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Mikky Ekko has firmly planted himself on the map this year, gaining Nashville some pop music cred along the way. In February the RCA recording artist performed live alongside Rihanna at the Grammy's; the performed the chart-topping single 'Stay,” which Ekko co-wrote."
Since then he has been spending his time between Nashville and L.A., working at a furious pace on his debut album which he hopes to release this summer. After the release, expect to see him playing more frequently around town. For now when he does get to a few days off in Nashville, he admits you can probably find him seven out of 10 nights relaxing at Rosepepper.
We sat down with the artist, producer, and writer to get some insight into why he is quickly becoming an artist to watch in 2013.
NL: In February, you surprised Nashville with a Grammy performance. What was that like?
ME: It was madness! A friend of mine told me to think of it as one big high school talent show. That didn't help at all at first, but once I finally rehearsed in the room and got comfortable I settled down a little. I had never worn in-ear monitors (those hearing aid-y things) before, so I was nervous about making sure I could hear myself and obviously all the pressure of the Grammy's, plus it being my first live show back. A few performers came up after the performance and congratulated me, and that, as you can imagine, felt great.
NL: You covered 'Chained” by the XX. You've been compared to the Weekend. What other artists are you championing at the moment?
ME: One of my favorite artists, Marnie Stern put out a record in March. I've been a fan of hers for a long time. I'm also looking forward to Woodkid's LP.
NL: How is the full-length record coming? We've seen several producers mentioned in previous interviews. What can you tell us about the recording process so far?
ME: I've done a ton of writing in the last year with a lot of different producers/writers; one of my favorites being Sia Furler (co-writer of another Rihanna single, 'Diamonds”). My main goal in these sessions is to learn as much as possible so I'm more focused and prepared when/if the next opportunity rolls around. There's been a lot of give and take, but I'm learning when to do both.
NL: Do you still keep in touch with any Nashville artists that you worked with in the past?
ME: Dan Brigham's project, Canon Blue, is one of my favorites to come out of Nashville. (Paramore's ex-drummer, Zach Farro, is also working on Canon Blue). Brigham and I haven't worked together before, but I'd love to put our heads together in the future. There are a couple other people I've got my eye on, but I can't give you all my secrets.
NL: You've been on the go for a while now. Do you have any favorite adventures or characters from your journey so far?
ME: Well, I'm adventurous, but most of those stories wind up being between 3 to 6 minutes. You can listen to them when the record comes out. Furler has been one of my favorite writes to date. She is also the most interesting person I've met. It's really inspiring to hang with another artist who is really going for it, all the time.
If you missed Ekko's performance at the opening of Music City Center we took a snippet of it for you (below). For the latest news/dates, go to mikkyekko.com