Photo Credit: SyKo
There’s something very cyberpunk about SyKo’s origins, though with more of a weird, western, small-town Texas vibe.
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You wouldn’t know it from his music. #BrooklynBloodPop! is an acid Trance slam, a slow-mo impact stretched over two and a half minutes. Though its rise to Gold, with almost 300 million Spotify streams, seems sudden, it took hard effort and long work for SyKo to get there.
“For a kid like me, the expectations for success were pretty low,” says SyKo of his rural origins in River Road, Texas. “I don’t think I possess any exceptional abilities compared to others; it’s really about how I utilize the tools I have at my disposal.”
And what tools did he start with in those high school years? It’s just a basic DAW install, like so many EDM teens. “It all started with making songs on Skullcandy earbuds with a lousy laptop behind a Walmart.”
You can imagine the concrete, the urban debris blowing in rural Texas dust, the flicker of street lights and passing cars, and a teenager jamming on a laptop. See? Very cyberpunk.
Going Gold and Meeting Heroes
“I’m very analytical,” says SyKo. “I strategize a lot. Looking for the next thing all the time. I feel like an underdog a lot. Musically, emotionally, physically. In every way, I feel like people overlook how deeply I think and feel.” He failed by accident, even if the viral success of #BrooklynBloodPop! makes it look that way.
He didn’t come out of nowhere, either. He had a following, and they helped him find his way. “As I gained a following,” he says, “I realized my fans trusted me to push boundaries and explore unconventional approaches. I experiment and play around with sounds until something clicks like a kid on a playground.”
And just like kids, play is work. He put in the time, all those frustrating years of trying to get his music to sound like he wanted to, of experimenting and finding his boundaries. He put in the emotion, too, finding his artistry and learning how to make it into something real. It took the encouragement of his following and the inspiration of EDM idols that went before him.
“My inspiration comes from the people I admire like Lil Uzi Vert and Skrillex to name a couple,” SyKo explains, “However, many of them, like XXXtentacion, Prince, Michael Jackson, and Chester Bennington have passed away, leaving a big void in not only music but also myself.”
He knew he’d hit it big when he met one of his heroes after #BrooklynBloodPop! took off. “Lil Uzi Vert hit me on IG about it. He was in the studio working on his last album, and he called me freaking out. That’s one of my heroes, so it was surreal.”
Creating a New Sound All His Own
“I feel like everyone is just copying what’s hot to stay in dollars,” says SyKo. “No shame and no fault, but I feel like music is losing its substance slowly because of that.” That’s one of the reasons he’s been pushing his boundaries and creating his unique sound. He also thinks it’s one of the reasons his recent track struck such a strong chord in the EDM community. “I feel that’s why fans and musicians alike are drawn to me and my attitude. It’s due to the fact that I just do this for the love.”
With young EDM creators like SyKo, predicting their next track and career is hard. He’s spent years creating this new sound, setting up for this moment, but he isn’t done becoming whatever he will be. Watch his continued transformation by following his socials and checking out his Spotify, and see what musical twist this real-world cyberpunk composes next.
