The Secret Life Of Ta-ku

Ta-ku, real name Reggie Matthews, has established himself as one of Australia's premier beat-makers. Hailing from Perth, the Soulection and Future Classic artist has been generating raw emotion with smooth beats and sentimental nostalgia since his EP Songs to Break Up To in 2013, giving us a mood of hope with the release of Songs to Make Up To this year. Amongst making music, he's a photographer, running a barbershop, launching a fashion label #TeamCozy and is the creative behind the Create and Explore project. He's been travelling abroad and recently returned to Australia to be a part of the Electronic Music Conference. On this brief visit to Sydney for the forum, I caught him for chat to discuss his music, creative ventures, collaboration, and who he'd save the world from if he was a superhero.

THUMP: You just came back from the US right? How was that?
Ta-ku: It was great. Was there for two weeks for a few shows with a lot of studio time in between and a lot of food and eats. It was dope.

You're back in Australia to speak at the EMC. What value do you see being involved in events like this?
Making steps towards diversifying the culture and kind of also providing to the culture of electronic music especially in Australia. I think EMC is one of the leading electronic conferences in the Asia-Pacific region. So, when I was asked to be a part of it, I was more than down because it just helps, in that, it provides a little more substance and it's a nice way to get involved in the industry, without having to go to a festival or a club.

What are your thoughts on the current Australian electronic music scene? How does the sound compare to the rest of the world?
There's a lot of buzz around the Australia sound, but I think the electronic scene in general is really really strong. The Australian scene has always been really really strong, but I think a lot of people are starting to notice due to the fact that a lot of Australian artists are all pushing at once. How it rates to the rest of the world? I think it rates well and on par with the rest of the electronic world scene. I know a lot of electronic acts coming to Australia because a lot of their fan base and supporters are here.

Are there any upcoming artists you are listening to right now we should take note of?
For me, it's an artist I work with a lot. Her name is Wafia and she's also on Future Classic. She's a good friend of mine and also very talented and young. She's got a promising future.

Are there any films you are inspired by recently?

Hmm…the latest film I've been inspired by, which is weird, is

Secret Life of Walter Mitty

. I just saw it on the plane. It's a pretty good film. It's interesting to see the whole theme and message behind the film about wanting to kind of explore the world as well as yourself, especially through travel. That's inspiring to me.

Your recent albums have a running theme with love and relationships. What influenced you to this and will your music have a similar or different direction moving forward?
Not sure yet on the direction moving forward. I think definitely, love is a part of everyone's life. Especially gaining love and losing love which happens all the time, so people can definitely relate. My goal was to make a soundtrack to accompany that heart break and also finding love again, but I think love will always be the centrepiece of my songs, just because it evokes so much emotion. It comes from a very real and raw place. I think it will be a general theme for sure.

Do you have another album in the works right now?
Yeah, so I have an album coming up. Not sure when, but I'm currently working on it. I'm really going to take my time with it, to see which direction I want to take it in and who I want to be on it, whether I want guest vocalists or just instrumentals. I'm really unsure but I'm in the experimental stage of it right now.

When it comes to remixes and collaborations, how do you choose who you want to work with?
I think for me, it's mainly people I meet. I have to know them and vibe with. I've never really worked with people I don't know that have just reached out and asked. It's always been a friend or friend of a friend. I definitely need to know the person before just working with them because I have to vibe with them on a personal level.

Earlier this year, you worked with Jaden Smith. What was that like working with someone so young and so philosophical?
I love Jaden! He is very young and lot of people misunderstand him. I think people are very critical of people that are quite young and put out creative work. I really appreciate him and Willow [Smith], not only because they are so young, but also so brave to put music out into the world at such young age. When I was 15 or 17, I was doing nothing with my life [laughs]. So I think it's inspiring to work with those kids. They work very fast and it's very honest and also very brave with what they want to create and just put it out to the world, whether people like it or not.

Let's talk about your other creative ventures. Your barbershop, Westons Barbers seems to be doing well, I heard you are going to open more stores and a barber school?
We're looking to expand the barbershop and a barber school because there's definitely a need for that in Australia. We're looking for options for another store somewhere in Australia. The barbershop's great. I co-own the shop with really really amazing barbers and just good friend of mine, so it's really easy and fun to run.

I saw Diplo hit up Westons. Did you personally go behind the chair and give him a cut?
We hooked it up. I can cut okay but I don't really cut too much. I leave it to my mates to do it. I don't want to butcher anyone's hair.

Have any customers requested for you?
At the shop they do, yea. I say to them, I can do it but it'll probably be horrible.

You now also work as a photographer. How did you get into that ?
When I took a little break from music, I picked up the camera. A friend of mine in Japan came visiting one time. He makes music as well but is a really talented photographer. He encouraged me to buy a camera about a year and a half ago. So, I just bought the camera, experimented and I've loved it ever since!

You're working with so many labels as well!
I think it's because being in the music world and already having kind of a name for myself as Ta-ku. I was also really fortunate enough to have friends in the fashion industry. I would just ask them if they would let me shoot a lookbook or some work for them and it's been really great. A lot of people have trusted me let me do that and it's been fun.

Can you tell me a little bit about Create and Explore and how you came up with it?
Create and Explore is pretty much me wanting to pair musicians and videographers together. I think when I bought a camera, I started messing around with video as well but I think people like a good music video. A lot of producers and musicians out there also love their music to have a great video but there's budget issues there. So, myself being in the visual and music world, I have a lot of friends and friend of friends and a network of people that I could pair together and try to create this incubator of creators and that's pretty much what it is. all we do is kind of platform and exhibit the work but it's really the creator's. The videographer that's been making videos for 5 years but doesn't have to much of an internet presence or a bedroom producer that makes music but doesn't have it out there.

Talk to me about #TeamCozy. What should people expect from the debut collection and did you personally design the range?
Team Cozy is an apparel range by myself and a good friend of mine, Silas from Hong Kong. He now lives in LA. The first range is coming out in December and we're really looking forward to it. The Team Cozy community that we kind of built has been really engaging and a very creative community and we're just excited to give them something to wear and something tangible. Myself and Silas both had our hands in designing it. I did most of the creative outlook and he did most of the brand designing. There's definitely elements of a design that him and I wanted to see, given our hobbies and things like that.

Will it just be an apparel or will there be shoes as well?
It's a full apparel range and the shoes, it's interesting because there might be collaboration with brands like Puma, Nike and Adidas. We're looking to collaborate with them throughout 2016.

All this sounds a little bit like what Kanye is doing.
Aww, no one could really be Kanye! A lot of people give Kanye a hard time. I know he does a lot of odd things but the guy's been making music for so long, it's only natural if you're in a creative field to want to try do other creative things. So I think there's parallels definitely. I think a lot of people in the music industry are looking to do that too. If you like to be creative, I think the last thing you want to do is be known as just one thing. It's healthy to want to want experiment different things and if you're passionate about it, go for it. That's always been my motivation.

So all up, you have a barbershop, an apparel brand, working as a photographer and creative mind behind Create and Explore on top of that, making music. Do you have a preference you like to do more?
I think my photography at the moment is at the top. My music of course is very important to me too, so that comes next. I think Team Cozy is very important too, because it's at the initial stages and it's very vital we get this right. The barbershop is going really well but it's a kind of thing that chugs along on its own and doesn't need too much. Then, Create and Explore. So in that order!

Is it hard to juggle all of that at once?
It can be, but one thing that found important is having a lot of good people around me. In each little creative project there's a group or a team of people that can help me and I help them too. So it's very much a group effort. If you create a good team around you, nothing's really too much because you don't have to do it all yourself.

I feel like all these creative projects you do are part of the Ta-ku brand entity. Would you say that's true?
For sure. It all definitely stems from Ta-ku. I wouldn't be able to have launched these projects if I didn't have my brand at the base of it all. I really launch all my projects off Ta-ku, it's all one encompassing brand for sure.

We've spoken a lot about your projects. Is there anything else you are working on at the moment?
I think that's it! But definitely music side of things, I'm really looking to switching it up. I think there will be some things I'll put out soon that a lot of people wouldn't expect. Creatively that's what I like to do. To keep experimenting and try different things. Even though it doesn't seem like I'm making too much music, I want to let people know I am and it's still a part of what I do.

So, if people wanted to sit down, chill and listen to your music, what would be the best drink pairing?
For me, it's whisky or rum. But anything smooth.

Lastly, if Ta-ku was a superhero, what would be his power and who would he be saving the world from?
Hmm…I have this alter-ego I post on social media called Yung Dramatic. He's a really bad basketball player but with incredible crossover skills. So I'd probably say him, and save others from bad basketball players.

Words and photos by Darren Luk.

Ta-ku on SoundCloud // Facebook // Twitter

Songs To Make Up To is out now on Fool's Gold.