Introducing #269 - ATKA
Let us introduce you to London-based German singer-songwriter ATKA - who has just announced her debut EP ‘The Eyes Against The Ashen Sky’, which is due out this November. Along with this news - ATKA has also released the latest glimpse of the EP with new single ‘Desiring Machines’.
The single "Desiring Machines", a reference to the philosophers Deleuze and Guattari's books Anti Oedipus and A Thousand Plateaus, explores how one's own body is experienced as an object under the (male) gaze. Here Deleuze and Guattari’s idea of the rhizome is explored musically with a soundscape that grows and grows like the root-system that the two philosophers describe. A rhizome does not start from anywhere or end anywhere; it grows from everywhere and is the same at any point. As such, a rhizome has no center, which makes it difficult to uproot or destroy. Atka understands herself in that way.
Also referred to as the ‘body without organs’, Atka sings about this constant state of "meaningless" non-linear, unstructured, non-hierarchical flux of forming, deforming and reforming. In this understanding of the self, desire is not lack, which suggests negativity. It is affirmative in its state of movement and change – desire here, is always a desire of becoming. Inspired by the sculptures and installations of the French American artist Louise Bourgeois, Atka also describes the rhizomatic structure of the self as one that carries trauma experienced in the domestic realm. Lyrics like “There was a woven child spinning threads around the room” directly speak of Luis Bourgeois’ horrifying but eerie portrayal of domestic abuse and try to make sense of the female experience in the domestic realm and beyond. This is a story of her own experience and that of the women in her life.
She took a moment to talk to us about her music.
Hey Sarah, how are you? So your debut EP ‘'The Eye Against The Ashen Sky’ is out in November, what can we expect from it?
I’m great thanks - about to head to End Of The Road festival. Well excited to see some of acts.
The EP is about paranoia and neurosis. It’s about how we deal with the fact of constantly being perceived and how we craft our identity in relation to that perception of Others. How can we get back into our bodies and take ownership, while accepting the fact that we will always be an object in this world and there is nothing that can change that.
There are moody melancholic tracks with the occasional stumping ground upbeat moments. Loads of dark drones, electronic soundscapes, Eurorak and some guitar. This is just me following my gut. Strange sounds or rather noises that get me excited just because. Lyrics that mostly spilled out in a 15 minute catharsis. It’s a collection of music that I myself would like to listen to and it is also me experimenting with different styles - but the whole thing is carried by a deeply engrained pulsating Kraftwerkian spirit of voyage, inviting you on a journey to just feel and throb with life for a sec.
You have just released a track from it called 'Desiring Machines' - can you tell us what it is about?
It’s my own version of a ‘I Want To Break‘ free anthem haha. No but seriously I wrote this when I was feeling like a shell of myself. Apparently when a caterpillar evolves to become a butterfly they completely disintegrate until there is nothing left. The only thing that remains is the eyes. This song is exactly this moment.
Where are you from and what are your favorite things to do there?
I am from a 2.000 people village in East Germany. I basically grew up surrounded by forest, playing in the swamps, breaking into old barns, walking up and down the road with my mates talking about nothing, getting our tongues stuck to street signs in winter. Kinda wish we were still doing that. Now, whenever I visit from London where I live now, it’s mostly cuddling my friends babies and dogs and having a shit ton of coffee and cake. But I also head out to Berlin for the occasional rave. And I still visit my favourite hidden spots in the woods.
What are the key influences when it comes to your music?
It’s really all over the place. I grew up listening to Lana Del Rey and some folk and country. Then mostly to hardcore and metal like System Of A Down, especially going to German rock festivals. Then moving to London a few years ago I fell even more in love with the Postpunk era. Siouxsie and the Banshees, Joy Division and New Order in particular had a fundamental impact on me. It changed me and my attitude towards music. The main influence musically is probably Broadcast though. I adore Tender Buttons.
How would you describe your sound to someone who has never listened to your music before?
Like an adventure through moody electronic woodlands. Atmospheric alternative music that feels like a soundtrack carried through by an electronic pulse. Think Thom Yorke meets Feist meets Jon Hopkins. But describing it always sounds pretentious as heck, so please just listen to it and you tell me.
Now the track is out there, what is next for you?
Just enjoying that moment for a bit and preparing for live. I just really love music and can’t wait to catch up on all the stuff I missed while I put my head down to work on this material. I will drop more songs of the EP throughout the upcoming months - the next one will be quite different, so let’s see how that goes. And next to that me and a mate also have another electronic postpunk project in the works with some releases coming up which I am well excited for.
