Mookhi describes herself as “a 22 year old girl with no friends because she spends too much time creating things in her room”, but we are pretty sure there’s a hell of a lot more to her than that.
We were eager to find out more about Mookhi, so we took five with the Sydney producer for the latest.
Blending world sound with her contemporary influences, it seems Mookhi has unearthed a secret recipe for twisting electronica in any direction she pleases.
Her debut EP Lost & Found hit the airwaves hard, and with support from Triple J, Spotify, Rolling Stone and a bunch of community radio, Mookhi is surprisingly low key about its success.
“[I’m] relieved yet simultaneously hungry to release more. I feel like I’ve improved and grown so much more as a producer, listening to that EP is like looking through embarrassing childhood photos haha, not to deny that there isn’t a sense of pride in it’s creation.”
Key single Lacunae is a labour of love and passion, apparently coming to fruition really quickly.
“I produced the bulk of it in 2 days (with no sleep mind you). I started a little dorky drum pattern with no inhibitions or pressure. I was just curious to see where it would take me, and so grew Lacunae.”
It’s not often that we see a young artist approach their career with such a distinct flavour of professionalism and maturity, yet Mookhi embodies this completely. With a video clip that hits straight to the core, she traverses key socio-political ideas of our time in such a sophisticated way.
You leave feeling as though there surely couldn’t have been a better way to showcase exactly where Mookhi’s gaze is directed, both in her music and her presence within the industry.
“I rifled through hours and hours of archival footage. I was pretty selective in what content I used. If it didn’t catch the eye, it didn’t make the cut. At first there was no symbolism, but after compiling it all, I kept feeling more enthralled by this past. I started to think about how insignificant I was in the way that I’d contribute to history.”
“I used some confronting footage; comparing wealth, animal brutality, poverty, entertainment, because these epochs were so significant to the lives captured in the footage, and yet doesn’t hold much significance to us now. But somehow, although the clips are archival and appear almost quaint to us, there is relevance. Things don’t really change. History repeats.”
She’s hitting stages and giving people the show of their lives, a growing multi instrumentalist, Mookhi is blending her own vocals with those of others and an array of sounds to create something that is for more than ‘just electronic music’.
“Right now I use Ableton with an Akai MPD32 controller, a Launchpad S and an Akai MPK61. I also sing and play trumpet when it feels right. Sometimes I get other instrumentalists, rappers or vocalists to join me on stage to mix it up.”
She’s a rising star and there is no denying it, watch this space as Mookhi mixes up a sound we thought we had a handle on.
Mookhi will be playing alongside Kučka, ALTA, Linda Marigliano and more at the upcoming Women In Electronic Music Showcase at Oxford Art Factory, Sydney this Friday. Tickets, info and everything else you need is right here.
