Maroon Cafe Interview With Emika

// January 7th, 2010 // Interviews

Emikla 500x500 Maroon Cafe Interview With Emika

Dark and mysteriousness attracts many and when it fuses with music then you definitely have to pay attention. I got tipped off on Emika a few weeks back thanks to my compadre extraordinaire London D, needless to say an investigation pursued. The now Berlin native is causing quite a stir with her sound and early eerily comparisons similar to Aaliyah. While the year of ’10 is filled with contender after contender and if her recent single “Drop The Other” is what we can expect more of, then you just may have to add another entry to that list. In one of our more personal interviews Emika sat down with me to discuss her sound, her distinction from female singers of today and an event that nearly took her life.




H.Q. “Drop The Other” has been getting some serious airplay and online love since being released, how did that tune come about?

Em: The ‘other’ will always remain a mystery. The melody made itself in my minds ear on my bike ride home from work one day. Over several months I received many interesting opportunities in my life, and really struggled to do the right thing. I was anticipating my future through reflecting past decisions. With a strong desire to fulfill my passions, wanting to move forward from a honest place, second guessing other peoples motives and of course my own ego, together it all created this vibe which I translated into Drop The Other. It’s a musical interpretation about my internal fight between lust, desire, and keeping it real. “you make it look so good, the way you put it like that. Yes I know we could, so shall we?”


H.Q. What’s the history behind Emika?

Em: I was at my grannies house eating sweets when I was 11, She was playing David Bowie’s ‘China Girl’, and for the first time I realized that music was coming from the cassette player, it didn’t just happen in the air by itself. I wanted to make that. By “that” I don’t mean song writing, I mean producing sound which effects people through listening and hearing. In between now and then I studied classical piano, creative music technology, fell in love with techno, and developed a deep awareness of how people perceive different music.


H.Q. I since a portion of R&B in your vocals, can we expect more of that in the future?

Em: Yes. Songs made from licks, hooks, and sexy riffs, I’m not the type of lady to sing my heart out about how I feel, I want to create a super dope groove and compliment the beat instead of singing all over it.

Emika1 396x500 Maroon Cafe Interview With Emika

H.Q. How did the Ninjatune deal happen?

Em: I sent them a track and they offered me a deal. I’ve been a nightmare to A&R’s since then because I make all kinds of different tracks. Settling into one album which makes sense as a whole is difficult for me, I love change and don’t like to be fixed to one thing. Much respect to Ninja sticking by me through this process.


H.Q. What sparked the move to Berlin?

Em: I worked too hard at the end of my degree, ended up in hospital, the surgery went totally wrong and I needed more and almost lost my life. This sounds tough, but strangely enough the hardest part for me was learning to integrate myself with society again. For weeks I sat on my own high on morphine, nothing made sense to me from that moment onwards. When I was well enough again, HSBC offered me free flights for upgrading my account post graduation and I picked to come to Berlin. I totally fell in love with the music scene here and fell in love with how I felt in the city. 15 days later I moved back to Berlin and worked as an Au Pair. Thanks HSBC!

H.Q. Lately, there seems to be a heavy crop of females with a pop/synth sound, what separates Emika from that bunch?

Em: Listen to my music.

H.Q. Your working with Mox, how’s that coming along?

Em: Amazing. My relationship with him is very precious to me. He’s an incredible artist who is very honest with himself and his creativity. He is not bound to one medium, much like I am in regards to musical genre.

Emika Logo 500x500 Maroon Cafe Interview With Emika


H.Q. Is there a full length in store for this year?

Em: Yes I’m currently mixing it with Rashad Becker who is blowing my mind. Another precious one in the Emika product.

H.Q. Who else should we keep an eye out for in 2010?

Em: Marcel Dettmann, DJ Pinch, Mala, Ben Klock all have fantastic music I hope will come out in 2010. Definitely a talented bunch to check out.

H.Q. Lastly, what are you looking to learn the most over the next twelve months?

Em: Singing live. I suffer from being a studio singer, I want to break free! I want to work with many talented people and grow out of being a nerdy solo producer, square eyes and a studio tan is not sexy. I want to learn more German and improve my tourist accent. I want to learn how to use a Kyma X environment. I want to learn how to run a marathon. want want want…tra la la…I could go on for pages and pages.


For more on this artist visit her official site.

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One Response to “Maroon Cafe Interview With Emika”

  1. MUSIC } EMIKA . DROP THE OTHER . DIRECTED BY MOX « VELVET.SWAG says:
    January 15, 2010 at 7:52 am

    [...] Emika describes her creative relationship with Mox as ‘very precious’ going on to say ‘He’s an incredible artist who is very honest with himself and his creativity. He is not bou… [...]