Exciting young DJ, producer and singer Bklava unveiled her new single 'Through The Night' via Long Lost Brother on March 6th.
Honing her craft in recent years, the South London artist has recently played with the likes of Annie Max, Conducta, Roska and Wookie at his month long Camden Assembly residency. A genre-defying artists who can often be found DJing and singing at the same time during her sets, Bklava's love of dance music stemmed from her father, a part-time Irish folk singer and songwriter whilst her mother’s Lebanese roots immersed Bklava into a music culture steeped with deep history and diversity from a young age.
She also founded female and non-binary DJ platform Spin Suga, which has morphed into a radio show on Brighton station Platform B as well as hosting DJ workshops and panel talks.
Read our Get To Know Interview below!
Please introduce yourself and tell us something interesting about you!
"I’m Bklava, a DJ/singer/producer from south London and really enjoy musical theatre and pole dancing!" Where are you from? "Born and raised In south London but currently based in Brighton! I’m also half Lebanese and half Irish and Armenian!"
When did you start your music journey?
"All my life basically! I’ve been singing for as long as I can remember and I wrote my first song when I was 10. I remember making cds at home for my first track when I was 12 and selling them for £1 each at school. I took up DJing around 5 years ago and would just have a go on my friends decks until I decided to get some of my own and take it seriously! It was only a couple years ago where the idea of singing and DJing together came to mind." Who’s your biggest inspiration?
"Sounds cheesey but genuinely all the women in my life, my sisters and my best friends who are just grafting for what they want. They all push me to work harder whenever I’ve got a mad creative block or need inspiration for new ideas." Can you describe your sound in one sentence?
"Something to make you dance to :)"
Who’s the artists on your playlist that no one would expect?
"Probably a lot, If I take over the aux in my mates cars or parties, they’re still surprised at the things I like cos there’s nothing I don’t like! Probably Kate Bush, Tame impala, Chakha Khan even Barbra Streisand! Also I just really love show tunes and any 80s synth pop. But I do listen to a lot of alternative rnb/neo soul. I’ve got Summer Walkers album ‘Over it’ on repeat atm."
What’s your favourite place in the world?
"Paris or Vienna. The architecture is just stunning. I’ve been to Paris 3 times in the last 2 years. First two was on my own and I literally fell in love."
What is your dream venue / show or festival to play?
"Dream venue is Alexandra palace. Every time I’ve seen a show there I’ve just been mesmerised. The space is stunning. Also really wanna play a boiler room. Still on the cards for me!" How important is it to you to get female producers and DJ’s onto the dance scene?
"I can’t wait for the day when it’s all equal and we don’t have to keep being undermined and fight for a gender balance but I do think we’re getting there. I started a female/non-binary collective a few years back for a uni project to interview different levels of djs / producers / musicians to hear how they got into the industry and to share their stories as a way to get more woman involved in the industry! But since then, I’ve met so many new/up and coming artists / djs who are smashing it. The production scene is still very imbalanced but I wanna put on more workshops and panel talks this year to try and gain more interest and teach woman the ways to get started!" When you start to make a new song, what do you do first? / what is your recording process like?
"It’s different every time. I’ll always have lyrics prepared before a session, it’ll either be a new song or something I’ve written in the past and then I get into the room and the lyrics don’t work so I come up with something new or an adaptation of what I have already. It’s such a fun and exciting process and there’s no better feeling than hearing your ideas come together."
Your latest track ‘Through the Night’ was released at the start of this month. Was there an inspiration behind the track?
"Through the night is about trying to make a failing relationship work. It was from a time where I’d had enough of telling someone what I wanted and getting nothing back. I love to really sing and show off what I can do with my voice but this song meant so much to me because I almost spoke/sung the whole thing so it felt a lot more real and personal to me. I wanted it to feel and sound like I was having a one on one conversation with someone and for them to really hear what I was saying. It’s my favourite track to date!" What’s coming next for you and what do you hope to achieve in 5 years time?
"An album, a tour, the lot!"
Listen to BKLAVA's latest single HERE.