“I Want To Have Fun Again!” EKKSTACY Interviewed

EKKSTACY thrives on change. Never allowing himself to sit still, the Vancouver native has blazed a trail across socials, blending alt leaning punk thrash with SoundCloud rap style flows, carving out a distinct niche in the process.

With his opening two studio albums gaining a colossal online following, he’s continued to introduce fresh aspects into his work. Out now, Album #3 is self-titled, and it moves from shoegaze-tinged introspection to the riotous, self-explanatory ‘fuck’.

Featuring some all-star co-signs – Trippie Redd features on ‘problems’, while the Kid LAROI guests on ‘Alright’ – it ranks as some of his most powerful, distinctive music yet.

Clash hit up EKKSTACY over Zoom a few days before his album release to find out what’s what.

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This is the last moment that the album truly belongs to you, and no one else…

I used to feel nervous about that, but I think I’m past that now. I was bored of the album so such a long time… because I’ve had it done for so long. Once the singles started being released, I was like: oh…this is a cool album! So now I’m ready for it.

It’s a very confident record – why did you make it self-titled?

Honestly? I thought it was easier to make it self-titled. I didn’t think about it too much… and I also didn’t think it was that big a deal. A lot of people pick up on it but I didn’t know it was such a big thing.

Is your take on songwriting that you’re displaying a part of yourself? Or are you a storyteller, in some regards?

I don’t think it’s ever storytelling, I think it’s always a part of me. I wish it was storytelling, because that would make it easier.

Have you ever had writer’s block?

Yeah, for sure. And it’s awful. Nothing worse.

How do you overcome it?

Ah, dude… just listening to other people’s stuff. I really love listening to other people’s music. It’s inspiring to me. That, and just taking a fucking break. Doing something else. It has to be fun. If I’m not having fun then I don’t care, y’know…?

Did you have moments during this record when you had to do that?

Yeah. This record was weird because I made maybe more than half of it without knowing it was going to be a record… and then I had all these songs, so it was like: right, OK… album. After that we went to this studio in the hills outside LA, and made like four, five songs. And after that we just hit a wall and couldn’t do anything. Stuck up there in the mountains with no idea what to do! And it was awful… awful. Sometimes it scares me, writer’s block… but it happens to everyone. I just need to calm down. Listening to old stuff helps, too – it helps with the confidence.

It’s a record of dynamics – you’re really introspective at points but then you’ll also write a song like ‘fuck’…

(laughs) With that one, we just wanted to make a song that would be super heavy, and super fun to perform. We kind of copied the formula we used for ‘misery’ on that one. 

Have you road tested that one?

I haven’t played it yet! I’ve been saving it. I’ve burnt out so many songs that were heavy and cool by playing them live, like, more than a year before they came out… so I’ve been saving this one.

‘goo lagoon’ has really been embraced by fans, do you remember writing that one?

I was actually in a hotel in LA when I wrote it. This was right when I first started to get obsessed with surfing, and went to the beach a lot. It’s a beach song. I get a little influenced by surroundings but at the same time everything I say is kind of always the same… just in a different way.

Do you have an obsessive side to your personality? Are you obsessive about music, for example?

I could listen to music, like, all day. I just started collecting vinyl, which is bad… because it’s an obsession. When I was in Manchester I picked up some older Beach House stuff, actually.

You can hear that on the record, but it’s all blended in. Beach House maybe don’t get as many mosh pits as you…

Ha, that’s true. I didn’t always, though!

‘i guess we made it this far’ feels really mature what prompted it?

I started it when I was back home – my dad’s old house – a while ago. A long time ago. I made that song and ‘i can’t find anyone’ on the same day. They both have the same feeling. I was reminiscing. I was at my house, and I hadn’t been there in so long… I felt super weird but luckily I had my guitar there. It’s about looking back.

Your life has changed so much in the past four years, how has that shift been for you?

Honestly… it’s been tough. But I couldn’t imagine it any other way. It would have been a whole lot more tough if I wasn’t making music.

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Do you feel like a song represents a moment in your life?

Yeah, for sure. With ‘fuck’ I was bummed, because I maybe felt something was a lot better than it. But afterwards, I realised it was cool.

You mentioned that the album took a long time to come out, why was that?

Well, it was me lagging on it. And also, I was touring a lot. I was on the road most of the year, last year.

It’s a very considered record, did you spend a lot of time at the end editing it all together?

I wrote out all the songs on a piece of paper and tried to arrange them. What’s funny about this album is that I got super into Beach House right before it was done, and I got depressed as I got really obsessed with the idea of making something super cohesive… and I felt this sounded like the complete opposite. I sat there and re-arranged the album completely, and took a few days to sort it out. I also cut one song at the last minute and added something that was new.

The features are really interesting – Trippie Redd and the Kid LAROI…

Trippie hit me up and told me, come to Miami. So I was like, sure! Kid LAROI hit me up, too, but we did that one separately. I always get super stoked when people reach out – it’s fun thing.

Working with Trippie was… odd. It was overwhelming. I’d never been to Miami, and I’d never met Trippie before. It was cool, but it was odd. I blacked out on the first night in the studio when I met him… I had to go calm down. And then I didn’t go back to the studio for like two days.

It’s a natural thing to be nervous about meeting your heroes, surely?

Maybe a couple of years ago I’d have been nervous. Not nervous about meeting them, but nervous about wasting their time. Or looking dumb. I think people look at me in a certain way, and I don’t want to let them down.

Do you put a lot of pressure on yourself?

With this album? Yeah I did. I was like, wow, I haven’t dropped music in like a year now… I’d listened to all these songs for such a long time… and I got super stressed for a little while.

Are you a perfectionist?

I’m not too meticulous about it. If it feels good, it feels good. I don’t overdo it. There’s no need. But I’ll sit for two hours to sort a guitar tone if I have to…! (laughs)

You’re going back on the road once the album is out, are you looking forward to getting back out there?

Yeah, dude, that’s my favourite thing. It takes all the pressure away from music. You just perform and party all the time. It’s so much easier than actually making music!

This year, I just want to make songs that I want to listen to all the time. This year I don’t want to have any pressure on me, I want to make whatever comes to mind. I want people to know that this shit is hard. At times it was really hard making this album. And it’s up to me – I want to have fun again.

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‘EKKSTACY’ is out now.

Catch EKKSTACY at the following shows:

March
14 Glasgow King Tut’s
15 Dublin The Grand Social
17 Manchester YES
18 London Scala

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Words: Robin Murray
Photo Credit: Jason Nocito