In a short amount of time, with a select series of singles, Tkay Maidza has established a maximum presence in Australia's music scene. It's hard to imagine a more memorable introduction than first single "Handle My Ego", a hybrid dubstep dancehall drop. "Brontosaurus" followed with a festival sized beat and lyrical charisma to match. Tkay teamed up RBMA approved Lewis Can-Cut for the club shaking "Arm Up", and now we have "U-Huh", another undeniable combination of bass-heavy beats, playful chants and rhymes. THUMP is excited to premiere the equally catchy video, and to chat Tkay after her Splendour conquering performance last weekend.THUMP: You've just returned from Splendour, signed to Create/Control, and released U-Huh, life seems pretty busy at the moment, what's a typical day like for you?
If I have nothing important on I wake up pretty late, TRY to go to the gym and then just hang out with my cat on the internet in my little home studio writing some songs. If not that then I just hang with my friends trying to get some life experience.Do you get a chance to work on music all the time – how do you balance this with everything else?
I have a lot of time on my hands right now… I don't really balance it out, I'm such an impromptu person but I'm also really antisocial so Im usually just in my room either waiting for vibes or creating them.Beyond the beat, there's lots going on with U-Huh. What does the song and video mean to you?
U-huh is about getting rid of things/ people you don't need in your life… because they're not real, you don't care about them, and just capitalising on things that are most important to you. So for this video I really just wanted it to introduce me and show how carefree I really am. I made a mini mood board on tumblr with all the cool things I like and The Mathematics crew really helped get the random esque but "cool" feeling going.You've been playing a variety of club as well as festival arenas recently, what's involved in preparing for each type of gig?
My DJ/Producer Elk, creates many potential mixes for the set and we go over them until we think it flows really well. I recite my lyrics a lot and dance around alone in my room until I feel like I'm very comfortable with that. We also asked a couple of friends to dress in dinosaur onesies, jump on stage, and also have gathered a couple of visuals that we think are cool! Other than that it's pretty impromptu, it's all about what happens in that moment!We had a great time dancing at Splendour, but how was the festival for you?
Splendour was amazing. Its so hard to explain how great it was because it was THAT great! I was so surprised at the amount of people who came to watch. I had the time of my life during my set and during Kilter, Paces and Nina Las Vegas' also.We saw you got to catch up with Childish Gambino. Did you have much time to talk about music?
Yes! Donald is amazing (I call him Donald). I think I only said like 10 words. Nina Vas Vegas introduced us and curated the whole conversation. Donald was like "Nina always shows me cool people so I'm pretty sure you're music is really cool, I'd love to hear it." I wasn't comprehending the events taking place but he also just encouraged me to sing a lot more as he used to think singing was weird during his early stages. Now he's singing like Michael Jackson, ha!Speaking of music, can you let us know what styles/which songs/artists are inspiring you in your own art at the moment?
On the vocal side right now Im really enjoying Ella Eyre, Clean Bandit, Sam Smith, Zebra Katz, Leikeli 47, Banks, SZA, Childish Gambino, Danny Brown , Aluna George and every Rudimental song. This changes every day though but this is what I have listened to today.You've collaborated with a range of interesting artists – can you tell us a little about how the creative process works in these various tracks?
Elk and Swick are probably the ones Ive worked with in the studio and online most frequently. We just listen to current jams and vibe on whats cool and whats not and then they begin making the beat whilst ill be in the back coming up with some vocal lines. Everything is very trial and error. With other producers it's over the internet where we both work through sending demos and drafts to the point where we're really happy!
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If I have nothing important on I wake up pretty late, TRY to go to the gym and then just hang out with my cat on the internet in my little home studio writing some songs. If not that then I just hang with my friends trying to get some life experience.Do you get a chance to work on music all the time – how do you balance this with everything else?
I have a lot of time on my hands right now… I don't really balance it out, I'm such an impromptu person but I'm also really antisocial so Im usually just in my room either waiting for vibes or creating them.Beyond the beat, there's lots going on with U-Huh. What does the song and video mean to you?
U-huh is about getting rid of things/ people you don't need in your life… because they're not real, you don't care about them, and just capitalising on things that are most important to you. So for this video I really just wanted it to introduce me and show how carefree I really am. I made a mini mood board on tumblr with all the cool things I like and The Mathematics crew really helped get the random esque but "cool" feeling going.You've been playing a variety of club as well as festival arenas recently, what's involved in preparing for each type of gig?
My DJ/Producer Elk, creates many potential mixes for the set and we go over them until we think it flows really well. I recite my lyrics a lot and dance around alone in my room until I feel like I'm very comfortable with that. We also asked a couple of friends to dress in dinosaur onesies, jump on stage, and also have gathered a couple of visuals that we think are cool! Other than that it's pretty impromptu, it's all about what happens in that moment!We had a great time dancing at Splendour, but how was the festival for you?
Splendour was amazing. Its so hard to explain how great it was because it was THAT great! I was so surprised at the amount of people who came to watch. I had the time of my life during my set and during Kilter, Paces and Nina Las Vegas' also.We saw you got to catch up with Childish Gambino. Did you have much time to talk about music?
Yes! Donald is amazing (I call him Donald). I think I only said like 10 words. Nina Vas Vegas introduced us and curated the whole conversation. Donald was like "Nina always shows me cool people so I'm pretty sure you're music is really cool, I'd love to hear it." I wasn't comprehending the events taking place but he also just encouraged me to sing a lot more as he used to think singing was weird during his early stages. Now he's singing like Michael Jackson, ha!Speaking of music, can you let us know what styles/which songs/artists are inspiring you in your own art at the moment?
On the vocal side right now Im really enjoying Ella Eyre, Clean Bandit, Sam Smith, Zebra Katz, Leikeli 47, Banks, SZA, Childish Gambino, Danny Brown , Aluna George and every Rudimental song. This changes every day though but this is what I have listened to today.You've collaborated with a range of interesting artists – can you tell us a little about how the creative process works in these various tracks?
Elk and Swick are probably the ones Ive worked with in the studio and online most frequently. We just listen to current jams and vibe on whats cool and whats not and then they begin making the beat whilst ill be in the back coming up with some vocal lines. Everything is very trial and error. With other producers it's over the internet where we both work through sending demos and drafts to the point where we're really happy!