Music
MkX wants to make you dance.
The idea behind his new music video was born in the suburbs of New York in 2019.
He and a group of friends were celebrating a birthday at a bar. But, as he says, “the real party started once the bar closed” and the group moved outside. Someone played music from their car speakers and rolled down the windows so the crowd forming in the parking lot could have something to move to.
Years later, the memory of that night remained a source of inspiration for MkX.
“That night kept coming back up in my mind,” MkX says. “I was like, I want to do the cinematic version of what that was and make a video out of it.”
Even though the impromptu party took place seven years ago, MkX brought the vision to life just as he had always imagined it.
“The thing I’m most proud of is how close it ended up being to what I pictured before we started any of the actual production for the video,” he says.
The video was choreographed by Ian McKenzie, who has worked with MkX for the better part of five years.
“I grew up watching him dance for [Lady] Gaga,” MkX says. Now, he works those early reference points into his own artist project.
“I credit the early 2000s, mid-2000s and even early 2010s as my main reference point,” MkX says. “I try to combine that with the other kind of music that’s my favorite, which is hyper-pop, electronic, crazy sound design.”
He credits Sophie with inspiring him to take different waveforms and push them into different shapes and sounds.
“I always say that I wear all of my references proudly on my sleeve,” MkX says.
Don’t let the computer-driven sounds fool you: this is MkX at his most authentic — and vulnerable.
“I surprisingly feel the most vulnerable when I’m making crazy electronic sounds that one would not think are super vulnerable,” he says.
Now, he’s gearing up for new music. His album is “close to done” and just needs the finishing touches, he says.
“Some of the songs are a little bit more experimental when it comes to the format or the lyrical content. It’s not as straightforward, cookie-cutter pop,” he says.
What are you waiting for? Go dance.