Ronika: "Love keeps the human race alive, so it’s worth a brief mention..."

How was Lose My Cool written/recorded?

It was all written and recorded in my home studio. I wrote a lot of the tracks on the piano this time round - I play terribly so thought that would be a good starting point. I did YouTube tutorials on gospel piano and how to play Tupac tracks. I produced half the record myself and half I collaborated with other producers - a few of them came by my studio and we worked on tracks together (like L-Vis 1990 and Pan Andrs) and the ones who weren’t in the UK, we sent our gold dust back and forth over the internet.

What did you listen to while creating it?

Here’s the mood palette of sounds I was listening to a lot for inspiration: Janet, MJ, En Vogue, Tupac, Jam & Lewis, Dam Funk, Kelis, De La, J-Lo, TLC, Anderson.Paak, Mary Jane Girls, King, Pharrell, JT, Kaytranada, The Internet, Nao, Erykah, Prince, Ariana, Funkadelic, Madlib, Mariah, Emily King, Stevie.

Now I’ve said that, the album is going to be a disappointment; I apologise in advance.

What sounds can we expect?

Something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue. Heavy on the grooves and jams... it’s a bit more downtempo compared to [debut album] Selectadisc. Some meaty pop bangers tho. Slick and shiny one minute, then lo-fi and dirty the next, like the glitzy night out and the grimy morning after.

What's it about?

It’s a record about love, mostly themed like a badly-structured, irrelevant, trashy romance novel... but love keeps the human race alive, so it’s worth a brief mention. The record is a mix of feelings and fantasy - sometimes I’m roleplaying like I’m in a soap opera, and others I’m pouring my heart out. There are a lot of bittersweet lyrics over hot beats, I will tell you that. Some tracks are sassy/empowering about taking no shit from boys. Some are about being brought to your knees by love. One of the songs is about long-term love, sticking with someone through the hard times, and the reward being happier than ever. Life is complicated and we all have crazy emotions and different sides to our personalities, so I’ll run with that. In many directions.

Can you tell us more about "Principle" - how did it come together?

"Principle" is about some no-good bat-out-of-hell trying to take your girl for a ride and wont commit his ass and wont even admit to his friends they’re together. It was written after a friend told me about her love life and I was trying to offer some advice about it all. Don’t worry, she’s sacked him off now, and if I ever meet him I will shake his hand politely and then perform that song for him on the spot. I wrote and produced the track myself and it was one of the first I wrote for the album.

What makes you lose your cool?

Losing my cool is a daily occurrence for me. I tend to oscillate between exceptionally cool and zero cool, and the difference is really just when I take my sunglasses off, which is generally in the morning when I get out of bed. The title is taken from the song "Lose My Cool", which is a song about losing your cool by stressing and over-thinking your communications with someone over the always reliable, and never confusing medium of text messaging. But it felt like a good fit for the album as a lot of the songs are bittersweet love songs about losing your cool for somebody.

What was the aftermath of Selectadisc like?

I decompressed by flying helicopters blindfolded, topless white-water rafting, and chasing tornados in a mobility scooter.

Actually making Selectadisc was tough as I got diagnosed with a really life-changing illness at beginning of it, and also doing the record totally DIY - from producing, mixing, and releasing it on my label - meant it took a long time. The year before it came out was one of the hardest of my life as I'd been in hospital many times and twice I’d been told I nearly died. I had to quit my job due to the illness, and felt my life had spiralled totally out of control, so the sense of achievement from finishing the record was pretty huge... and then so many people were into it, and wrote so many nice things about it, which made me so happy to feel like all the effort and determination not to give up had been worth it.

You went into remission when Selectadisc was released. What was it like to have the album done and dusted and, presumably, feel much better at the same time?

It felt like one of the happiest times in my life! It’s really hard to explain the impact that living with the illness has on you, but it literally changes everything - your personality, your relationships, your mental health, the isolation of it all - and it was just soul crushing, not to mention all the drug highs and lows. I never thought I’d live a normal life again… so to finally get in remission and experience normality again was like heaven. I felt I’d come back to life again. Now I’ve been well for two years it feels like the illness is in the past, so let's all raise a glass to my good health.

Now you've had time to reflect on everything, how do you feel about Selectadisc?

I’m dead proud of Selectadisc, it reflects my love for an era of disco/boogie/freestyle music that I wanted to explore and put my pop spin on. Also it’s a real feel-good record too. Music is an amazing healer and can make you feel good, uplifted, and forget about your problems. People turn to all kinds of destructive things just to achieve that state of mind and feeling of connection, but music does all of that, so I’ve always wanted to make music that feels uplifting and fun.

What was it like for you making a record without battling an illness?

It was a real joy because I could just immerse myself in the studio and get into a creative workflow without being interrupted by months of downtime or trying to work through the pain all the time. Moving to London helped give me a fresh perspective too, exploring the new terrain, meeting and working with new people, admiring the handsome surroundings, going out to new music haunts – it was all inspiring.

What excites you about 2017?

Well I am of course excited about the album coming out on 20 January! It’s been a lot of work and I really hope people are into it. I can’t wait to play the album live so keep your eyes peeled - me and my band will be performing in a seedy alleyway near you next year.