Manchester alt R&B artist Akemi Fox on her latest EP “in the dark”
New music about navigating relationships including being in different time zones, the importance of your own independence within them and resolving disagreements. This project bringing ALL the sultry vibes. Songwriting being a cathartic process. Being honest and speaking her truth. Performances in Manchester and London. Passionfruit gin spritzes (yum) and more.
Fuzzer: Thanks so much for taking the time to chat to us. Can't wait to chat to you about your music! We had a listen to your whole EP and it sounds so amazing. Congratulations on the release!
Akemi: Thank you.
Fuzzer: First of all, I'd love to get to know a little bit about how you got started in music and singing and making music and all of that?
Akemi: Where should we begin? (laughs). I always listened to music because when I grew up, my dad listened to a lot of jazz music and stuff, and my mum always was playing something. She has a very big music taste, so it was like, every kind of vibe. Me and my cousin used to watch a lot of music channels, and we used to sing songs and listen to 90s RnB and 2000s and a lot of pop. I just remember growing up and just singing with her. When I got to school, I used to often keep diaries and write poems and lyrics. And I was like “oh, I find this so much fun” but I was always too shy to sing at school, like everyone used to sing at the assembly and stuff. And I was like “No, I don't sing. I'm too shy”. And I remember when we left school, it was like the end of year assembly, and I decided to do a duet with my friend. I was like “Oh, I'll never see these people again so I can just do it”. I used to just post like YouTube and Instagram videos of me singing. I didn't know much about music and then my now boyfriend Teo, he messaged me and he was like “do you want to make a song?” and I was like “oh, yeah”. And he lived really close to me, but we hadn't met before and we had loads of mutual friends which was weird. Then we decided to start making music together. It kind of just all took off from there because I was like “oh this is actually fun. Maybe this is what I want to do”. Yeah, it all just kind of happened by accident but yeah, really grateful for that.
Fuzzer: Oh, amazing! Yeah it seems like it all happened quite organically. And you mentioned the 90s kind of RnB influence. Who would you say were your main artistic and creative influences growing up?
Akemi: Beyoncé, like her first album. I remember always listening to that. Frank Ocean, “Channel Orange”. I remember that was the first album that I bought on iTunes, and I used to listen to that back to back. And then there's like Erykah Badu and Amy Winehouse. Yeah, all of them artists like Ne-Yo and stuff like that. They were like music that I used to listen to so much so they definitely inspired me for what I make today.
Fuzzer: So good. And I'm loving the EP “in the dark”! How did you land on the name of that project?
Akemi: Oh, it's kind of inspired by my boyfriend. We took pictures in the garden on my film camera at night time (laughs). It's me being very honest so it's like, when I've been not in the best place, like in a dark period, I'm just being honest and telling you all my thoughts and how I feel sad or how I'm feeling self-conscious. But then also it kind of tails onto a sexier, more self accepting sign - so it's like in the dark, kind of sexy. So it can go either way (laughs).
Fuzzer: Yeah that’s so cool! That’s what we love most about your music is that sultry R&B vibe throughout your whole project - it’s so nice!
Akemi: Yeah! Yesterday my friend, she just heels dance classes, and she made a dance to the song. So we did a dance to that, and I haven’t danced since school so I wasn't the best, but everyone was so good and it was so nice seeing like everyone like sexy-dance to my song (laughs). I'm gonna get better so I can do dances on stage soon.
Fuzzer: Love it. That's so good! And yeah, especially love your track “check in with you”. Can you tell us a little bit about the inspiration behind that song?
Akemi: Yeah, that was like the most recent one that I wrote that just made it onto the EP. I was being really honest, because me and my boyfriend make music together, and we tend to always do the same thing. And this year, he's doing more producer things with other people. And I was so excited for him, but I was like “oh my god, we work together and now I don't know what to do”. He was on a trip to LA and I always wanted to go to LA to make music and I just wasn't in the position to go with him at the time. And it was like “oh my god” - like it wasn't even that long, it's two weeks but I’m dramatic. And I was just like, we're obviously in different time zones and I was like “oh, I just want to chat to you but obviously you're asleep” (laughs). It's me being a girlfriend but also just the realization that it's okay, you got to do your own thing too. That's not a bad thing. So it's me kind of coming into terms with that.
Fuzzer: Nice. Yeah that time zone is really weird aye!
Akemi: It's like, “oh my god, don't move there because I won't be able to deal with it” (laughs)
Fuzzer: (laughs) Exactly! And then “give it to me” - another favourite of ours, it’s just so good. What was the writing and production process like for that one?
Akemi: Oh thank you! Yeah that was like the first single off the EP. I hadn't released anything properly for a while so I was a bit scared, but I was very happy when it released because I wanted to make a sexy song you know, wanting to have a good time with your partner (laughs). It’s like knowing what you want as well, like telling them what you want from them. You can take from it what you want, but it's just a sexy, sensual song. And it came very easy as well. Sometimes songs take a while, which is totally fine, but this one came easily. We did a couple sessions on it, and it was done, and I was like “let's release it. Let's just go with it”. I've started to just be like, if I like it, just release it because the more you sit with something, you start to hate it or you start to pick apart at it. So I just think if it's good, send it to the world.
Fuzzer: Yeah! And what’s your usual process with writing? Do you start with an idea and then bring it to the studio, or do you do the writing and production all at once?
Akemi: Occasionally, I come with an idea but mostly it's kind of like how I'm feeling on the day. So it's like, make a beat and I’m like “ooh, I feel this way. It makes me feel this way”. So it kind of just comes out. I feel like it's kind of therapy. It's like “how am I feeling today? How can we face these feelings?” and it usually just kinda flows. But also it is easy at times when you come with an idea, because I feel like maybe it does work a bit faster. But for most EP, it's kind of been on a feeling vibe but obviously the “check in wit u” and “paint a picture”, they were more circumstantial. It's good to have different ways of writing, otherwise you'll get stuck.
Fuzzer: Yeah totally! And then you also have an amazing song “what have we started” with a feature from [ K S R ]. How did that collaboration come about?
Akemi: Oh, he's a Manchester artist as well, and he tends to work with Teo as well. We’re always in the studio together, and we always start something and never finish it. So we did start this idea and then we listened to it like couple months ago, and I was “oh, I actually like this”. And then I kind of changed my part and I’d added some things and I was like “do you like this?”. And he was like “yeah, I love it!”. And then he added some more harmonies and stuff like that. It kind of just developed randomly, because we weren't necessarily together for the whole song, but yeah, I love it. It kind of talks about an argument, or like a disagreement, and how you resolve that. I feel like, I'm sure loads of people argue, so you can kind of relate to that. It's a nice add to have a little feature with a male voice on the the EP.
Fuzzer: Nice! And then what do you think your main highlights or core memories were working across the project as a whole?
Akemi: I think it was quite cathartic for me. This year, my relationship with music has been a bit rocky, so it's been nice to just be honest and speak my truth and then finally release it. You feel a lot of pressure so it's kind of like “ahh” - a sigh of relief. It's there into the world. And yeah, I'm very proud of it. It was just me and Teo on the whole thing, like no team or anything. So I'm like “oh my god, I can do anything!”. So it's a nice feeling to be like “oh my God, I don't necessarily need anyone” (laughs). And yeah, I'm excited - I'm doing a small tour in the UK, in London and Manchester as well. One day I can do the world but we’re working on that (laughs)
Fuzzer: Yeah I saw that! So you're going to play in London and Manchester in November - that's really exciting. What are you looking forward to most about that?
Akemi: The last headline show I did was in 2022 so it feels like it's been a bit of a while, I’m a bit scared (laughs). But It's always to sing to actual people. To see the people that actually listen to music, it’s so nice. And I love to chat as well so I'm like “stay behind afterwards to chat!” (laughs). Yeah, it's nice to put a face to someone like if someone's messaged you on Instagram and stuff, I always recognize them. I’m like “oh my god, it’s you!”.
Fuzzer: Yes! And I was going to ask, throughout your musical journey so far, what's one of the biggest lessons you've learned in your career? Or what's maybe one of the best pieces of advice someone has given you along the way?
Akemi: A couple of things - don't feel bad to say no, because I always feel bad to say no. I feel like I'm such a people pleaser so maybe I've done things that I wouldn't have done now. And also, like you can do quite a lot of things on your own as well. You just have to build the connections, speak to people, message people. I think it's really important to have other music friends as well, and I've made myself do that more this year. And it's just like having someone to vent to or like silly problems that they really understand, to get their advice.
Another one is just - release that song. I find a lot of musicians are always like “oh it's not finished, it's not finished”. But I'm like, what are you waiting for? You just really never know what will happen because I feel like that's happened with my career. You just never know who's going to listen to it and who's going to give you whatever opportunities. I’d just say, just do it and say no if you want to.
Fuzzer: I think those are some awesome pieces of advice. I feel like, especially when you're young, you don't want to say no to these opportunities, but I think it is really important to do something that seems genuine to you and aligns to you fully.
Akemi: Yeah, definitely.
Fuzzer: And one thing we're doing for each of our interviews is we're customizing like a cocktail recipe for the project that we're talking about. So if “in the dark” was a cocktail, what kind of flavors do you think it would have? What kind of cocktail do you think it would be?
Akemi: Oh, my God. This is the best question ever, I love it. Let me think. I would say I think it's maybe gin based, because it's not quite tequila based. I personally love gin anyway. It's kind of mellow, but you can also still drink it for a night out. I would say, I’ve never had this together, but maybe make it like some passionfruit kind of thing. Gin, a bit of passionfruit, because I feel like the passionfruit is like the sexy vibes at the end. And then we'll mix with something like soda I think because I like fizzy and I don't mind if it's not too sweet. So that, and then we'll add - what will we add? Maybe something to make it a little sweeter but I can't think of what it would be. I can't think of what would go with gin. It's like a spritz, basically, like a gin spritz. Like it's refreshing, nice, gin is a bit mellow, but it's still like “wooh”. That’s the vibe.
Fuzzer: That is perfect! I love it.
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