Talking Music, Tattooing, And The Y2K Era With a.k.a. skips

CREDIT: Harp Digital Media

After taking a two year hiatus from music, CK, a.k.a. a.k.a. skips, is back and better than ever! Formerly known as Ducky, he just dropped his debut single under the a.k.a. skips moniker. If you love the carefree abandon of rave, “F.T.N.U.” is right up your alley! Learn more about a.k.a. skips from our interview below.

How did you originally get into making music?

I always knew - I was like, I'm gonna be in a band, I'm gonna do music. When I was like, 10 or 11 years old, I had, quote unquote, bands with my friends. You know, we'd do choreography to songs that were out, I was just always about it. I went to this very bizarre, gifted school in the Bay Area. So, very nerdy and also very, like hippie vibes. In eighth grade, instead of doing classes, you're mostly doing a project for the whole year. You just have to, like, pick a thing. I was like, this is my chance. I'm going to make a CD. And I did, I spent the whole year learning how to produce. It was like Logic 6, I don't even think Apple owned it. This makes me sound so old that there weren't YouTube tutorials. Please remember, I'm like a child, right? I'm like going to Ableton classes at a little computer music store near me. I started posting on MySpace with that old project and playing shows at local high schools, you know, and it's been a minute now.

Where does the name a.k.a. skips come from?

I've had the name for a couple of years and it's gone through some iterations. But the meaning behind it is it stands for silent, know it's perfect still. As I was planning on leaving my last project, and trying to figure it out, I was really having kind of an identity crisis of what does it mean if I don't do this project I've been doing since I was 13. So, kind of sitting with this idea of letting go of what I knew and just bringing it back to what made me happy was, for me, it felt very meditative. It's still perfect, even if I leave this kind of, like, externally validating career that I had.

What inspired your new track “F.T.N.U.” (Fuck The Night Up)?

I's interesting, because I am, you know, again, kind of going back to this in between period of like, where am I going with my sound? What do I care about? What's my style? This was one of the first tracks that I made going this direction and it's just fun. I'm a baby raver, I started raving like way probably before I should have. My friend's mom dropped us off at a rave under an overpass when we were like 14. She was like a Burner, love her. She's like, don't call me I'm going to a party. I'll pick you up at 6am. It was like the best night ever, you know. We just danced and it was amazing. So, that was the first track I made where I was like, Ooh, I kind of have that same feeling. This is what brought me to dance music. You know, I want to have fun. I want to let go. I want to escape. I don't want to just have a good time. You know?

What’s extra cool about this song is it was actually released on you own label, Play Nice. What made you decide to start your own label?

I used to use it as kind of the home base for my own project. We've done releases, you know, here and there for other artists. I had a kind of collaborative side project with a couple of friends, we did it for that. And then of course, when I took a break, it kind of just paused. But for me, it's very important in the same spirit of like, bringing it back to the underground, doing things independently, you know, to have my first release be on my own label and for me to have that creative control is everything.

What are you looking forward to doing with this label going forward in your career?

I'm very open minded with it right. Obviously, I have so many ideas for things I want to do and that I care about. But right now, I'm really enjoying that it's just about the music.

What have you been listening to lately?

I gotta tell you right now, this question always blanks me out. It's not because I don't have so many new artists that I'm listening to, It's because I'm like, a chronic playlist-er. I have all of these Spotify playlists that I make, and they're private. Sorry, don't go looking. I am about to launch my own one, skips Selects, that I'm just going to have on my Spotify profile. So, if you want to check that out, it's going up next week, but am talking about my little secret weapons, and I do them by mood. They're all organized by emojis and I'm the only one who could ever know what they mean.

Who’s on your dream list of other artists to collaborate with someday?

Someone like Boys Noize I think would be a really fun vibe. That's the first thing that comes to mind. I have a lot of like, warehouse kind of dreams you know, and so for me, I think I feel more excited about upcoming underground, who can I work with in that space? So, I guess what I would like to manifest today as we sit here is a lot of collaborations and community within my local scene and with the scene in the world, and with especially queer trans artists, you know, people coming up with a similar vision.

You’ve performed at so many amazing festivals - what sticks out as a highlight?

I was so lucky in my last career to get to do so much and I got to headline an Australian tour. That was just incredible. We got to do Lollapalooza, EDC Vegas, Bonnaroo. My star drums from that are still built downstairs in my apartment. I got to do my own set of parties called Ugh Just Rave. I think for me, that was kind of the closest I felt doing more thinking, I don't want to say like commercial because I really don't think that's what my sound was, but that kind of more like EDM space was most of the things I toured the festivals where I played who I toured with, which was amazing. When I did Ugh Just Rave, the entire thesis of that party was I want to bring it back to the underground. It was so cool. We did it a couple times in LA. We had candy making station, inflatable dogs, and I made all the decorations myself.

Do you think you would ever bring something like Ugh Just Rave back?

I mean, yeah. I think it was towards this direction that I've ended up now. I was saying, oh man, I missed what I grew up with. I missed the things that made me care about raving and I feel a little disconnected from it. How do I get there? And this project for me is it, we're back.

Where would you love to perform in the future?

I really had almost no European market with my last project. I toured, I think a handful of times ever in Europe and I love Europe in my personal life. I like to go party. I have a bunch of friends who moved over there. I go visit, we go clubbing. If someone booked me, let's go!

In addition to music, you’re also a tattoo artist! How did you get into doing that?

I read a book called The Artists’ Way. If you're not familiar, it's kind of a 12 week super intensive program for creative recovery, creative, unlocking, and expanding. A bunch of really skilled and talented artists that I look up to recommended it to me. Actually, shout out, Louisa recommended it to me specifically. I was having kind of a crisis when I had left music. I threw myself into painting, got showed in a bunch of galleries in Europe, and then I got stuck. Like, just creatively. I was like, oh my God, I don't know what to do. I was like, now's the time, I'm going to do this book, right? There's a lot of exercises throughout it. You’re asked, what would you be doing if you were afraid? Or if there was this infinite time, what would you be doing if you really just could? Tattooing always came up over and over and over again. I'm covered in tattoos. I think it's such an incredible art form. I was like, oh my God, I have to do this, you know. It's good timing, because it's very democratized as a practice right now. It's much easier to get machines, and there's obviously good and bad parts of that. But I did my little OSHA training, you know, watching YouTube videos. I am licensed, let's be clear. I started doing you know, the classic tattoos on my legs. I tattooed on my cousin. Then I got very, very lucky to have a kind of mentor who's a dear friend, her name is Annie Motel. She's also an incredible painter, and she runs a shop in downtown Los Angeles, and I get to tattoo out of there now and it's incredible.

Do you have a favorite of your own tattoos?

I think my favorite ones are probably the ones that dear friends have given me. I'm not a believer in the idea that tattoos need to have meaning. I think if you think it looks cool, do it. Now, it's like so nice having been kind of a collector. To me, it’s about connection. I found deeper human connection feels the most special for sure.

A line I that really love from your bio is “Proudly queer, directed by love, and radiating trans joy.” What advice would you give someone who is searching for that joy as we speak?

I think I have a couple of different things to say. And it depends on where you're at, right? So, I spent a big part of my life, very lost, very depressed, you know, kind of grappling with a lot of childhood trauma, and just couldn't find my way. I would say, if nothing else, try to feel your feet on the ground. If you're so lost, and you're so stuck in your head and you feel like everything's crashing down. There is an innate okayness. I don't know how else to say it, there's probably a better word, but you know, and I mean, you have that kind of like, immovable truth of being okay. Everything else is real, your feelings are real, whatever you're going through is real and nothing is so serious that it's not going to change. If you can't find a moment of calm, and for me when I'm all messed up, I try to feel my feet on the ground, you know, because it’s the furthest from my head. Beyond that, if you're going into a kind of a growth stage, just be you and it's okay if you do it imperfectly, it's okay. If you don't know what it is. It's okay if you change your mind, nothing is that serious. I guess for me, like getting to kind of understand like, I'm just not that big of a deal. You know what I mean? I spent years as Ducky being like, I am cis lesbian. Spoiler alert, I'm not. It's not that serious. This life is for living and for loving, you know, and that includes just like being authentically myself and letting people know me.

Here in Maine, our state motto is “The Way Life Should Be.” According to you, what is the way life should be?

I think it should come from love. Whatever you do, do it from love, you know? Because I think we do a lot of things in the name of l love or trying to find love, but that's something I've been trying to bring into my practice lately is like how do I move from love in everything even like, when I'm annoyed with like a customer service representative, everything. If I can come from this place of just open hearted love, that feels better. I think that's how it should be.

Much love to a.k.a. skips for taking the time for a conversation with me. Stream his latest track “F.T.N.U.” and book a tattoo with him here!