You may have stumbled across Akouo on a tumblr lately. Or caught his startling productions on the radio, or even found yourself holding your phone aloft in the middle of a dancefloor trying to Shazaam what on earth he's spinning. It could have been any of these things, because at this very moment Akouo is probably appearing on all three, carving out a reputation as one of the hardest working electronic producers in Australia. He's been on a whirlwind tour over the past few months, playing nation-wide and still finding the energy to groom his Soundcloud like he has all the time in the world. THUMP caught up with the Tasmania-based producer, and we're proud to premiere his latest EP "Mesa", a collection of contagious dancefloor RnB cuts. Akouo's vocals melt across resonant lyrics which capture his personal experiences as a musician, and chart his journey til now.You've recently travelled quite a bit for your music, including the Safia tour and your own "Last Time" single launch. What's life like on the road with Akouo?
Akouo: I try to make the most of my time away from the confines of a small town (Launceston), so I make a point of going out and doing the tourist thing wherever I go, museums, galleries. I hate wasting good opportunities.While you've been touring a lot there's no shortage of new music, from today's 'Mesa' EP to numerous remixes, how do you find time to craft your productions?
I spend a couple of days a week on making new music when the family are out of the house and I just spend like 10 hours straight messing with different ideas. I get real bored easily so if something feels right it's better to finish it immediately otherwise it'll rarely get finished.Having followed your music for quite a while, it seemed like there was a sudden wave of interest after your Childish Gambino remix went live. What do you think changed with your music, and did you expect the following releases to have so much attention?
I'm not sure really. I have a fear of doing what's already been done and I try my hardest not to emulate anyone else. That's always going to be a risk in the Australian music industry because there is a very real tendency for people to follow trends over here, but internationally the support recently for my version of electronic music has been really overwhelming and unprecedented, in the US especially."Last Time" was the first time I heard your own voice in your tracks. What motivated the change to include vocals, and do you find it more personal?
I started taking my singing voice semi-seriously on tracks during the "Letters To The Sun" (Akouo x Coin Banks) album, but for "Mesa" I wanted to explore my voice a little more and also add something else to my live shows. It's definitely more personal and daunting but it's fun to have another sound source to mess with.So the only definition I can find for a 'Mesa' is a type of hill – which seems quite telling of your musical journey – what has been the inspiration for this release?
It's corny, but, you know, I'll always be making my way up the mountain of musical discovery. Music should be a journey and it should be difficult. Otherwise it wouldn't mean anything when you reach those milestones and 'aha' moments.'MESA' seems to encompass a lot, from husky vocals, moody reverb and that intricate percussion. What has attracted you to this particular palate of sounds and rhythms?
I've always wanted to be able to discipline myself to take my time on a project; it's something I've never been able to achieve in the past. I have no patience, which is why this has taken nine months to make. I must have gone back to each track over a hundred times each and altered small details in the sound design each time. But I think it's resulted in something kind of interesting, and I'm very proud of the final product. It feels complete.Is there anything you regard as an essential aspect to music you like, make and listen to?
As a listener, if I hear drum sounds that I don't think I could make myself, I'm hooked. Or if I hear percussion with a weird, jazzy groove but it just feels right, that's my ish. As a producer, I try and do the same. Tap into those inner vibes where people are like "Under the laws of my traditional musical tastes I shouldn't like this, but goddamn this is TIGHT!" (laughs).While you frequently play across the country, how has being from Tasmania shaped your sound – could you tell us a little about the scene there?
There's no real scene here for the music I produce to be honest. I rarely play live sets in my own city. But for the music I play out in DJ sets like glitch, hip hop, trap, UK bass, the kids of Launceston really get it. I've been doing a monthly bass music night here once a month for the past 3 years, and it's like 400 Uni students and stoners going nuts - no violence, just good vibes. A lot of the DJs that I bring down from places like Sydney and Brisbane tell me that I don't know how good we've got it here.What are you excited to be working on musically in the future?
It's looking like I'll be collaborating with some other Australian singers really soon, which I'm super excited about. I'm also trying to tighten the bolts on my live show in preparation for the US later in the year and I have a handful of official remixes all finished and ready for release too. So there's definitely plenty to be excited about right now.You can purchase Akouo's new "Mesa" EP here, and keep up to date with the Akouo action here .
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Akouo: I try to make the most of my time away from the confines of a small town (Launceston), so I make a point of going out and doing the tourist thing wherever I go, museums, galleries. I hate wasting good opportunities.While you've been touring a lot there's no shortage of new music, from today's 'Mesa' EP to numerous remixes, how do you find time to craft your productions?
I spend a couple of days a week on making new music when the family are out of the house and I just spend like 10 hours straight messing with different ideas. I get real bored easily so if something feels right it's better to finish it immediately otherwise it'll rarely get finished.Having followed your music for quite a while, it seemed like there was a sudden wave of interest after your Childish Gambino remix went live. What do you think changed with your music, and did you expect the following releases to have so much attention?
I'm not sure really. I have a fear of doing what's already been done and I try my hardest not to emulate anyone else. That's always going to be a risk in the Australian music industry because there is a very real tendency for people to follow trends over here, but internationally the support recently for my version of electronic music has been really overwhelming and unprecedented, in the US especially.
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I started taking my singing voice semi-seriously on tracks during the "Letters To The Sun" (Akouo x Coin Banks) album, but for "Mesa" I wanted to explore my voice a little more and also add something else to my live shows. It's definitely more personal and daunting but it's fun to have another sound source to mess with.So the only definition I can find for a 'Mesa' is a type of hill – which seems quite telling of your musical journey – what has been the inspiration for this release?
It's corny, but, you know, I'll always be making my way up the mountain of musical discovery. Music should be a journey and it should be difficult. Otherwise it wouldn't mean anything when you reach those milestones and 'aha' moments.'MESA' seems to encompass a lot, from husky vocals, moody reverb and that intricate percussion. What has attracted you to this particular palate of sounds and rhythms?
I've always wanted to be able to discipline myself to take my time on a project; it's something I've never been able to achieve in the past. I have no patience, which is why this has taken nine months to make. I must have gone back to each track over a hundred times each and altered small details in the sound design each time. But I think it's resulted in something kind of interesting, and I'm very proud of the final product. It feels complete.Is there anything you regard as an essential aspect to music you like, make and listen to?
As a listener, if I hear drum sounds that I don't think I could make myself, I'm hooked. Or if I hear percussion with a weird, jazzy groove but it just feels right, that's my ish. As a producer, I try and do the same. Tap into those inner vibes where people are like "Under the laws of my traditional musical tastes I shouldn't like this, but goddamn this is TIGHT!" (laughs).While you frequently play across the country, how has being from Tasmania shaped your sound – could you tell us a little about the scene there?
There's no real scene here for the music I produce to be honest. I rarely play live sets in my own city. But for the music I play out in DJ sets like glitch, hip hop, trap, UK bass, the kids of Launceston really get it. I've been doing a monthly bass music night here once a month for the past 3 years, and it's like 400 Uni students and stoners going nuts - no violence, just good vibes. A lot of the DJs that I bring down from places like Sydney and Brisbane tell me that I don't know how good we've got it here.What are you excited to be working on musically in the future?
It's looking like I'll be collaborating with some other Australian singers really soon, which I'm super excited about. I'm also trying to tighten the bolts on my live show in preparation for the US later in the year and I have a handful of official remixes all finished and ready for release too. So there's definitely plenty to be excited about right now.You can purchase Akouo's new "Mesa" EP here, and keep up to date with the Akouo action here .