Start Listening To: Nukuluk
Our most recent Q&A with the South London collective.
Photography: Isabel Maccarthy Hailing from the vibrant streets of South London, Nukuluk is a group that is quickly making a name for themselves. Their captivating experimental sounds have captured the attention of listeners across the globe, earning them a reputation as one of the most innovative and exciting bands today. We caught up with the five piece ahead of their EP, SUPERGLUE, released today.
For those unfamiliar with your music can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and something about the music you make?
syd - hello we are Nukuluk, we are from London and we make experimental hip-hop, trip-hop, alt-rock, ambient, nu-metal, indie electronica and that’s about it at the moment
Can you describe your songwriting process?
Syd - there is no one process!
Monika - Yh I remember this guy coming up to us at one show and saying: ‘it feels like you guys go into making music without a preconceived idea of what the songs should sound like’. Someone makes something and then brings it to the group to make it a Nukuluk song. Most of the time it’ll be an instrumental line or ableton project. It gets real unpredictable from there though, the idea kind of circulates until it’s a song.
What do you hope listeners take away from listening to your music?
syd - excitement and emotional impact; when I listen to music I want to be affected, whether that means I get goosebumps and have a very personal moment or I get really excited and play it a hundred times and tell everyone I know about it. I hope people find it new and find it honest
Can you tell us how you guys got started as a band?
Louis/Monika - Syd made a solo ambient/trip-hop EP called Date X Change and Monika featured on a couple of tracks. The collaboration really worked and they decided to keep working together. Syd had a broader vision for what the music could be. So Louis, Olivia and Mateo joined and with everyone’s input and efforts the project snowballed into its own thing becoming the collective it is now - Nukuluk. A pro
We’re loving your new EP SUPERGLUE, could you tell us more about how it was produced?
Syd - we’ve probably been working on these songs for two years; they have lived lots of lives on different computers in different households. Shout out to various homes in queens road peckham, camberwell, woolwich, hampton, nunhead and to snorkel studios.
How has South London influenced your music? What are your favourite music venues in the area?
Syd - South LDN is where we all met, and the music scene here gives us a lot of ambition, excitement and inspiration all the time.
Bermondsey Social Club hosted three of our residency nights last year and was a great venue to work with, big up Andy and the team there. We also of course have a lot of love for the Windmill.. other good spots would be The Golden Anchor and its bizarre jam nights in the back room, The Ivy House (Nunhead), The Old Ship (Shadwell), The Castle (Dulwich) - not really venues, but great boozers
We love the video for your track I JUST WANNA LOVE YOU can you tell us more about the inspiration behind it and about the shoot day?
syd - the video came about from sort of naturally expanding the themes of the song. The song addresses feelings of incompletion; of endlessly looking for external love whilst not coming to terms with yourself, the different versions of you and what you’ve been through. I co-directed the video with my friend Iso Attrill, and together we conceived a story inspired by David Lynch and Charlie Kaufman films, of an isolated modern self in pain and sadness, discovering a pathway to conversation with their inner child. We built a miniature child’s bedroom which all the band members could barely fit inside of and had lots of fun playing with perspective as well as toys from the 90s (shout out to our production designer Matty Mancey Jones). This idea of healing yourself through sharing inner dialogue makes a lot of sense and is a nice hill to sit on.
As for the shoot day itself - it was long, it was beautiful, the crew all gave us massive favours by working for very little and Monika as always made some amazing food!
What songs from SUPERGLUE are you most looking forward to playing live?
ALL OF THEM!
Name an artist you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why?
syd - Gorillaz; that run of LPs with Gorillaz, Demon Days and Plastic Beach is a ridiculously good stretch of music and I’m very happy I grew up with it.
Louis - BLACK EYED PEAS
Mateo - Prince because I love him, there is always more to explore and a song for almost every mood but at the same time the music rarely takes itself too seriously and always excites me.
Monika - Donny Elwood, my mom got his CD in the street in Cameroon I think. I remember sitting down memorising all the lyrics and performing the funny song to my friends when I was about 8.
What do you love right now?
Blueberries
BLOSSOM
Smell as a sense
Lido Pimenta, HMLTD, Blue Bendy
What do you hate right now?
Raspberries
Unhomogenised milk
Hay Fever
Rain in my shoes
Blue screen madness
Insomnia
Are there any particular artists or bands that have influenced your music?
Ryuchi sakamoto, Tricky. Pretty much everything that is current: Jpeg, Danny Brown, Wu-lu, 100 gecs, Sophie, Death Grips all the usual suspects. Then bands like duster.
What’s next for Nukuluk?
syd - our EP SUPERGLUE is out 21st April, and then on May 23rd we’re throwing a big party at Corsica Studios to celebrate its release. We’re releasing this EP and our debut DISASTER POP on vinyl together which we’re really excited for, and then we’re playing a bunch of great festivals over the summer and getting to work on the records to come.
What advice would you give to aspiring musicians just starting out?
syd - don’t be afraid to make terrible stuff. Make loads of bad shit, throw it at the wall, don’t ever stop yourself out of fear of being embarrassed.
monika - Yh your biggest enemy is your desire for your next thing to be the best thing ever.