Put Mechatok next to Taylor Swift and the similarities aren’t exactly forthcoming. A frequent collaborator of Drain Gang stars Bladee and Ecco2k, the Munich-born producer’s soundscapes often border on the glitchy and unorthodox. Meanwhile, on his debut album Wide Awake, English lyrics are frequently subject to a Williams S. Burroughs-esque chopping technique to find new, unintended meaning. It evokes a strange, alien world, but the Munich-raised producer-songwriter has long remained adamant that he makes pop music.
Sitting down with Dazed a couple of weeks out from Wide Awake’s release, however, Mechatok eventually admits that his idea of pop might be slightly unconventional. “I keep talking about my music as pop, but I think most people would be like, ‘This is not pop,’” he concedes. “I think it’s more like, in some imaginary universe, this could be their pop music. It hits all of the things that pop would do – memorable track titles, hooks and repeating melodies.”
This parallel universe is certainly captivating. Where many producers employ an endless list of VSTs to flesh out their sound, Mechatok wields the obscure Virus TI Snow synth (a piece of tech Mechatok pinched from watching footage of Madonna’s 2006 Confessions tour), creating a cohesive and crystalline electronic soundscape that is populated with eclectic characters. Forward-thinking J-pop five-piece F5ve, Honduran neoperreo vocalist Isabella Lovestory, and, of course, Drain Gang’s Ecco2k and Bladee each make an appearance, their verses chopped and reassembled by Mechatok to deliver cryptic messages to a significant other.
The most compelling evidence of Mechatok’s pop stardom arrived with his Wide Awake album launch party last week (July 30). It all felt a little Top of the Pops: Roars of recognition reverberated through the sold-out Peckham Audio crowd as Mechatok teased era-defining hits “Makka feat. fakemink and Ecco2k” and “Expression on your Face feat. Bladee and Ecco2k”, while, later, Isabella Lovestory strutted across the stage as Mechatok theatrically strummed his guitar behind her. Finally, after the set wound to a close, the crowd chanted “Mechatok!” until he returned for an encore. What normal producer gets an encore?
If Mechatok really is a pop star from a parallel universe, then these worlds have certainly started to converge as of late. Perhaps we should put Mechatok and Taylor Swift in a room together after all.
In the interview below, the Munich-born producer further dissects the eclectic philosophies that underpin his absurdist pop world, and, in the playlist above, Mechatok selects ten songs that inspired his album.
You’ve previously mentioned that your music always aims to convey a sense of melancholic euphoria. Do you think that’s continued in this project?
Mechatok: Yeah, it’s always that unclear feeling of like, ‘Is this good or bad?’ Especially if you go out, you might do unhealthy shit and, at the end of the night, the euphoria might have worn off a little bit, but you’re still feeling happy. I love that in-between feeling. I feel like this album’s about these paradoxical things – like, I’ve been travelling non-stop and then staring at a screen when I’m home. This crazy contrast of being super on the road, physically active and outside, and then actually so isolated.
Do you like the isolation?
Mechatok: I used to like it a lot more when I was a teenager, because I didn’t have loads of peers in terms of my interests, so the internet seemed like an amazing place to be. But, over the years, I’m really happy that now my life has become a lot more of an ‘in-real-life’ thing. I actually cycle to a studio, I meet the people that I work with; I’m not staying in my room all day. Obviously, the internet is omnipresent, and informs the album, but it’s also something that I’m happy to slowly grow out of.
What is the expression on the face that Bladee is singing about?
Mechatok: I was picturing this deadpan face you’re not quite sure how to interpret. Like, ‘Are you mad? Are you sad? I can’t read you.’
That line echoes back in “When You Left”, right?
Mechatok: Yeah, I’ve treated Bladee’s vocal very differently. The lyrics are very kind of inaudible, almost sounds like he’s speaking French. I really liked the lyrics on his verse, and it seemed funny to have his spoken word rap over this almost UK beat. It’s chopped up with another bit from Palmistry. That’s kind of been the thing in general [with this project], using the vocals as instruments, textures that float around the different songs.
I think that track also touches on that paradox of connection and isolation. Like the line “Speeding off the ketamine”.
Mechatok: Yeah, I’m not interested in glorifying that drug. It’s more like that substance is literally dissociative, right? I think that state is just so descriptive of the time. Like, you’re here, but you’re totally gone. It’s funny how the music was written, because Bladee wrote that verse, and I’ve totally chopped and rearranged it into some other thing, but the initial meaning has been abstracted. Like the cover artwork: you can make out a character, but it’s been chopped up and put together in the wrong way.
Photography Erika Kamano
It reminds me of Burroughs’ technique of chopping up and rearranging his poems and stories.
Mechatok: Totally. That method also finds a place in the production, like tracks often stop and then start back up again, or there’s literally digital silence. Art history shit aside, it’s like you’re scrolling on Instagram and then something sounds fire, but you accidentally scroll past it, then something else starts playing. Then you go back to the other thing, but it plays from a different point. So, you get this thing where all this content gets chopped up by the feed. I wanted to encapsulate that feeling of online dissociation. I tried to find a beauty in it.
You often describe your music as pop. Do you think this is reflected in the songwriting, too?
Mechatok: Let me say this about the pop thing: what I mean by that is that my music is songwriting-based music, you know? It’s not production-based music. Like, if you write a song, you could sing it with an acoustic guitar. To me, a song is an abstract thing, and then you manifest it into one version, which is the production of it. That’s what I mean with pop music, it’s the idea that the track itself is almost just like one iteration of it, and there’s an underlying song that could be interpreted in many ways.
This is all very Plato, right? It’s like his world of forms.
Mechatok: I just love the idea that a song can exist as this idea, and then you capture it and make an object version of it. What I hope to achieve is a form of timelessness – even if the production expires, the song survives. A lot of music is just about the trendiest new production stuff. The best example is “Kill Everybody” by Skrillex, right? It has absurd production, it feels so of its time. But, under all that production, it’s just a really well-written pop song.
What I hope to achieve is a form of timelessness – even if the production expires, the song survives
Again, that idea of paradoxes – or dichotomies – comes back. It’s like you’re bringing the song from the imaginary to the physical world.
Mechatok: Yeah, exactly, but it can’t be perfect. I guess that’s the issue with Plato as welI. It’s an extremely idealised way to think about reality. It’s not something I believe in religiously, but I think it’s a super fun concept.
Finally, can you talk us through some of the songs on your playlist?
Mechatok: Dr. Dre – “Lolo (Intro) (feat. Xzibit & Tray Dee)”: Movie
Chris Korda – “Buy More”: Chris Korda always has been a huge inspiration. Their poetry and sonics capture something very relatable to me.
Ryuichi Sakamoto – “Dream”: My hero. I always played this song while packing up my stuff in the studio at the end of a long nighttime session.
Yves – “Viola”: Yves is my favorite K-Pop artist right now.
Strawberry Switchblade – “Since Yesterday”: Just a classic song. It’s like a palate cleanser to me.
Skrillex – “Inhale Exhale”: I played this track out on all the shows I did while making my album. Such a lit drop.
The Deep – “Angel Tattoo”: The Deep is next up, check her out.
Esdeekid – “4 Raws”: Listening to Esdeekid riding around on a lime bike hits different.
Wide Awake is out now. Listen to Mechatok’s exclusive Dazed playlist above.
