the sound chalk makes mocks and embraces art school nonsense on "CSM for bullshit"

Despite his rapid rise in hyper online circles as the latest dance-floor wunderkind, Kabir Parekh, also known as the sound chalk makes, isn’t letting it get to his head. In the past year, he's rapidly established himself amongst London's electronic scene as a verified cult hit-maker. His mix of sharp, noisy electro-clash and odd, almost bedroom pop intimacy has resulted in a sound that straddles the ever-thinning tight rope between internet micro-genre niches. At points, he's been labelled laptop twee, indie sleaze revival, and plunderphonic, but a focus on genre feels reductive. Rather, his sound is reflective of the current post-Soundcloud generation who treat songs as less of a concrete product and rather a great weave upon which ideas can be stitched. That’s not to say he isn’t a serious musical product. One just needs to listen to his song to realize he's a veritable hit machine. But part of what makes it all so addictive is his delightful mix of intimacy, play, and sincerity.

That balance is something he’s keen to acknowledge. "All art just comes from what you're living and I've been having a lot of fun. At the same time, whenever things are serious, they're serious, so it's a subconscious balance between the two that comes in and out," Parekh shares. That reliance on the subconscious belies a spur-of-the-moment feeling to his music. In many ways, it is of the moment, reflecting his awareness of London's current music scene.

"The UK is coming off this wave of being very important for underground music," Parekh explains. "And it needs some sort of creativity to re-start just dancing, just enjoying yourself. A lot of the stuff that's popped off over the last couple of years is not so much about having fun. I think more so about, being good, but there’s a line to walk there."

"CSM for bullshit" is pure fun. Parekh recorded the track with his friends Seven Blair Angels and pato6p through a series of hangouts that turned into impromptu jams. "I think the best stuff comes out when we're together having a day," says Parekh. "It's not even, like, a session per se, it's just hanging out and figuring it out from there." Seven Blair Angels adds, "Some homies just link up and play soccer, we just link up and open Logic." The trio feels friends-first and fellow musicians secondary. That’s not to downplay their obvious talents. The track is a glittery piece of dance-floor pop with scattered chiming percussion, flaring synths, and rumbling bass. It is as catchy as it is home-spun, with the clear joy of the recording process seeping into every note. "We were just having fun and coming in and out of the room and just making each other laugh at the verses," says Parekh.

That sense of comedy is part of why "CSM for bullshit" is such an effortlessly endearing song. The core idea came from the trio's experiences with students at London art and design school, Central Saint Martins (CSM), with Seven Blair Angels saying, "It's not necessarily bad experiences with people from CSM, but its not necessarily good ones. So, I was just like, it would be hella funny, the idea of studying bullshit at CSM." Though the cultural commentary isn’t coming from a place of keen critique, rather as pato6p puts it, "We just talk often about what that means nowadays in the London scene — to go to that school and the way certain people [act], as if there were archetypes to art schools and people in London. Whatever we're talking about in the day or what's happening ends up just finding its way into the songs."

With all three living in London as students, but none of them being from the UK, they feel refreshingly separate from any sense of scene and history. "I want to stress even though, like, currently our music is grounded in London,’ says Parekh, "we are very much borderless. Everything that we do is from the world." pato6p adds, "It’s the best thing about London right now. It's open for everybody to bring something to the table." Seven Blair Angels likens it to a reverse British invasion. The trio brings their different styles and perspectives to the city's scene and intermingles with it. It’s something that goes beyond the trio or the track. Each of the artists' approach to production and songwriting is a clear product of the post-SoundCloud era, and even Parekh's other work promoting parties in both London and Mumbai is built around this sense of cross-cultural pollination.

But when it comes to "CSM for bullshit," the most central influence on the trio is incredibly local. "I feel like at the broader level, we all have the same famous artists, but like when you get niche, we listen to quite different ends of the spectrum." says Seven Blair Angels. "Similar enough to understand each other, but different enough so we can bring something new to the table." adds pato6p. Even recently, the trio have been influencing each other. Parekh mentions pato6p showing him Meet Me In The Bathroom, which completely inspired him. Seven Blair Angels is keen to mention Vanessa Elmara's "Don't Let This Feeling." "Can we get that in the interview?" he asks enthusiastically. "It's such a good song and Kabir showed it to me after we recorded together, and I still think it's the best thing ever."

The shared joy, the mix of shit-talking and talent — it all comes together to make "CSM for bullshit" feel as effortlessly charming as it is ridiculous. While it’s a showcase for each of the artists' clear talents, it carries on that key quality that makes it the very best home-spun pop from eighties lo-fi jangle cassettes to Soundcloud drops. At the end of the day, the track was made by three friends trying to make each other laugh and when you hear its mix of infectious hooks and lyrics that are near surreal in their parody, it's hard not to laugh with them.