A Quick Chat with Milku

Firstly, congratulations on the release of ‘Headlights’. How does it feel to have the single out in the world?

Thank you! I actually went through my voice memos the other day and found the first version of “Headlights” from 2022 - just me figuring out the guitar riff at a soundcheck - so it’s a major relief to have it down. This baby is way overdue. Induce me already. 

Could you share with us what ‘Headlights’ means for you and how the song contributes to your upcoming EP?
For me, it’s a song about doubt, about a relationship with a person I really care about but I perhaps knew it couldn’t work with. Those feelings can be really quiet and then really loud so I tried to put that into the song. Last week, my housemate got broken up with and while her now ex was searching for words he said, “it’s like that Milku song says, ‘I don’t know what it is, but I’ll know when it’s missing.’” I guess that’s a win? 

Your new EP, ‘Be Honest’, is out too! What is the story behind the record? 
It’s really about my journey to be emotionally honest with myself and those around me. I sing about sex and God and doubts but also actually being hopeful about love and just a whole bunch of ideas that I guess were off the table in the past for me. It’s hard to be honest but I think it’s the only option we really have. 

Walk us through the creative process of making this EP? 
The main thing I’m doing is just spending time living with this collection of songs like they’re my housemates. I generated like 20 songs for this collection and then, for me, I’m trying to work out ‘what are the 5 songs here that say the most true, interesting thing’? Sonically, something I found really fun was stripping back the production on my voice a bit to expose my vocals more. It kind of just sounds like what my voice sounds like. At first, I found it a bit scary to listen to but now, I wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Are there any specific musical influences or artists who have shaped your sound on this EP?
I’ve always loved that early 2000s New York scene - MGMT, The Strokes, LCD Soundsystem. I love sitting down and writing stuff on my synth but still making it sound like rock and roll, rather than dance music. I think I’m keen to lean ever further into these sounds on the next collection. 

If you could collaborate with any artist, past or present, who would you choose and why?
Life of Pablo-and-earlier era Kanye. That dude was the GOAT. It’s a real shame he lost his way. And Fred Rogers. 

What does honesty mean to you?
It’s not just about saying something that’s true or avoiding lies. It’s about living and acting from the center, rather than curled up in denial to yourself. It’s one of the scariest things to be, because the moment you’re honest is the moment you can be cleanly, genuinely rejected. But the alternative is scarier still, because honesty is really the only way to love and be loved back. It goes without saying that someone who was naturally good at this wouldn’t write an EP called “Be Honest”. But I hope that these songs are a step in that direction for me.