F  L  A  U  N  T

 Perhaps the cessation of the rat race, and the relentless drive for more, more, more might be one positive to come out of the global pandemic, slow down, crisis, collapse, whatever you choose to call it. One popular takeaway we’ve heard a lot lately is thankfulness for what we have, however small and simple a pleasure it might be. It’s a sentiment expressed by Ukiyo, the Australian electro-pop producer, currently based in Perth. Good Enough, his single out today, offers us a little ear-worm of comfort, a hazy memory of a sunny day at the beach, and perhaps a conciliatory statement on being content with what you’ve got on. We caught up with Ukiyo down-under to chat through his new release, working with rising singer Maribelle, and what’s next. Congrats on releasing Good Enough today. Listening through the track, it’s a bit different than a lot of the other tracks, what inspired this change? Thank you! This track came about around a year ago at a time I was putting a lot of energy into building a healthier mindset towards life & my career. I think I’m always consciously rebelling from what I feel like people expect me to make next in a way too which is why I keep kinda jumping between poppy and experimental stuff. Can you tell us about your background? And what led you to producing music? The original dream was to be a filmmaker, but I didn’t really have access to what I needed back in the day so my obsessions quickly turned to movie soundtracks and music in general. Garageband really is an incredible thing and it’s awesome to see similar tools for video making too these days. My first real song was in music class in high school where the last assignment of the year was to make a song. It was pretty rubbish but I took it home and worked on it over the holidays until I had something I was happy with. Been making music ever since. With this single being released during a time of self isolation, how do you hope your music will affect people? This song for me is all about being happy with what you have so I think that’s an important message especially in a time like now. All my tracks are made when I’m by myself. I find it’s the only way I can make what I perceive as a ‘Ukiyo’ song, so I think it’s a little poetic that a lot of people are going to be stuck listening to them by themselves too.

Find it interesting that you spend a lot of your time outside of the studio when you’re producing. Can you go into the type of environments you find the most inspiration at when you’re making your art? The beach is definitely the biggest one, you’ll hear that in the music from the wavey synths to the wind and wave samples I’ll record and layer in. During the summer I’ll take my laptop down to my local beach and find a shady spot to work on stuff. When I need a day off I’ll drive out to the hills to the east of Perth & do a nice long hike which always clears my head & inspires. What was it like working with Maribelle on this track? And how did you guys end up meeting in the first place? Really awesome, she’s incredibly talented and knew what the track needed straight away. The day I sent her the track she was actually in Perth to play a show which doesn’t happen often so I headed up and met her. The video to “Good Enough” is based on the idea that humans are doing the bare minimum to get by on Earth, can you explain what inspired this idea and what you hope viewers will take away from the video? My music at least at the moment is very much about escapism from these kinds of bothers so I try to stay away from anything too confronting, but I do love to try to subtly inject little themes like these in my music and videos. I thought it was an interesting idea to take Maribelle’s take on a relationship and flip it into our relationship with the Earth and how people can take that ‘good enough’ kind of attitude where they just do enough to seem or feel like they’re doing the right thing. I see a lot of that around me, people that’ll make a big deal about how they eat consciously and recycle but then leave an air conditioner blasting all day, or constantly sharing issues but never doing anything to try to help. I’m certainly not perfect with these things but I try to go the extra mile. How has being in quarantine affected your ability to create music and your daily life in general? What is the first thing you want to do after quarantine? I’ve just finished up months of locking myself away working on music so on a day-to-day basis not a lot has changed, though this certainly wasn’t my first pick for things I would’ve liked to be doing when I finished. I’m definitely finding a lack of inspiration as of late while locked up but I’ve been spending my spare time making sure to stay on top of all the bits outside of production and making sure I find some time off to keep my head clear. Quarantine is already starting to loosen up a little bit here in Western Australia but as soon as it’s gone I’ll be heading back to the beach and cafes to start producing and get the inspiration flowing and hopefully I can take a real holiday sometime soon too! Japan has been at the top of my to-do list for a long time now.

Australia seems to have had a big effect on your musical style. How would you describe the Australian music scene? I feel like Australia being so isolated has created an amazing atmosphere where we’re all bundled up and bouncing ideas off each other and we’ve got a really receptive audience around Aus that’s ready to support anyone doing their own thing. I think it’s created an environment where everyone is equal–it almost feels like high school, where the graduating class buddies up with the newer kids to help them find their way. It’s an awesome environment to be a part of and I’ve been able to get advice from a lot of people I look up to. Who are some of your favorite Australian artists you're listening to at the moment? I’m always listening to Flume, the leader of the pack and a big inspiration, and I’ve got some incredibly talented Aussie friends who I’ve usually got on repeat too, like Odd Mob, Just a Gent, DVNA, Rando & of course Maribelle, who also produces her own music under the name Vetta Borne. Can you define what success is for you as an artist? I’ve always made music as an escape and at times, a therapy. My goal has always been to make music that can help people through the things it helps me through when I’m making it so I guess success to me is just to keep reaching and hopefully helping more people in that way. It excites me every day to keep working on my craft and getting better at making music and my visions a reality & it helps a lot to get nice messages and see nice comments about how it’s helped people so thank you everyone that’s listened! What does the future hold for Ukiyo? Any big projects fans can expect from you in 2020? 2020 holds the biggest Ukiyo project to date which I’m extremely excited to share with the world! It’s the first time I’ve had stuff ready to go ahead of schedule as well so I’m currently enjoying a little time off creating and trying to spend some time away from my laptop. A goal I have for 2020 outside of the music is to really start connecting and meeting the people that connect with the music, I did my first live stream the other day just answering questions and sharing things I wouldn’t have shared otherwise, it was great fun and I’m planning to do a lot more of that kind of stuff.