Tantrum's Michika Skyy McClinton talks 'Dekinai' and the power of dreams

• Montoya Williams
• Tantrum

Celebrating the release of her second album, XYO (Deer Bear Wolf), Michika Skyy McClinton, better known as Tantrum, headlines a night of murky and experimental electronic pop ambiance on Mon., Sept. 22, at 529. McClinton’s lyrical bent ponders personal and spiritual relationships with weariness and mysterious subtlety throughout songs such as “Gemstone,” “Magic Carpets,” and XYO’s centerpiece, “Dekinai.” Keep an ear out for her spot-on rendition of Björk’s “Joga” when she takes the stage with Highlander, Nomen Novum, and Love Inks.

Before the show, however, McClinton took a few minutes to talk about the underlying concept of the new album, the power of dreams, and her latest single, "Dekinai."

Tell me about the title of your new album, XYO.
It’s a concept that I came up with after I had written a few songs and started recognizing a theme. It came to me in a dream, actually. I don’t remember exactly what the dream was about but I remember somebody holding out their hand to me and there were three round crackers. One cracker had an "x," one had a "y," and one had an "o" on it. I heard a voice say “choose one,” kind of like The Matrix red pill/blue pill thing. Then I woke up and tried to analyze the dream. I came up with this concept that it was a choice of life. The "x" symbolizes death, like when a cartoon is dead they have xs over their eyes — pretty simple. The "y" represents the suffering in asking "why" questions and not accepting that’s just life. There’s nothing wrong with that, most of us live in "y" our whole lives. The "o" stands for freedom and complete acceptance. That’s basically what it’s about. Every day and every moment of life you are choosing one of the three. All of the songs are based around that.

? ? ?
In your dream, did you pick one?
I think I picked the "y" and that was how I realized where I was at.

And “Dekinai” embodies this concept?
Yes. The last show I played at the Earl, I sold this single that’s entirely written in Japanese, which is my first language. It was the first time I wrote a song in Japanese for Tantrum. The song is about dreams and how they correlate to your possibilities. Since the concept of the album came to me in a dream it’s directly related but it was more subconsciously that I geared it toward this theme.

It means “I can’t do it” in Japanese. That’s the hook in the song, not so much the meaning. The lyrics translate to “In the world of dreams, I would like to try to fly / I could go anywhere easily but if I wake up and fall then I can’t do anything.” And then the second verse is, “Carrying all this weight, aren’t you’re shoulders heavy? / Even though it’s heavy and weighing you down, you can’t seem to throw it away. Without Magic, you can’t do anything.”

Your first album, Omagari Town is named after where your mother grew up, correct?

Yes. I’m half Japanese and my dad is African American. I lived in Japan as a child but mostly grew up in the suburbs of Atlanta. My dad met my mom in New York. He was an entertainer — a Michael Jackson impersonator and runway model at the time, which is why he was traveling so much. Now he’s a retired DeKalb County sheriff.

Did he encourage you to be a performer?
He was very into the entertainment business when he was younger, and he definitely wanted me to be a performer or a model or something. I modeled a lot as a child. He always wanted to put me in the spotlight.

What kind of modeling did you do?
Just like print work for Walmart and stuff.

Like for back to school sales?
Yep, good times.

What kind of music do you say you make?
It’s so hard to put it into a genre. Usually I just tell people it’s dark wave/pop/ethereal/something.

Is it experimental music?
Yeah, it’s on the very far experimental side of pop music. It’s still cohesive to a broad audience but it’s experimental for me. I want people to relate to it and understand it in their own way. When I create art or music, I have an abstract idea in mind but I want people to perceive it as something that’s relatable. I want people to find their own meaning.

Do you think of yourself as a songwriter?
Yeah, I write and produce all of my music but I’ve collaborated with a lot of people. I’ve worked with Phil Jones from Dog Bite and Seanny Georgie from No Eyes. A lot of times people come to me with an electronic song and want me to sing on it. I’ve done that in the past, but Tantrum has always been my thing, and I’ve always done everything. When I write, I come up with an idea, and lay it down in Logic and go through all the steps. I design all my own artwork and fliers.

What sort of limitations have you encountered in Atlanta?
Honestly, I was discouraged for a long time just because Atlanta does have a tendency to be very cliquey. When I moved here at 19 or 20 I felt like certain people only went to certain shows or venues. I was trying to write music and no one would take me seriously. I was transitioning from writing and playing whimsical folk stuff to more of what I do now and nobody really got it. So I have struggled with people being closed-minded about it but I never gave up.

Are you pressing XYO on vinyl?
I would like to, but for the release we’re doing tapes, CDs, and digital. I want to get it out there and start writing new stuff. I like to keep the ball rolling.

What’s your stage show like?
I’m playing by myself and Clinton Callahan is playing bass. Every now and then I’ll have David Courtright play guitar. At the last Deer Bear Wolf festival, the three of us played each other’s sets and played back-to-back, so it was funny. People were like “Is this is the same band?” I try to have people play with me as often as I can. Ultimately, with the type of music that I do, I would love to have a full band because I play with my tracks. It’s really hard to get other people to play your music. I’m bad at telling people what to do.