“Branch Out, Stand Out, and Do Your Own Thing”: An Interview With Genre-bending Artist BUKKY
As listeners and audience members, when a performer has a totally new sound and the stage presence to match, it’s electrifying to say the least. Especially at open-mic style jams or shows that you attend by chance, that added unexpected element washes over you with euphoric curiosity. It becomes almost comical as you catch yourself looking around incredulously like… “are you guys hearing this?”. To me at least, moments like these are some of the closest we get to time standing still.
As exciting as the feeling is, I believe these acts also ground us in a way. With the accessibility of music through streaming services, we gain so much control over our ‘music destiny’ as I’ve nicknamed it. In other words, we always know what we’re getting. Even when it comes to those discover-type Spotify playlists, I’d argue that often the curators play it safe and give the followers more of what they already love. I believe these occurrences open the door to a bit of ego. You might skip over new songs after the first 3 seconds. Or maybe you write-off an album because you don’t like one track.
Deep down, we don’t want to feel those urges. When it comes to our sources of pleasure in life, like music, we want freedom, but more so, we need something that gracefully commands our attention, presence, and appreciation. This March, I was lucky enough to be confronted by an artist that, through her music, told the people in the room: ‘you’re gonna want to stick around for this’.
Hailing from Ireland with a Nigerian background, producer, writer, and instrumentalist BUKKY’s musical journey began when she was a child attending church and listening to music her Dad would play around the house. Reflecting on her sound, her early influences are widespread and diverse, ranging from the Red Hot Chilli Peppers to P Diddy to Dolly Parton. Around sixteen, BUKKY’s musical passion turned from hobby to potential career, and she started busking, attending talent shows, and competitions. Today, with the accompaniment of her ever-talented band, BUKKY lives and performs in London where she graces her audience with an insanely unique sound that, while borderline genreless, leans into Alternative R&B and Psychedelic Lo-fi.
I spoke to BUKKY about the path, processes, and goals that carried her from her beginnings to becoming the wicked performer and innovative musician she is today.
The following interview has been edited for length and clarity.
DT: I wanna jump into discussing your song writing process – how your creative energy flows. What’s your first move?
BUKKY: I really like this question, because I feel like it just goes to show that there's no one right way to do music. Every time I make a song, all the songs that I've made, so far, I've made them all mostly in very different ways. It’s usually dependent on how I’m feeling. Sometimes I start the song as a form of poetry. And it's just notes on my phone or something I've written down physically. Or sometimes it's just one sentence, and then over a few months I’m able to put different sentences together and then it’ll fit like a puzzle. Or sometimes, it starts with me just producing, and making something from scratch, or hearing something that kind of inspires me to make something similar to that. But yeah, it really just depends – it can be writing first or music first, or sometimes it's just the chords on a guitar. Could even be just a freestyle of me just pressing the record button and seeing what comes out, and then fitting it all together afterwards. There’s so many different processes and they've all brought me to different destinations in my music.
What was the journey like coming up with “Come WE GOT Diamonds”?
So I didn't plan to make that song, but it started off as a submission I handed in for this studio workshop kind of thing. My uni told us about the workshop because I went to BIMM, which is a music university, then my friends and I just applied and didn’t think anything of it. In the way BIMM described it, it made it seem as if it was going to be a workshop that a bunch of musicians would be at, nothing too out of the ordinary. It was in collaboration with Nike which was cool. But so I got accepted into that and then the day came and there were only four of us. I was so confused, and then it turned out the four of us had been chosen out of 200+ applicants to do this thing. Then there was a camera crew from Nike there, yeah, it was a whole thing. So, the song was kind of a product of that day. We got to go to Church Studios, which is huge in the music industry and work with other producers, and an engineer, and kind of go back and forth with them. We even had a songwriting session with Joy Crooks who has songwriting credits on “Come WE GOT Diamonds”. It was obviously so cool getting to learn from her, she put me onto some music as well. It was one of my favourite days ever – a really sick experience. The song wasn’t completely finished, but I went home and wrote the rest of the verses.
Joy Crooks! What a story. She’s Irish too I think right, but she also details her South London roots a bunch. How have you been finding the music scene in London? And how does it differ from Cork’s?
It's very different. I didn't really grow up around much of the music scene in Cork to be fair as I’ve been spending my adult life in London. So I didn't really get to experience that much of the Cork music scene. But I feel like it’s people just doing their own things – as opposed to a real music community. I don't know, maybe it's changed. But in London, when I came here I felt like I could just be myself a little bit more and put myself more out there because there were other people doing the same. Where I come from, it’s a very small town mindset. It’s hard to branch out, stand out, and do your own thing.
How do you think your Irish and Nigerian backgrounds have influenced your sound?
My Irish influences are more my personal experiences of just living there. I don't know if I can put a stamp on something that feels Irish in my music, but sometimes I will say things in Irish or name Irish places. In terms of the Nigerian influences, I’d say church and my Nigerian culture are kind of linked for me. And the songs in church, a lot of the drumming specifically, definitely inspire me (even if subconsciously). I’ll also say some things in Yoruba which is a language in Nigeria. I do feel like as time goes on, people who are fans will be able to piece together names that I’m mentioning and link them to Nigeria and Ireland.
Tell me a bit about your bandmates, your dynamic.
I love those guys. They’ve really, really added so much to my live performance setup. Specifically the quality of sound and the musicianship that is presented at my shows. Our dynamic is very chilled, laid back. All our rehearsals are relaxed, there’s never too much pressure to get something right, you know. I usually give them free rein to do whatever because I trust them so much. They all do their own thing as well – different sessions and different things going on. But I love how they genuinely love my music because, in turn, they contribute so much to it. Their suggestions always work.
You all have such an insanely strong stage presence together. So right now you’re gigging, making music – how do you keep up the energy? Is there a mindset that keeps you motivated when the creative path gets scary?
I feel like even before I moved to London, there was a period where I was training my mindset. I felt like things were going to be a lot different in London, and there were going to be a lot of things I’d have to learn how to handle mentally. So the summer before I moved to London, I started going to the gym, not necessarily to lose weight or anything, but just to help with my motivation and consistency. I then also began waking up every single day at a certain time. I listened to motivational speakers – found ones that suited me. I did all those sorts of things that put you in a good mental space.
Also, something that keeps me going is thinking about where I came from and the fact that there's nothing really there for me. So I have no choice but to, you know, do this and do it right. Every time I go back to Ireland it’s a constant reminder to keep going, because it’s like, “I'm not coming back here”. And then obviously I have my mom and my dad and my brothers there so – also wanting to do good for them. I also want them to feel like I’m not just leaving them for no good reason, but, I left to really make something of myself. It's even beyond music, you know. There are so many things I want to contribute to and be a part of. Music is the opening door.
That’s really powerful. What’s one message you would give your listeners?
I would say keep an eye on me. Keep watching. I have some stuff that’s unreleased, and a lot of things pending that will be really, really good. So you want to be able to say you were there at the beginning.
Thanks for the segue, the last thing I want to ask is what do you have coming up? What are you working on?
I'm working on a project at the moment. I've been working on it for almost a year now – it's been taking a while because life keeps happening. But I feel like this project is the first thing that I’m just super proud to share with people top-to-bottom. Sometimes when people are like, “where can I find your music?” I almost don't want to give them my Spotify because it feels like an old representation of me. But this project feels like a new start, my authentic sound. It’s what I really want to do. Obviously, I'm proud of everything I've made in the past as I made it to the best of my ability at that time. Although, what I’ve been working on is just way better. I can't wait to share that with people.
🔥 Rapid fire with BUKKY 🔥
What is something you miss doing as a child?
Riding bikes
Dream holiday?
Anywhere hot, maybe Jamaica
What’s the weirdest thing about love?
The way it makes you do things you wouldn’t usually do.
What song are you playing if you get the aux at a lame pregame?
Any song by Outkast
