Winning and Losing: Bladee and Mechatok Interviewed by Alexander Iadarola On techno-spirituality, impending doom, and making failed pop songs. “I wanted to achieve this exact thing with the production. When you have a gemstone, it’s going to change color or reflect differently depending on how you hold it to the light. Technically the stone is this very simple object, but the variation happens with the angles you put on it.” “That scammy aspect is another good angle. Once you start looking at music as something that can fulfill a certain need or desire, it starts becoming the same dopamine you get from gambling or something. You can start manipulating it or selling it in this sort of scammy way. Maybe it doesn’t even have the advertised function; maybe it’s a placebo. You can start playing with this notion of selling of a laced drug.” “When I wasn’t as confident in my own music-creating, I had to say all this stuff in my lyrics and find themes to use in my music. But the more I do it, the more I want to say basically nothing. It’s more like a pure reflection. The energy you put into the song is not really about the words. You can express the vibe without pointing out exactly what it’s about.”