Coda Conduct and Nyxen interview each other in celebration of new collab, The Monologue

Coda Conduct and Nyxen are two artists we've championed over the years as the future of their respective genres, the former mixing hip-hop with dance-pop as they mix quick-paced lyricism with bouncy productions, while the latter has emerged as a frontrunner is glistening house-pop, bringing catchy hooks together with thick bass grooves and swirling synth. Despite being in two very different fields, they're two acts that straddle that fine line between being 'indie' and commercialism; each of their tracks as catchy and hook-fuelled as they are left-field and exciting. It's something they bring to the table as they meet for The Monologue, a track which arrives as Coda's first under the Elefant Traks label and a track which sets them each up nicely for big years bound ahead.

Produced by jayteehazard, the track acts as the meeting point for Coda Conduct's and Nyxen's respective strengths: there's Coda's witty lyrics, humorous approach to hip-hop, and their ability to glide over ever-changing productions which range in style and sound; and Nyxen's signature synth work, which this time around, takes on more of a traditional indie-dance sound that proves her strength as a versatile producer, able to smash whatever sound she takes on - plus a Lily Allen-esque vocal which appears later on. "It was such a dream working with Nyxen," the two-piece say on the track, which was written at an all-femme writing camp held by KLP. "We were all super excited about the song from the get-go. She knew the concept too well and channelled that into absolutely nailing the chorus."

It's a great track with a great video to match, so dive into it all below as Coda Conduct and Nyxen interview each other about their years planned, song concepts and more.

Nyxen interviews Coda Conduct:

You’ve been making music together under Coda Conduct for a few years now and you seem to be super, super close!  How did you two meet and what was the catalyst in the formation of Coda Conduct???

S: We met properly while travelling together in India! We both went to the same high school in Canberra, but we're a year apart so never crossed paths. Sally is friends with Erica's cousin and half a dozen of us ended up travelling around together - that's how we met and decided to start a band. The catalyst was just like "You like hip hop?' Me too!" and we went from there.

What’s the creative process for Coda Conduct? Do you both brainstorm concepts for songs together or show each other ideas you’ve thought of separately?

S: Both! We're trying to get in a room together more and more with producers and brainstorm as a team - but sometimes we'll come up with things in our own time and send them through. For the first few years of Coda, we lived in different cities so almost everything we wrote was over Facebook chat

The Monologue sounds a lot lighter than a lot of your other music. Like it feels it was made for the day rather than night. Was this something you consciously decided on when the song idea was formed or was it more a natural shift in your preferences and influences?

S: We wrote the first ideas for it on a beautiful afternoon overlooking the beach - so I reckon that's definitely impacted on the mood! But we've always been fans of lots of genres other than hop hops, like pop and dance, and this song was a lot about trying to bring some of those worlds together. But it felt really natural - not something we had to think too much about.

Speaking of… who are your biggest influencers and who are your most unexpected influencers?

E: It might surprise people that often when I'm stuck for something to write I'll watch stand up comedy? Oh and Leunig. And my housemate Stephen. He's got a weird brain so I get a lot of ideas from him. I also think Leigh Sales is the coolest.

Can we expect to catch Coda Conduct doing any shows soon?

E: Yep, we got some big news this week! But people will have to keep an eye on our socials for exciting things going down later this year... But in the meantime we're gonna be jumping up on stage with YOU Nyxen, on the 10th May for Vanfest woooop see ya there I'll buy you a beer

What’s next for Coda Conduct? Are there more new tunes on the way?

E: Yep. We're going to keep a steady flow or tunes coming your way. Next is another single then an EP later this year. LESGO!

Coda Conduct interviews Nyxen:

The chorus lyrics are "you only ask about me when you want me to ask about you" - have you met people like this? 

I think everyone’s met someone like this, to be honest…. sometimes I fear I’m being that person.. I try not to be because that’s a pretty insufferable person to be haha.

What do you do when you're confronted with this sort of person?

I feel like my eyes just kind’ve glaze over and I vacate into my mind and vocalise the occasional “truueee” to disguise my disinterest haha 

You've told us a bit about your previous jobs - do you miss cutting up fruit?

Hahaha sometimes I catch myself sneaking into the kitchen to get my fix of fruit cutting.

A couple of people have compared your delivery on that third verse to Lily Allen - How do you feel about that? where does the slight british twang in your accent come from?

Oooo I’ve heard a few people having likened the vocal delivery to Lily Allen which I’m so stoked about because I’m a huge fan and that’s a massive compliment. I actually lived in England for six years when I was growing up. I also felt the whole vibe of this track was super Lily Allen when I first heard it so subconsciously my brain just went there.

When are we getting new music from Nyxen?

I have so much music sitting on my computer ready to go out… It’s just a matter of figuring out what order everything will be released in because there’s a bit of contrast between the tracks.

You're such a music hardware junkie - whenever we hang you've bought something cool! What's your latest music toy?

My latest present to myself was a tambourine haha, all about that live percussion recently. Before that was my Fender Blues Junior amp and my Prophet rev2. Most of the new music I’ll be putting out is heavily based around the Prophet but there’s also a pocket of songs that are a bit more bandy. 

The next thing I have my sights on are a new mic, interface, cheeky lil Juno 106 or 6 and if the world is good to me a Roland space echo.

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