Artist On Artist: Keelan Mak + Lucy Blomkamp Talk Collaboration, Careers, & Australia’s Best Queer Artists

When it comes to artists you need to be paying attention to, it’s difficult to look past the likes of rising superstar Keelan Mak or acclaimed musician Lucy Blomkamp.

Separately, they’re two artists who are making big moves in the music world. After all, Keelan has just signed to Niche Agency and released his newest EP, Boy’s In Love. Lucy, meanwhile, is a prolific musician and producer who is never far from the new releases radar.

But together, they’re a force to be reckoned with. Having worked together previously, this year saw the fruits of their collaboration on Straight With Me, the closing track from Keelan’s new EP.

Co-written and produced with Lucy, Straight With Me is an indicator of what can be created when two musical heavyweights share their respective talents and craft something truly amazing.

To celebrate their recent collaboration and the release of Keelan’s new EP, we got Keelan and Lucy to have a chat about what it’s like working together, their career highlights, and the LGBTQIA+ artists you need to listen to.

Lucy: Boy’s In Love is your third EP, but how are you feeling about its release? How does it feel compared to the release of your debut?

Keelan: I feel great! I think my first release was different in the way that I was so much younger and everything felt so exciting (it still does, but just in a different way now). I’m getting a lot calmer with these things. 

Keelan: What is it about my music that resonated with you so much?

Lucy: I know this will sound like I’m talking shit, but you’re honestly the full package. Your voice, lyrics, production, and writing. It’s all at a level that’s so high it feels unbelievable you’re not on the charts and touring the world 24/7.

You’re one of those artists you can feel confident introducing any type of person to. No matter who you are, you’d have to be all kinds of messed up to not like what you’re doing at least a little.

Lucy: You’ve been able to lean into elements of confidence and exuberant love on the EP, but how does that feel for you? How does it feel to show off this more joyful side?

Keelan: It feels pretty natural now, which I think is the whole point. I think it just kind of goes to show how much happier I’ve become over time. The heartbreak is still real, and I feel it, but It’s not so much a point of conversation through my art nowadays. 

Keelan: 
Your music and songwriting transcends style, genre, and tone, but what is the most important goal in music-making? Is it provoking a feeling or emotion, making the listener groove, or a mixture?

Lucy: I’m really only drawn to making music as a means to express myself. Music is a way of representing myself better than I can in the ‘real world’. Physically and verbally I don’t really have much to offer, as a song I can be more. I have a chance at being divine. 

Lucy: What were some of the biggest influences you brought into the mix for this new EP? What was your biggest inspiration for it?

Keelan: I listen to a lot of stuff so it’s a little weird to pinpoint certain things because I’m not using reference songs when I’m producing or writing. But. I think the general shift in culture at the moment is dance music and I really wanted to lean into that. I’ve always made energetic sounding music but It’s never been this dance focused. (It’s still pretty chill, though…)

Keelan: 
How do you characterise your writing and music-making style? If you had to describe your work to someone who had never heard you before, how would you do it?

Lucy: I think my biggest, and potentially only real strength as a musician is my ability to be a chameleon. I don’t really have a natural state or default setting in terms of how or what I write. It’s a blessing and a curse.

It becomes a huge asset when I’m given direction by other people, although when I’m making music for myself it’s basically just an eternal identity crisis. It’s easy to describe on a song-by-song basis but in general it’s a complete mess.

Lucy: How would you describe the writing session working with me?

Keelan: The session was effortless. We just laughed the whole time and made an amazing song. I worked with you in a session like five years earlier, so it felt like a reunion. We’ve both lived really interesting lives between the sessions, so it was really cute getting to reconnect.

Also, you’re just an incredibly talented producer. You ask, she does. It’s rare to find producers who just do the damn thing so quickly. When I’m producing for myself, I get so lost in my ideas, so it’s really refreshing to have someone so talented just churn through ideas. It adds so much momentum to my own writing.

Keelan: How would you describe the writing session you spent working with me?

Lucy: In my experience the best artists are always the easiest to work with and this was no exception. It was so easy and I don’t think there were really any points where we even had to stop and really think about what we were doing. You’re a genius and it’s an honour to pass off your genius ideas as partially mine, lol.

Who are some of the LGBTQI+ artists in Australia that you think the world needs to hear?

Keelan: Vetta Borne, Sycco, Robert Baxter, Nick Ward, Charley, Cub Sport, Wafia. So, so, so many talented queer artists from Australia, it makes me sick!!! 

Lucy: Lonelyspeck, whenever given the opportunity to talk about Australian artists it’s always Lonelyspeck. Undeniable. Outside of them, Donatachi, Daine, Sidney Phillips, June Jones, Mona Mule, Vetta Borne, Robert Baxter, Julai are all safe bets.

What has been the most memorable or enjoyable moment of your music career so far?

Keelan: Probably the writing camp we both did. Working with Troye Sivan was a treat, but just being amongst that many talented LGBTQIA+ artists/writers/producers was insane. It felt like a dream. 

Lucy: When I signed my first publishing deal back in 2018, I shortly after had a trip to LA for sessions. This was the first time I’d gotten a rental car and while driving myself from the airport to my AirBnb it just suddenly dawned on me that I had a career in music.

You’d have thought it’d dawn on me when signing the contract but I guess not. Up until that point I’d been a kid fucking around and I’d never anticipated going beyond that point.

Although, I also met with Charli XCX once and will probably be the thing I tell my hypothetical grandkids before anything else about my career.

Lucy: Apart from this new EP, what are you most excited for at the moment, musically?

Keelan: Playing live shows again. It’s been so long and I feel a bit out of shape. It’s going to be a bit of a journey to find myself as a performer, because it’s so, so different to just making music and releasing it. 

Keelan: You’ve released a few new songs recently, but what are you most excited for at the moment, musically?

Lucy: I’ve always got quite a few different projects on the go, but at the moment I’m definitely the most excited to be helping out on a potential Cat & Calmell album. They’re one of my absolute favourite groups and I have literally no idea how I’ve been lucky enough to work with them.

Similarly, as exciting but not something I’m currently working on is a Daine EP waiting to come out that was produced/written by me, Darcy Baylis, Lonelyspeck & Daine (duh).