Malik Fabian-Mahmud(left) sits with Umami(Right) at Seoul Taco
With this article, we decided to take a different route. Instead of having planned topics and controlling the conversation, we decided to let the artist just talk while we grabbed a bite to eat. So we no longer will be calling these "interviews". Welcome to a conversation while Umami eats.
THE PANDEMIC
I don't know how everyone else feels about it. But I felt like after 2020 with the pandemic, the community came together. It was more like, Yo, we're gonna have each other's back. Yeah, it kind of took the ego out of everyone because it was like, we're all not doing anything, together.
Wanting to get back out there.
Yeah, it was like we all wanted to get out there and I feel like everyone realized what's important, the people that you surround yourself with, as opposed to what you're doing. It was weird for a while I was doing Twitch streams, which were fun. I did them once a month and would DJ that way and have all the homies with me, it'd be more like a party. I came back to DJ in May of 2021. And in that year, and whatever months now it's about to be November. So much has happened in the world and in St. Louis. And for me, as an artist, I felt like I finally found my life.
After I graduated, it felt like I didn't know what I was doing. The music felt like it wasn't going to hit because I couldn't really perform. When things started to open back up Handlebar hit me and asked me to be the opener. The guy who did that was this guy named Mike.
Everyone called him Tall Mike. He was the nicest and had the most chaotic energy, but like super nice at the same time, an amazing human. The community loved him, he passed away last summer. Which was kinda crazy because even after the pandemic, we were all so vulnerable. That really taught me to not take the people around me for granted. Always tell your homies you love them. They can be here one day and gone the next so tell the people you love them and be genuine with them.
ALIGNMENT
It wasn't until that happened that the momentum started happening. These opportunities that were opening up for my stuff were aligning really weirdly. I wanted to kind of move was my thing. I was thinking about moving to LA so I spent a month there last summer. It was cool. I liked it. I drove out there, which was awesome. Yeah, I did the whole road trip, which was so fun. Had a great time. Me and the homies packed up in the car. When you put yourself anywhere for longer than a week, you kind of see how it is to live there in a weird way, you know. So I hit every touristy spot and then just lived there for like two weeks, going into different clubs, checking out the DJs, and going to concerts. Then I came back.
Materia
When Manapool (@manapool_) asked me to be a part of Materia (@materia.stl). That was like, Well, I found mine. What was that? November of 2021. So it's crazy that next month is the one-year anniversary of Materia. Yeah. We're doing a big one. We're gonna have Nico (@djnicomarie) with us playing. So that's gonna be really fun. She played one of the OG Materia parties for having her back a year later is like, full circle. When we started, we threw a rave in this basement. And I had no idea what to expect. We started off donation-based, in this basement which is now Sorority House.
Then we started charging $5 or $10. And a couple of months later, it started to build and build and build. And we're like, alright, we kind of got something here like, this is kind of fun, once a month, the structure started to come together a little more. The group started getting closer, and we started to really watch out for each other, and give each other opportunities. Throwing a show is a lot more work than people think it is. We wanted to also have guests, it'd be fun to have only Materia all the time. Sure. It's always gonna be great. But picking and choosing a really cool guest to feature every single one was part of my favorite part.
Stevonnie
I've always wanted to do an alter ego, I think as a Gemini and the duality of that. Some of my favorite artists like Kendrick (Lamar) for example has Kung Fu Kenny, and all these different alter egos that like come out in different songs or playing different voices or whatever. And I don't know, it was always like, how do I do something cool like that? So Stevonnie is-
From Steven Universe!
Exactly, she's literally me! I look at Stevonnie's feminine side and masculine side combined. The first time I watched her episode, I was like, why is that me? That's literally me with long black hair. So that really resonated with me. So I was like, man, it'd be fun to do like, a rave as Stevonnie, as my alter ego. I figured it out as having high energy, super high techno, going crazy, and absolutely nuts, like running off walls. I wanted that kind of energy, and then the ski mask was cool because I've literally had people come up to me, after the shows and be like, Oh no, I'm not playing tonight Stevonnie is.
Do you find yourself more comfortable with the mask?
Yeah, definitely. I find it's obviously super sweaty, like super hot. But it's so fun to see people's reactions to it. And the messages I get to see the next day are what make it worth it. If I'm seeing someone who's going absolutely insane with me. And I'm like, Oh yeah, like that's the energy I want to bring you and I'm glad I'm getting it back to me.
Umami
Website: umamibeats.com
Instagram: @umamibeats
Soundcloud: Umami
Interviewer: ($2.50) Malik Fabian-Mahmud: @fabmud
