With his signature red hair, polished nails, and wardrobe envied by goth girls everywhere, smrtdeath is easily one of the most recognizable artists in the scene today. His aesthetic alone is enough to entice listeners worldwide, but once you factor in his hyper-original vocal style, Mike Skwark perfectly embodies the developed brand that is smrtdeath.
Releasing his music out of Winnipeg over the past 3 years, smrtdeath has built a reputation for himself as a fluid and reliable underground favorite. We got a chance to speak to sethany about his future projects, upcoming relocation, and even about his one time on Christian Mingle.
Photo by Avery Stedman
When did you start making music? Was there a point you discovered your talent or have you always known?
I feel like I always messed around making music, used to play guitar & drums when I was a kid, but I started working on the kind of stuff I’m doing now a few years ago. I’m not sure if i discovered it yet, but I like making music.
What artists and bands have inspired you? (both in your childhood and your current peers)
I’m mostly inspired by Maroon 5 and Little Zubayne
Can you break down your monikers and handles for us? Where did ‘sethany’ and ‘sloppymakeout’ originate?
sethany came about just thru a slew of a.ka.s. I’m smrtdeath so I would sometimes call myself lil death, then lil seth as a joke on that, then I thought of sethany and was like, “Damn I like that.” sloppymakeout I was just makin out all sloppy one day and was like, “This is my purest form,” then I immediately signed up for instagram.com and started posting photos of whips.
What was the process of making the Sethany project like?
I didn’t really plan it too much, I just made a bunch of songs then realized I had enough for a project. Then I picked my favorite ones, and ones that went together. Then picked ones outta those I wanted features on, and sorted ’em in a way that felt right to me. It was really casual and natural, I was probably accidentally working on it for like 6 months or so.
Photo by Frikal Patrick
When was the moment you realized that music was going to work out for you?
Has it worked out? I’m riddled with self doubt at all times.
What’s your favorite lyric you’ve ever written?
“When all your wounds are open nothing really hurts that bad.”
Do you see yourself moving to the U.S. at any point in the future?
Yeah, I’m boutta move in with the bros in LA, my paperwork bout sorted.
Where/how did you meet Tessa? (@sextingatcostco)
We met at Applebees when we both ordered tequila sunrises, then bonded over our mutual interest in black mesh fabrics.
Your Twitter presence is incredibly entertaining. How important do you think an artists use of social media is?
I don’t know, it’s sick when people are rare online but I feel like you gotta be hella popping to do that. I like Twitter, it’s tight to interact with the fans. I think it’s pretty important to at least have some kinda presence, but then people will still come out the gate with like just one social media or none and kill it too. I like talking shit though, so Imma stay on Twitter prolly.
If you could collaborate with any mainstream artist (past or present) who would you choose?
Blood Orange — is that mainstream enough? I don’t know… Ty Dolla $ign.
Photo by Jack Angell
How did you meet Lil Aaron and Lil Lotus? Can you tell us a little about the formation of boyfriendz?
I met Aaron on Christian Mingle [laughs] he was catfishing people ’cause he was bored, met Lotus in a bathroom stall and instantly hit it off.
Boyfriendz started ’cause we all noticed that we had this same birthmark but in our different colours, we pressed ’em all together and like passed out and we all had this same weird dream. When we woke up we knew what we had to do.
Can you explain the “deleting soon” in your SoundCloud bio?
Everything is temporary.
If you had to drink one thing for the rest of your life what would it be?
Caesars.
It’s clear your fans appreciate your efforts to convince people of the validity behind being bisexual, have you always been open about your sexuality? Do you think the popularity you’ve gained from your career has allowed you to be more confident?
I feel like sexuality is a spectrum and no one is just one thing straight up, and I definitely want people to feel like they can express themselves and be who they are.
I was always pretty confident in being myself and been mistaken for a girl since I was like 12. I’m not pressed over no one.
How do you feel about the current state of ‘SoundCloud’ and the community behind it?
How come the app is so shitty dog, like, why can’t I read my messages in the app?
Are there any upcoming projects or collaborations we should be expecting? If so, what can you tell us about them?
Yeah, I got a project called dropping in the next couple months, you could probably figure out the title pretty easy, it’s all produced by my bro Audio Opera. It’s really fire, and I just shot some crazy vids for it too. We’re gonna make bfz album soon. I got hella other music with gang and on my own too.
Any parting words for our readers?
I miss vine so much and idk if I’ll ever get over it.
Stream smrtdeath’s latest foxwedding produced single “cut thru me” down below.