MKSM @ rbb Studio 3
MKSM @ hr/ ard QUEERTOPIA
MKSM @ ard brisant
READY – a pop EP full of multi-faceted QUEER STORIES
With Milch Musik, the label of Peter Plate (Rosenstolz) and Ulf Leo Sommer, MKSM – Germany’s most booked CSD artist (queer BILD) is releasing his third EP. The focus track READY describes the end of a gay love story and the desire to see the other person happy – but also admitting that you’re not ready just yet. The drum’n’bass beat and the rhythmic violins played by MKSM accompany both the soft verse vocals and the radically honest lines of the chorus.
Wait for me to be ready – Cause I can’t see you happy – just yet
Relationships don’t always have to break up overly dramatically. READY shows the spectrum of feelings that can be expressed honestly – in an inner monologue or in an actual conversation with your ex-partner.
I really hope that he is everything you need – Really hope you’ll fight a little less than we did – And maybe he’s the perfect partner to have kids with
In the music video, MKSM and the queer comedian and actor Philipp Leinenbach show a sincere farewell to a relationship. The rustic Berlin pub GOLDENER LÖFFEL and an old television that shows the autumnal Halensee with the two protagonists form the backdrop.
READY for self-love, like in LOVING MYSELF – the track that has been named the PRIDE anthem of the year by many queer media (SCHWULISSIMO, queer BILD). In the empowering music video, queer activists like Jochen Schropp and Brix Schaumburg talk about their path to themselves.
READY for your own needs – as in the hyper-pop influenced tracks BREAKING MY RULES and USED TO DO.
READY for unconditional love, as in the acoustic LAST ONE – a GAY LOVE SONG that celebrates gay love and tells of the ups and downs of the search for it. For the music video he gets support from queer activists and influencers, like Maxi Pichlmeier and ‘Papas im Glück’, who show us their love and their lives.
The queer singer, songwriter, violinist and activist MKSM, who was born in Russia, grew up in Ukraine and lived in London, tells honest and unambiguous queer stories on his third EP. And these are just as diverse as the people who shape them.
PART OF ME
For International Stammering Awareness Day in October, MKSM speaks about his own story – PART OF ME is an uplifting pop anthem that describes MKSM’s journey and his dealing with stuttering.
He himself has stammered since the age of 4 – his growing up was marked by continuous visits to logopedics, doctors and speech therapists – and even today the topic of stuttering still occasionally visits him. The artist found his language again only when he accepted stuttering as PART OF ME – part of himself. Today, he is open about the topic and uses his voice to show others that they are not alone in their story and that it is worth taking the seemingly long road to self-acceptance. With a canvas format buildup, PART OF ME shows how this breakthrough can sound. MKSM’s soft voice runs over crystal-clearly produced beats that start static and gloomy in the verses and fuel-up on hope in the chorus – MKSM refers to himself as LITTLE BOY and embraces his insecure past self.
Since 1998, October 22 is the „International Stammering Awareness Day” and Germany is among the countries using the International Stammering Awareness Day to create awareness for what life is like for people who stutter.
STATEMENT ‘BUNDESVEREINIGUNG STOTTERN & SELBSTHILFE e.V.’:
Stammering is an invisible disability that is part of everyday life for about 800,000 people in Germany (about 1 percent of the world’s population is affected), and the actual impairments that sufferers experience as a result of the speech flow disorder are often not empathically comprehensible to outsiders. In addition, there are widespread prejudices and misconceptions about stuttering and people who stutter. MKSM addresses this with PART OF ME and shows his own development process: from a boy, insecure due to bullying and shame, to a self-confident man who accepts the speech impediment as part of himself and does not hide himself. Currently, there is no musician known to us in Germany who openly stands for self-acceptance of stuttering. A seldom known fact about stuttering is that from puberty on, it is not curable in the sense of complete, reliable absence of any symptoms. MKSM therefore also offers young people and adolescents who stutter a figure to identify with and can be a role model for their own empowerment.
SHARED ROOM
MKSM is releasing ‘Shared Room’ on May 6th – a groovy love song in the style of Lauv highlighted by rhythmic guitars, MKSM’s violin and smooth synth sounds. Here, MKSM paints an autobiographical love story that flourishes in spite of society’s norms and established rules.
“This song is really special to me because it is, on the one hand autobiographical, the first single of my second EP, and on the other hand the first song where I sing about about a BOY… I needed to take my time to take this step and I’m really PROUD to finally get there. That’s why it feels right to publicly introduce my real partner in the video – that felt the most natural to me!
I love the mix of my soft vocals and the groovy and warm arrangement, and of course it had to have a little hook from my violin! But in this case we also played with some effects so that the song sounds really exciting and fresh.” said MKSM
The music video is in Super 8 format and was filmed with a warm, nostalgic look that suits the sound. It consists of documentary-style scenes of a long-term queer relationship and shows MKSM with his husband and their young puppy for the very first time. What began with TWO BOYS IN ONE ROOM has now become two men in an old apartment in Berlin, who after the new same-sex marriage law of 2017 are happily married
After winning an “LGBTQ Music Award”, writing campaign songs for LGBTIQ+ initiatives and organizations and performing at the virtual GLOBAL PRIDE on the European Highlight Stage, MKSM released his first EP HIGH ON LOWS in 2021 and the Pride track LOVE IN THE DARK together with the queer artist LEOPOLD.
In addition to numerous PRIDES in Germany, MKSM’s Pride Tour 2022 also took him to the UK and Italy – for the first time ever. After the release of TRACKS IN MINOR, DEEZER described the singer and songwriter as one of the most interesting newcomers in Germany. MKSM’s second EP FEELINGS OF A MISFIT is OUT NOW – it was released on October 28, 2022 on Milch Musik, the label of Peter Plate and Ulf Leo Sommer. ARD Brisant and rbb Studio 3 reported on the release and the artist.
PRESS REVIEW
