Someone who has been lifting our spirits over the last seven days is SONIKKU, with the sounds of his debut album, Joyful Death. Inspired by his love for 80s production, it feels nostalgic but at the same time we cannot imagine it being released any other time but now. Having DJed for years at London’s Adonis club, SONIKKU is now stepping up, front and centre to deliver his own vision.

Loverboy speaks to him about his telepathic bond with Little Boots, his favourite bath-house in Tokyo and why the zucchini needs to get its shit together.

First up congratulations on your album. Has it been weird releasing it during Covid?
It was kind of strange but there’s not much point in delaying it. It’s been received quite well so I think people are just yearning for a really fun album during this time.

We need to discuss the album cover.
I was inspired by this drawing of the alien from Alien recreating Grace Jones’s Island Life cover, I really wanted to do something like that. It’s like a mutation of iconic 80s imagery.

And today my favourite song from the album is ‘Remember to Forget Me’ but it keeps changing.
I wrote that song with Chester Lockhart whom I met when I went to LA for a song-writing trip. He’s friends with people I know and so I sent him the song and then the next day we were in a studio in Silverlake recording it. He’s a really nice guy.

And we need to discuss the video. It’s fire.
The song is a gay heartbreak story. So I thought it would be cool to do a really expressive, raw dance performance in a warehouse, a grittier version of ‘Call Your Girlfriend’ by Robyn. The two dancers, Pierre & Baby are friends of mine. Their work deals with gay relationships in a digital space and how it affects you psychologically. I felt that it existed in the same world as what I was discussing in ‘Remember to Forget Me’.

The album’s first single was ‘Sweat’ which you wrote with Little Boots.
It’s so weird because one day I was telling her about a song I had written called ‘Sweat’ that goes, ‘Sweat, dripping down your neck….’ and she was like, ‘Oh my God, I’ve written that same song too.’ It just so happened that we had both written the same hook for a song. It weirdly came together. It was a really hot summer’s day and we were feeling inspired by Kylie’s ‘Slow.’

The ‘Sweat’ video is set in a bath-house. Did you have one in mind in particular?
Well, the ones in London aren’t that great but there’s an amazing gay sauna in Tokyo called 24 Kaikan. I’ve been twice and….well, I’ll just leave it there because I don’t want to go into any sordid details! But I wanted the video to be set in a dystopian, Blade Runner-style, bath-house in the future where there’s a holographic performance of LIZ singing ‘Sweat’.

And as well as Joyful Death you’ve just dropped two remixes of Gaga and Madonna to help promote The Okra Project.
Yes! I really wanted to do something fun for Pride and a lot of fans were saying, “Oh you should totally remix ‘Rain On Me’.” So I thought, ‘Why not?’ But I feel quite guilty as I’m actually more of a Madonna fan so I’ve also released a remix of my favourite Madonna song, ‘Get Together’.
Plus with it being Pride Month, it’s really like a joint celebration of BLM and Pride. I really just wanted it all to link back to Black Trans Lives with The Okra Project. It’s quite a specific charity – it’s for Trans people that can’t afford to buy regular meals.

Speaking of Black Lives Matter, I saw your post the other day about how black people started techno.
Two of my favourite genres of music are Techno & Disco and I wouldn’t have had those influences if it hadn’t been for the black community. Historically they created disco in New York and Techno in Detroit. So I wanted to pay homage to the people that inspire me like Donna Summer and all the DJs from Detroit. We wouldn’t be anywhere in Dance music without them.

Totally. Now I left London four years ago but everyone is telling me that the club Adonis is where it’s at. Tell me about it.
I’m part of the Adonis collective. I played the first one and regularly play there now. It’s just got a really good sense of community. It’s a really fucking good party as well. You can be free to dress how you want, be who you want and not be hounded by security, unlike some other clubs. It’s a really great place for me to play my favourite music.

Has it been weird shifting from DJ to being more in the spotlight as a producer with your own album?
Before I used to be slightly anonymous. But I’ve always wanted to write a big pop album and be front and centre. I’m now on a new label and they’ve really trusted my vision. I feel like I’m finally becoming myself – it’s just taken time. I had to learn the tricks of the trade before I could do it.

I’m a huge fan of Christopher John Rogers and I saw he used ‘Sweat’ in his NYFW show! That’s huge!
I didn’t even know it was happening! I only found out when a fan told me, ‘They’re playing your song at New York Fashion Week.’

On social media the other day you were saying people need to stop overlooking the zucchini emoji instead of the aubergine one. What is it about the shape of a zucchini that you prefer to an aubergine?
I was just stoned. I was thinking that if you gave people the choice of a zucchini or an eggplant, everyone would choose an eggplant. What is it about the zucchini that is vastly inferior to an eggplant? Maybe it needs a rebranding and needs to perform at G-A-Y. The zucchini really needs to step up its game.

I’m sure as a Madonna fan you will hate our last question but we are named after the infamous Mariah Carey song. So we always ask, what is your favourite Mariah song?
I like ‘Now That I Know.’ I really think it should have been a single, it’s such a big party song.

SONIKKU’s album, Joyful Death, is out now.
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