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FOTO: ASH KINGSTON
36 Musik
Slithering swagger Since the 2016 release of his emotive debut EP, R&B/gospel vocalist serpentwithfeet has toured with Perfume Genius and featured on a Björk song. His first full-length, Soil, is an even grander statement, co-produced with his Tri Angle labelmates Katie Gately and mmph as well as Paul Epworth (Adele) and Clams Casino (Lana Del Rey). SIEGESSÄULE editor Joey Hansom met with the artist the day after his Berlin show in April
serpentwithfeet: Soil (Tri Angle Records/ Secretly Canadian), out Jun. 8
> I saw your show one year ago as well as the one last night. It wasn't apparent to me till now that there is a big sense of humor in your work. Everyone talks about the darker elements, but there was definitely a counterbalance. How does humor play a role in your work, or in your life? I think I'm starting to embrace it more than a year ago. I remember exactly what I wore last year: a red corset, a sequined black-and-white top – everyone thought it looked very restrictive, which I think was important for a time: a discipline kind of thing, an exercise in restraint. But I don't think I need to restrain myself anymore. With that, I allow myself to laugh, to be humored. Observing things, dogs, birds, and finding them funny. Do you think something specific happen to prompt that, or was it just an evolution? Well, I think I couldn't be restrained forever. I think I'm a wild person naturally, which is good, but it's also good to chisel. It was important for me to learn to be mature, but now that I've done that, the lesson is over. I know how to measure, I know how to be precise, and now it's time to be garrulous, more sinuous, more fun, funny. Time to let my titties out.
Your EP from 2016 already sounded fantastic, but the production of the new album has really evolved. How was the process different? There were a few hands involved in the EP, but the album was a lot more of a quilt situation. I co-produced the eleven songs, and there were four other producers who were part of the overall project. I knew that I wanted to do something that was a lot louder, a lot more rapturous than my previous work. As soon as I heard Katie Gately's music, I knew I wanted to work with her. She's a producer and a singer as well. She's incredible. Do you ever think about who your ideal audience is? Saul Williams said, “I'm not here to hand-pick my audience.” I would agree with that. But who am I talking to with my music? I'm talking to black people. Always. Other people are welcome to listen. What's the difference between playing in New York and a place like Berlin, or Germany or Europe in general? Last night it was 95 percent white people. I'm going to be me no matter where it is – the performance isn't going to change. I will say, though, I was able to open for Nao in Williamsburg for a predominantly black audience. It was a very different experience – amazing. They got all the references. But the way I take up space doesn't change. I'm not going to get louder, or quieter. In terms of your music career, or your life in general, what's the biggest compromise you've had to make to get where you are today? I don't think I've compromised. I think I've done this on my own terms. I don't think I could do it any other way. I'm not easily manipulated. Some people play a certain kind of game, but I could never do that. You sang a duet with Björk, a new version of a song from her latest album. Were you actually in the same room with her? I'm not going to tell you all my secrets. I lo-o-ove the original and I was happy to do the remix. Why do you think she's so drawn toward gay boys who are half her age? I think she's a flamboyant person, and she likes to be around other flamboyant people. She has lots of different friends, educated, writers, painters. She has the key to so many cities. We all love her for the way she presents herself, and I think a lot of the gay boys she's been around are extroverted in some way. There's a natural magnetism. < Interview: Joey Hansom