Madu
Madu is an independent solo artist from Helsinki, Finland. His music is a mix of gothpop, emowave and electronic indiepop. With inventive production, catchy hooks, striking aesthetics, dark soundscapes, and lyrics that study millennial angst and the enigma of everyday life through escapism and occult fantasy, Madu’s weird but relatable world is one you don’t want to miss out on.
Madu started his solo career in late 2020 with the release of the single Home of Strangers. After dropping two more self-published singles, Madu was awarded with a ”Nosteessa” (Artist on the Rise) title by one of Finland’s most popular radio channels, YleX. His February 2021 single release Necromancer was played various times on the radio, and his debut EP Eternal Slumber Party,which dropped in May 2021, was met with similar hype. In early August, Madu released a cover of Lil Peep’s Star Shopping on Youtube. The rest of the year on Madu’s calendar is marked with more single releases and his first live shows as a solo artist.
Flavored
Flavored is a bit of an oddball in my discography. It's lighter and more hopeful than my usual darkwave-ish stuff, lässt uns der Künstler wissen. Kurz reingehört, und ja kann ich nur bestätigen. Wobei festzuhalten wäre das auch die previous releases äußerst hörenswert sind. Die neueste Veröffentlichung startet mit einer verspielten Melodie, einer Melodie die optimistisch und zugleich traurig scheint. Musikalisch dem Indie-rock der 90er zugeordnet wirft es doch einen leichten Darkwave-Schatten. Die Verbindung dieser zwei Genres kann als gelungenes Experiment bezeichnet werden, Madu wagt sich in Richtung Indie-rock ohne dabei auf den gewissen Touch Darkwave zu vergessen.
The Interview
Madu is...?
Madu is an independent solo artist from Helsinki, Finland. My music combines electronic indiepop with gothic vibes, emowave and postpunk. I started my solo career about a year ago and have since released a handful of singles and an EP.
Before my solo project, I was a vocalist and songwriter in an alternative metal band called Recoils. I switched genres because the heavier stuff didn't really resonate with me anymore, and I felt like electronic pop had more room for creative freedom.
Who inspired you to make music in general?
Bands that I loved during my teens. Dir en grey, Disco Ensemble, My Chemical Romance, The Strokes to name a few. Also back then all my friends played instruments and were in bands so they also inspired me to start making music. I didn't know how to sing or play anything so I started fucking around with music software. At first the tracks didn't make any sense but I became kind of obsessed with songwriting and secluded myself in my room, just making music all the time. After a while the tracks started making sense, ha!
...and especially to the song "Flavored"?
I think Flavored was mostly influenced by mid-00's indie rock... This might be a bit silly but while I was writing the song, I realized that it sounds a lot like something The Strokes might do, so I decided to add a few Strokes references to the lyrics.
Flavored is a bit of an oddball in my discography. It's lighter and more hopeful than my usual darkwave-ish stuff.
When do you decide that a song is ready for a release?
Hmm, I don't think I've been releasing music long enough to give an educated answer to that... If I have a track that feels like it could work as a single, I'll start working on the artwork, promo pics, maybe think about a music video or a lyric video for it, start building a press kit... It's a ton of work and I can't understand how some indie artists are able to release a single every month. But yeah, I guess a lot of the decisions regarding my songs are based on intuition. If it feels right, there's not much else that I can do but trust that feeling and go with it.
What is your creative process like?
Although I have a quite clear, technical routine for songwriting, the creativity happens on a more impulsive level during all phases of the process. Sometimes I get into a creative flow and a couple of hours pass with me having no recollection of what just happened. Then I listen to the track and find it sounding a lot better than it did before the flow. That's the best part of the process. I also like to keep a couple of song ideas boiling in the back of my head at all times so when I start working on a new song, the ideas come out more easily.
Back when I was in a band, there was a period when I had a writer's block for about a year. It sucked. I hope I don't ever have to deal with that again.
Who would you most like to collaborate with?
I don't know... Tyler, The Creator is my favorite producer so maybe that's my answer. Not expecting that to happen anytime soon, though!
What is the most useful talent you have?
Workaholism has proven to be quite useful. Maybe I shouldn't call it a talent...
How do you feel the Internet (especially Social Media platforms) has impacted the music business?
I wasn't making music before the Internet era so maybe I'm not the right person to answer this. Pre-internet world and the world we live in today feel like two totally different dimensions. Social media and the web have been around for quite a while now. I don’t know, this is a tricky question cuz the old days just don’t feel that relevant anymore.
What’s next for you?
I’ll try to get a few live shows under my belt and drop another single before the year is over. I’m also working on a demo, I might approach some labels with it and see what happens. So yeah, busy times!
Photo credit: Kristian Tilander
