Rising Sydney producer Mookhi is on the cusp of further fulfilling her amazing potential. Following the release of her debut single ‘Foul Play’ in January this year, she delivered an EP of the same name that utilised innovative sampling and less conventional song structures. It was largely a process of elimination and selection for Mookhi, and it was far from an easy task putting together a concise four-track delivery.
“I think initially I produced a new track nearly every single day,” Mookhi explains of her creative process. “So I had this huge collection of tracks and I was thinking that they represent different areas, different moments of my learning – different emotional states as well, so I had to choose which ones are the best collection that represent how diverse I want to be at this time. So I knew that I could go down the more commercial route but I want to show that I can be experimental as well.”
There’s undoubtedly an unspoken pressure on young Aussie musicians to create material that is radio-friendly and fits in with the triple j sound, and while Mookhi admits to taking inspiration from other successful music, she also believes her willingness to push those boundaries has served her well so far.
“I don’t like to chase a sound,” she says. “I like to be inspired by what I’m listening to on the radio but I honestly don’t like to chase a sound. I feel like to get played on radio you’ve got to be able to push boundaries and to show that this is your style, so I don’t think my intentions when I write a song are ever around thinking whether people will listen to this song. It’s more that I hope once I put it out there that the music will really resonate with the right people, and they will follow it.
“So it really just comes down to what I’m inspired by at the time. I’m not really chasing what’s on the radio.”
Cracking the music scene as a producer has never been harder, such is the sheer quantity of music being created today, and Mookhi’s rise can put down – at least in part – to her use of uncommon and often unexpected samples.
“The whole sampling process is pretty creative,” she says. “It could be that I’m walking down the street and hear construction, so I get out my phone and record the sound and maybe use it later.”
For Mookhi, it’s about putting together elements that trigger certain responses in her listeners. “I like to combine musical elements with tactile sounds so you get this quite unusual layering where you get something that you’ve heard on the street, and pairing it with something that is quite melodic.
“It triggers quite an unusual experience for the audience and so it’s more just experimenting with different sounds, not so much immediately deciding that this bird sample would work well with a specific chord. It’s about thinking, ‘How I can make this more unusual than it is now?’”
Given the nature of her music, it wasn’t altogether surprising that Mookhi recently released a bizarre new music video for her track ‘Lacunae’. “I delved deep into the dark web one really early morning, or really late night depending on how you look at it,” she laughs. “I discovered all these incredible archives of 35mm footage that was taken decades ago. I was just so enthralled by it and thought that it just worked so well with the song.”
And while her music itself is making waves due to the nature of its creation, Mookhi is also representative of a growing population of women in the electronic music industry. Being invited to participate in the Women In Electronic Music Showcase alongside the likes of Kučka, Linda Marigliano, Alta, FlexMami and more was validating and reassuring for the young Sydney artist.
“I got asked to be a part of it and I was so thrilled because I’m all about women working in the electronic music industry, especially female producers,” she says. “It was honestly such a reassuring and inspirational experience because the production world, when it comes to music, is definitely a bit of a boys’ club. You feel quite isolated when you notice that there isn’t a particularly large number of females out there. So that night to me was such a great reassurance to see such talent dominating the stage. It was a beautiful experience.”
There will be no resting on past success for Mookhi, though, as she now turns her eye to a maiden performance at Splendour In The Grass. Putting together a live show comes with its own pressures, especially with the increased expectation on producers to add on-the-spot live elements to their sets.
When it comes to a live set, Mookhi’s philosophy is simple. “I stick by the idea that the audience listens with their eyes, so when you’ve got this whole wall of gear in front of you, you want to be able to tell a story with it. You want to use those electronic MIDI controllers, for instance, as if they were acoustic instruments, so that’s how I create my live sound. When I press a button or when I twist a knob you can actually see the effect happening in front of you and see the narrative happening in front of you with those electronic instruments.”
As for the excitement of performing at one of Australia’s biggest music festivals? “I don’t think it will ever kick in until I’m actually onstage,” Mookhi says. “I got a call from my manager to tell me about it and I don’t think I screamed, I think I just lost my breath because it was just such a crazy moment. I don’t think it’s actually going to hit me until I’m up onstage in front of everyone being like, ‘Alright, Splendour’s actually happening right now!’”
Mookhi plays Splendour In The Grass 2017 at North Byron Parklands, Friday July 21 – Sunday July 23. Foul Play is out now independently.
