You’ve helped me develop my music in a different way.

That’s when I feel most enlightened by a piece of work.ĬC: It was really good to bounce ideas off each other. There’s still an access point, but it’s always pushing the boundary of falling apart, and it could go terribly wrong at any moment. There’s a lot of power in her, so when she begins to sing she makes the space her voice too.

ME: I think I played some Marnie Stern too. UHHH!!! It’s all over the place, it’s crazy. I’d just got back from London and I was vibing pretty hard on Niki & the Dove, and their tune ‘ The Fox’ in particular. ME: We were just going to hang out and play each other stuff that we listened to. When I heard the sound I was like, ‘I’d really love to experiment with these kinds of textures.’ĬC: (laughs) But I had no intention of going to the studio to write that day. I’d heard ‘ I’m God’ and some of your mixtapes, and they felt really brave. I wanted to see if we could be buddies first, ‘cause when I’m friends with someone whose work I respect, the creative synergy is simpler. ME: That’s where I like to live in my free time. I remember thinking, ‘I just wanna hang out with him in the studio alone.’ĬC: And then a month or so later we met up in LA and got a couple of days in the studio, alone and working. ME: There were these ‘introductory people’ there, which was kind of a buzzkill. Mikky Ekko: Where was that place we first went for lunch in New York?Ĭlams Casino: Quality Meats. This is a uniquely hands-on collaboration, and marks the first time, Clams Casino says, that he has “really got digging deep into starting something new with somebody, from the beginning.” Early one winter morning, the pair took a break from recording in Paul Epworth’s west-London studio to give us the lowdown on their creative partnership, their favourite 90s MOR, and how together they’re “painting” with a brand new palette. Our first glimpse of their work was Ekko’s recent “ Pull Me Down”, a track as layered and complex as Clams Casino’s Instrumentals mixtapes but finessed so that Ekko’s tender croon stands flush with the radiant aural terrain. Ekko, who guests on Rihanna’s current single, “ Stay”, has for the past eight months been quietly labouring with the producer in labs from London to LA on his forthcoming debut album. It takes a big talent to take on the enveloping beats and sonic worlds of Clams Casino, but Nashville-based songwriter Mikky Ekko is stepping up to the bar set by A$AP Rocky and Lil B with poise and soul. Feature taken from the February Issue of Dazed & Confused:

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