like anyone who’s breaking rules and just finding accidents is the future. And I love how crazy it sounds and how overstimulating some of it is because that feels like the future too.
Walk me through your creative process — what comes first, feelings, lyrics, or certain instrumental?
I think the visual aspect inspires me before the music. I think about the setting a lot. Whether on a walk around the city at night, or a night club in a foreign city at 2am. I think about how I’d want the next sounds I create to exist in the world. Feeling is also very important, even before words. How a melody and chords make you feel is so important.
I mean, looking at the cover art versus a few of your music videos, they’re a bit different visually and I wanted to ask about your reasoning behind that. Like, why don’t we see your face at all in the “Devotion” video?
I just wanted people to listen to the music where I listen to it — usually at night. Sometimes I go for walks at like, 5am, and I just sit by the water and listen to music. I released headphones with the album and I want to bring back that spirit of putting in a CD and listening to one album, and just taking it on a walk, or listening to it for a whole day.
This project has to do with purgatory and liminal spaces. What’s the space between Montell Fish and DJ Gummy Bear, because there’s a few tracks on the mixtape where you have both Gummy and yourself listed as contributors and I wanted to ask why — why have both of you and not just one?
I mean, with the song titles featuring me, those were just where my vocals were featured a little more. I mean, with songs where it’s just my vocals sampled or looped, I don’t need to credit myself. But I see Gummy as a producer.
Are there some production tricks or techniques you learned while playing as Gummy that you’d like to bring to your other work?
I think about the synths and music technology of the early 2000s and late 80s and 90s — I like how limited but cohesive a lot of it feels. I’ve been drawn to more analog synths. On songs like, “Ostentatious,” I love finding the duality and puragatory-esque feeling inside of the art. Very somber lyrics with this almost victorious, video game-esque dance beat. On “Devotion,” I wanted to feel like I was in this all white dance room with elements of the woods. I created it on Sims 2, actually. I wanted it to feel like you’re somewhere with your lover and it’s just you and them and everyone else are ghosts.
Do you feel like there’s a gap between you and Gummy a musical identities?
I do and I don't. I think I feel both. I definitely want to have different shows for DJ Gummy Bear. I want to make him feel like his own thing. But then I feel like it’s also a yin and yang of knowing when to experiment and go crazy and knowing when to pull back and almost restrained. And I think my Montell Fish side is hopefully getting more refined and restrained, but in the best way. The Gummy side lets me put out anything that sounds like anything. So yeah, I see them separating, but I also see them so connected and meeting each other in a weird way.
But Gummy will always be your place to play.
Exactly, yeah. And I definitely want to DJ forever, so I think Gummy will go along. He’s a character I made. There was a character I made for “Her Love Still Haunts Me Like A Ghost,” his name was Ghost Boy. I kind of see him like a weird cousin. I know this is getting absolutely mental.
No, it’s great. I’m picturing the family tree. It’s very Holy Trinity — Father, Son, Holy Spirit… You, Gummy, Ghost Boy.
