In this exclusive Music Mondays interview we sat down with an artist known as Cashumilk to discuss their overall sound influence, inspirations, and thoughts on Atlanta. Don't miss this MM interview and a chance to discover one of Atlanta's brightest acts and what their plans are for the future.

10/7/22

Rei: You often blend genres like house, vapor, rap, and pop. Despite having a myriad of influences, you manage to keep a consistent sound. What is the platonic ideal of a Cashumilk song?

Cashumilk: An ideal Cashumilk song is fresh, longing, ambient, yet somehow also euphoric. There’s a lot of different approaches to the genres I take influence from, and I take the intersections of these styles that are personal to me and blend them into one big sad dance song- sometimes with plug 808s.

Rei: What was some of the inspiration behind Buzzkill? There’s a certain melancholy behind it.

Cashumilk: I asked my good friend Deluxe Ultra, who co-produced this track, to send me some loops or sounds to work with and I fell in love with that lead guitar synth. It’s so uplifting yet somehow there’s this layer of sadness over it that I knew was perfect to build off of. I kinda fed off the energy from that and started just writing about how I sometimes feel like the biggest letdown and least fun bitch ever. I get anxious at the function and have to leave a lot of the time.

Rei: Do you think perfectionism is a hindrance or asset? 

Cashumilk: It really can be either end of the spectrum depending on what mindset you have. I can have perfectionist tendencies because I hold myself to a high standard but it also can hold you back creatively if you aren’t able to just keep your ideas moving. A song is a puzzle piece where each element needs to interact with each other, and I often find when I’m being a perfectionist I am stressing over small details that are just a part of the puzzle instead of focusing on how everything is interacting with each other. I think a pro of being a perfectionist is that you know exactly what you want to achieve but it also doesn’t allow you to open your mind creatively or progress on ideas without abandoning them, so I have to practice being open-minded and chill.

Rei: How do you incorporate your background with percussion instruments like marimba, vibraphone, etc into your music?

Cashumilk: Omg. I wish I could do it more. I don’t have access to any of those instruments right now, but I think it directly influences the typical timbre of sound selections I use. I love playing marimba so much so hearing mallet-esque sounds gives me crazy nostalgia. Ideally one day I want to play a show where I’m singing and playing mallets

Rei: What or who initially inspired you to start producing in middle school?

Cashumilk: This is some dark Cashumilk history, but I really loved dubstep and rap. So I would watch videos about how people like Soulja Boy, Chief Keef, and Zaytoven made music, but also I loved Zomboy, Avicii, Zedd, Porter Robinson's really early work. This was like 2011-2012 ish for reference. The first song I fell in love with was Language by Porter Robinson. I had a whole coming of age moment to that song on an island in Georgia where I was by myself and I knew that making beautiful art was my calling for life at 12. My brother is also like 10 years older than me and he was into cooler music. He showed me artists like Father, Flying Lotus, Ras G, and Teebs. I fell in love with making music and he encouraged me to keep doing it.. All my friends were producing too, including my now roommate, “Burnie”, he’s a crazy ass producer. I’ve Known him for like 15 years on god.

Rei: What contemporary artists influence your ambient pop style? 

Cashumilk: This is going to be a chaotic ass list fasho but I love The Japanese House, Ecco2k, Jane Remover, Bogdan Raczynski, Yaeji, Baths, Tony Shhnow, Instupendo, Ulf Lohmann, Jimmy Edgar, Frou Frou, CFCF, 454, Oli XL, and Rochelle Jordan to name a few.

Rei: Your Spotify account has a playlist that people discover your music on called, “Played by Jimmy Edgar,” what has it been like connecting with him?

Cashumilk: Oh, Jimmy is amazing! He fucked with my music after I posted it in his discord I was in. It's crazy because my brother definitely showed me his music like a decade ago and he is a legendary producer and artist to me! It’s really awesome and flattering that he likes it! Makes me feel like I must at least be doing something right. His project Cheetah Bend that came out last year is fuckin’ beautiful too. 

Rei: Who are some new Atlanta artists who we should be on the lookout for? 

Cashumilk: Omg. Hands down, Javi Imy, DavidTheTragic, DvDx, Caughy, Burgun4y, NY Teez, Ren Haze, Muddy, Jelani Imani, DivineDevine, and Blu Orion. Crazy as fuck. Listen to #bawdibags by Javi Imy right now. I am not playing with you.

Rei: What was your experience growing up on the southside of Atlanta? Did it influence your decision to get involved in the online scene? 

Cashumilk: I grew up mostly in an area most people would consider even the outskirts of the southside. My home city of Griffin, Ga was homophobic as fuck and I had to get out there. It was really country and just not a great place to be as a little fruitcake. I was very isolated, and I was always just the weird little gay boy nobody liked. But maybe that was just my own view of it. I somehow won the most artistic superlative in high school so some people liked me I guess. I was always involved with weird music people online, but it was great when I was a senior in high school and would skip school to hang in the city and go to shows. I’m glad I had a very humble experience growing up there though.it definitely grounded me and I would be a totally different person if I grew up in the suburbs or something. I used to work at a coffee shop in the little downtown area too where I met people who really liked my music and that was cute.

Rei: Do you identify with the new wave of sounds coming out of underground Atlanta?

Cashumilk: Yes! There are so many people doing such cool stuff across the genre spectrum but we all fuck with each other and support each other so its amazing actually!