{"id":1435346,"date":"2025-06-02T18:40:31","date_gmt":"2025-06-02T17:40:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gaytimes.com\/?p=1435346"},"modified":"2025-06-03T12:12:51","modified_gmt":"2025-06-03T11:12:51","slug":"elkka-xpression-ep","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gaytimes.com\/music\/elkka-xpression-ep\/","title":{"rendered":"Elkka: “I didn\u2019t want to be the feature artist – I wanted to be the artist”"},"content":{"rendered":"

The London-based artist discusses her creative journey as she unveils a sensual, sanguine tease of an EP sure to soundtrack sweltering dancefloor hookups.<\/span><\/p>\n

PHOTOGRAPHY ALEX LAMBERT<\/strong><\/div>\n
STYLIST ALLY LUX<\/strong>
\nHMUA HANNAH WASTNIDGE<\/strong><\/div>\n
PHOTOGRAPHY ASSISTANT NIGEL R GLASGOW<\/strong><\/div>\n

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Famously, the 2020s have emerged as nightlife\u2019s \u2018harder, better, faster, stronger\u2019 era. Whether it\u2019s the influence of TikTok, G, or our dwindling attention spans, BPMs are cranking up as dancers become more frenzied, seeking new horizons of escapism \u2013 and nowhere is this more present than in queer nightlife, where genres like donk and hard trance dominate.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s interesting, then, that the past few years would also see the ascent of London-based DJ and producer Elkka. A name frequently featured in major lineups across the UK, EU and US \u2013 with plenty of far-flung dates to boot \u2013 the artist embodies, well\u2026 more of an <\/span>embodied<\/span><\/i> approach to club music. Behind the decks, she favours beats that come complete with a sway of the hips and simmering percussion. As a producer, her tracks are sinewy and tactile, firmly rooted in the experience of being a living, breathing human.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

An advocate for partying as praxis, she also runs Prism of Pleasure<\/em>: a curated club night which centres FLINTA acts and audiences, and takes its name from her ecstatic debut album. Fittingly, her latest project, the EP <\/span>Xpression, <\/span><\/i>is a culmination of her years-long appreciation for the energising role of clubbing in the queer and dyke communities. Landing on 20 June, the four-tracker is low-slung, hazy and destined to be the soundtrack to sweltering bank holidays and sweaty dancefloor hookups.<\/span><\/p>\n

Inspired by moments of liberation in the club, the EP overflows with hedonism, desire and \u2013 a recurring theme for Elkka \u2013 <\/span>pleasure<\/span><\/i>. In case you need any further convincing, the cover art for its double single, \u2018Automatic\/ Gentle Gaze\u2019, looks like a still from an 80s music video: a coupe glass capturing a trail of champagne, suspended strategically in front of a pair of bikini bottom-clad thighs. Consider us enticed.<\/span><\/p>\n

In order to share more, the artist sat down with Gay Times in East London\u2019s La Camionera over a glass \u2013 or two, or three\u2026 \u2013 of white wine. (A couple of days later, Elkka posed for exclusive images shot by the photographer Alex Lambert, her creative collaborator and wife.)<\/span><\/p>\n

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Corset CRAIG MORRISON STUDIO, shorts FEYZA BERCA, jewellery VITALY<\/em><\/p>

Hey diva! Wait\u2026 how old are you? Your skin is so radiant.<\/b><\/h3>\n

I am 36\u2026 she\u2019s old!\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/b>Not old at all.\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

Do you know, my age used to be something I was really self-conscious about? I’m not anymore. I did a headline show a couple of years ago, and it was on my birthday. I was like, ‘Do I say it’s my birthday? Do I say how old I am?\u2019 I then kind of ended up talking about it really openly with, like, 700 people. <\/span>When I was younger, I thought I would \u2018make it\u2019 at 22. But, oh god, I was so straight at 22! I was a lost soul at that age and I was figuring out my music and my sexuality at the same time. <\/span><\/p>\n

Intriguing… so what has your journey been like from that lost 22-year-old to now?<\/h3>\n

I started out being a songwriter and singer, going down the pop route, but I knew that wasn’t going to serve me very well. I was doing well as a writer and featuring on people’s records\u2026 but I didn\u2019t want to be the fucking feature artist. I wanted to be <\/span>the<\/span><\/i> artist. I wanted to have control of my own career, not have my songs on some boy\u2019s laptop.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

So, I started producing for myself and I set up my record label Femme Culture. That was the turning point for me. I remember calling my mum and saying, \u2018I’m going to stop doing these sessions now. I’m going to try and teach myself how to produce and DJ\u2019. She was like, \u2018Do you know how to do that?\u2019 I was like, ‘No, but I’m going to figure it out.’<\/span><\/p>\n

“When I was younger, I thought I would \u2018make it\u2019 at 22. But, oh God, I was so straight at 22!”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And you did figure it out!<\/h3>\n

I did! Since then, everything’s just kind of kept going forward, I feel really in control of what I’m making. But I still feel like I’m 22 and I still feel like I’m learning about myself as a musician and as a woman.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s been about a year since your first album, Prism of Pleasure,<\/i> came out, and we still have it on repeat in the GT office\u2026 What was the process of making that project?<\/h3>\n

The album took a couple of years. There was a pause because I did a <\/span>DJ–<\/span>Kicks album in 2023, then I went back to the album. Then, sadly, my dad died and I had to make the decision whether to stop or finish \u2013 and I decided to finish the project. The last track on the album was written on the day of the funeral. It was important to me to keep going. He was so supportive of my career.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

That sounds like such an important process of catharsis. How did you settle back into making music after you released the album back into the world?\u00a0 I know you have a new EP, Xpression<\/i>, out at the end of the month\u2026<\/h3>\n

As soon as you finish something, everyone’s asking, \u2018What are you doing next?\u2019 I needed to take a minute to live, to take time away from touring or writing, to just be<\/em>. Otherwise, I can’t really write. What\u2019s really been inspiring to me is partying.<\/span><\/p>\n

Sorry, side bar: What\u2019s been your favourite clubbing experience recently? And \u2013 as good as they are, I’ve been \u2013 you\u2019re not allowed to mention your own Prism of Pleasure nights…\u00a0<\/b><\/h3>\n

There\u2019s a party called Club Are, which I\u2019ve been to a couple of times as a punter and it\u2019s one of the best clubbing experiences that I\u2019ve had in a very, very long time. You can talk to people there, the music curation is exceptional and it\u2019s just very open, warm and inviting. People are very free and expressive there, there\u2019s no music snobbery. It just reminds me of how difficult it is to curate a good party, and how all the small details add up to the feeling of it. I just really had the best time. I felt liberated and it reminded me of what it’s like to be on the dancefloor again.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

“Xpression is inspired by the dancefloors that I felt most free in”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Okay, back to the EP! What was the creative process like?<\/h3>\n

Well, after going to parties like that, I knew what I wanted to write \u2013 the music I made really poured out on me. I didn’t know what it was going to be, but I knew I wanted to make club music again. I know that \u2018club music\u2019 can mean a million different things, but I’m really happy with what I\u2019ve made. Generally, I find it hard to make music that, discernibly, as a DJ, I would choose to play. There’s a block there. It’s the first time I’ve made this type of music, which is really exciting.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How would you describe the influences behind Xpression?\u00a0<\/i><\/h3>\n

It\u2019s inspired by the dancefloors that I felt most free in and the most inspired by.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You\u2019ve recently moved to East London, right?<\/h3>\n

I did. I lived in South London for a long time, and I loved it there. But everything’s here for me. The lesbian bars are here: they’re popping up, left, right and centre. There’s a moment happening and I kind of get to be in it.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You must have spent a lot of time in East London before you moved here, though? Think of Dalston Superstore!<\/b><\/h3>\n

I think my second date with my wife Alex and my first ever DJ gig, was at Dalston Superstore. It was terrible. I blagged my way into getting booked and didn’t realise it was an R&B night, so I tried to put on house music. They took me off the decks after 20 minutes, and Alex watched the whole thing. But it ended well: Alex and I are now married, and I’m making my living from club music.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Leztopia x Prism of Pleasure will land in Corsica Studios on 6 June. Get tickets here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n

Xpression is out on 20 June v<\/b>ia Method 808. Check out the singles so far via the embed below.\u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/p>\n