Shifting Perspectives: Mykki Blanco on theatricality and vulnerability
Ahead of their upcoming tour, we speak to Mykki Blanco about the importance of vulnerability in their art and the theatricality of their live show
When we speak to Mykki Blanco, they’re fresh from rehearsing for their upcoming UK and European tour – and even through the phone, their warmth radiates through. “It's been a really cool experience,” Blanco tells us. “The show right now feels really theatrical, with a lot of different genres we’re playing with, but that's kind of my favourite thing to do.”
Indeed, over Blanco’s decade-long musical career they've never been one to shy away from traversing the boundaries of genre – if not reimagining them entirely. Coming up as an underground performer, their artistry has encompassed and blended elements of rap, club and trap with noise and experimental elements into a vision – an experience – uniquely their own. Much like queerness defies neat categorisation, so too does Blanco’s artistry embody this fluidity. “I didn't come into this industry as a pop star – I’ve reached different heights and levels with my career choices and the things that I decided to do," they say. "It's been a really exciting journey."
Blanco’s latest mini-album, Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep, marks the next stage of this ongoing journey and creative evolution. Their first release since their self-titled 2016 album, Broken Hearts… marks a significant transformation both sonically and in creation, with early 80s-inspired soul and lush instrumentals a backdrop to Blanco’s incisive verses. “This change was definitely a conscious choice," Blanco tells us. "It came from this decision not to sample, to build all of my songs organically before adding electronic elements – like Ableton – adding those elements in only after we had had a really strong organic skeleton.”
For Blanco, the evolution of their sound is intertwined with their evolution as an artist and their selfhood. “I didn't start making music until I was 25, and now I'm 35. The last ten years has been an education through each of my projects and releases and becoming more in touch with my music – really growing more as a performer and a musician.
"After my last album I toured for about two years." Blanco adds: "Then I stopped and took a break because I realised that one of the things I hadn't done before was give myself an entire year off from playing shows, just to focus on music. With time in the studio I was really able to put my energy, not outward, but inward into my creative practice. That changed everything."
On Broken Hearts…, themes of heartbreak and longing merge with a certain defiant optimism – a desire to remain open to connection and all the love that is still out there. Given this, how does Blanco see the role of vulnerability in their art? “I think vulnerability is so important. On a really personal level, I don't know how I could operate in the world if I didn't remain vulnerable. In my personal life, I've experienced a lot of traumatic things that I feel like a lot of people would maybe be scarred for life from.
"But I think one of the ways in which you recover, heal yourself and bounce back is being able to still remain sensitive. A lot of the world experiences levels of pain and discomfort that I could never imagine." They continue: "When I shift my perspective to realising that I'm just a small puzzle piece of a whole entire world, that allows me to see that I can wake up the next day – and maybe I'll be sad for a week – but I need to get up, and I need to wake up, and I need to face the world to face the challenges that are ahead of me with an open heart. Because if I closed myself off, I might as well be dead.”
In a few weeks, Blanco will return to the stage to perform a mixture of new tracks and some classic favourites. It would be reductive to describe a Mykki Blanco concert as anything less than immersive performance – and this remains the case for their upcoming tour. “I keep on using the word 'theatrical' because I feel like the show happens in three acts," Blanco explains. "We start really high-energy and then we change the mood up – really, like, sultry and soulful.
"And then we have these kinds of electronic rave moments – and we have moments where we play with hip-hop – but we also have these beautiful transitions where it's just sax and flutes and keyboards and guitar," they say. "If people have been fans of mine for a long time, they'll recognise that the live show really reflects how I played with different genres in my career. And if people are just discovering my music, I think that they're going to be really excited. They’ll really feel like they're part of something.”
It remains a joy to see Blanco’s artistry continually grow and expand and evolve over the years. “It’s a blessing that, for me, I was one of the first queer artists of colour really pushing open these doors,” they reflect. “Because if it wasn't for an artist like me, younger artists would be walking into a world with a very different atmosphere.”
Mykki Blanco tours the UK and Ireland from 1 Nov, playing Stereo, Glasgow, 3 Nov
Broken Hearts & Beauty Sleep is streaming now, vinyl and CD released on 19 Nov via Transgressive