Q&A: SAKIMA
Normally, I'd never suggest judging a book by its cover but in the case of SAKIMA I'd say go for it. This London-based singer, songwriter and producer’s talent is matched only by the awesomeness of his florescent flair. SAKIMA’s unfiltered, galvanic brand of emotive pop doesn’t skirt issues — whether it’s standing up for the rights of the LGBTQ+ community to saying it’s OK to comfortable being explicit, he’s here to wrap his arm around your shoulder with a song — there isn’t a topic too hot for SAKIMA to hold.
We had the opportunity to host a Q&A with SAKIMA covering everything from his debut Facsimile EP, his duo project called SWIMS, and what’s next on the horizon. Check that out, below — and thanks to Moving Castle for hosting such a full house of high rollers. Your odds are always good when placing a bet on one of their artists.
What was the inspiration behind the title “Facsimile”?
the definition of 'facsimile' is to make an exact copy of something. i thought this word perfectly summed up how i'm attempting to make a sort of sonic imprint of pop music, but inserting gay narratives into the themes of the songs.
What are some of your favorite parts of the EP and why?
i think generally across the ep i love how the songs all explain real memories and experiences. it's great to finally be able to share work that can be so personal but also address some issues within popular music that i find important, such as the homoerotic themes and using male pronouns to describe the characters within my songs without any real censorship. i think sonically my favourite song on the ep would be 'he's trippi' as for me it has all the things that i look for in other artist's songs, the ambience, rhythms and melodic movements that i find most satisfying to listen to.
You seem to use a lot of different mediums of art in your project (ie. VSCO), what are your other favorites and how do you incorporate that into your vision as an artist?
as a kid i was all about trying as many forms of creative expression as possible. i trained in dance for most of my life, and for a long time that was going to be my career until i finished training a few years back. i think the imagery and what you could call 'branding' happens really naturally because of this unrestricted creative journey that i've been lucky enough to have the freedom to fully explore. it's quite normal for when i'm writing songs or producing to simultaneously be conjuring up visual ideas and performative ideas, so for me, i don't really see different forms of creativity as separate disciplines, it's more like it's all one giant form of expression. i'm also super dyslexic so i think my brain is just wired to prefer communicating through art.
You’re in a duo project called SWIMS, how does that music differ from your SAKIMA project?
sometimes the lines between the two projects blur a little, but the process of making songs as SWIMS and SAKIMA are very different. With SWIMS, me and AObeats have no agenda other than to make music together. Whereas with SAKIMA i'm really focused on my artist message and political values. I think the differences really come through when you listen to the songs, there's a unique dynamic between me and AObeats that only comes alive when we work together, almost like a separate artist mind.
I hear you work on music constantly, is there anything you can let us know about your upcoming projects?
yes! i've got a second ep which is all done and shall be coming out in the near future, alongside some really fun collabs with Alizzz and Satica to name a couple. I'm also working on some more visual art/moving image stuff to tie into the narratives i'm creating as SAKIMA, so i'm excited to delve deeper into the topics i've introduced on my first EP, as well as introduce some important new issues into the narratives of the songs. it gets a lot braver.