Last week, I caught up with the Evening Standard’s Insider about all things NEO 10Y and where I am at creatively and emotionally. To support the interview, we shot this photo series with Alex Lord at the Tom Ford Covent Garden concept store in London. I was groomed by one of the brilliant specialists, Matthew Hicks who performed a mini facial before we shot the photographs. Special thanks to Holly at the Estée Lauder team for organising.
If you didn’t know already, Tom Ford has a Men’s Grooming Private Suite downstairs in the Covent Garden store and you can experience a range of services from a Beard Trim to a Luxury Facial – all at fairly reasonable prices, considering it is Tom Ford! You can head to www.tomfordbeauty.co.uk for bookings.
The series was shot all over the space, providing a futuristic backdrop for the images – of course. We also brought my Flying V guitar down, which fitted in seamlessly with the shiny black surfaces in the Tom Ford space.
Here’s a full transcript of the interview:
NEO 10Y talks music, cannabis and being gender non-binary
The fashion-designer-turned musician has rediscovered his voice
Musician, visual artist, fashion designer, yogi and cannabis advocate are just a few of the ways Nik Thakkar describes himself, but he’d probably rather you call him by his stage name: NEO 10Y.
Thakkar’s cerebral approach to his science-inspired moniker sets the tone for the artist’s musical repertoire, which he explains is full of “self realisation” and a mission to understand “the bigger picture of our existence” – all accompanied by high concept visuals and Thakkar’s dreamlike vocals.
The past few years appear to have been full of self-discovery for Thakkar, who after nearly a decade has returned to music. With an aesthetic honed by his previous life as a fashion designer for Ada + Nik, his non-binary identity and his conscious approach to politics, life and everything in between, Thakkar’s work challenges the norm with explicit lyrics and controversial visual imagery – some of which has resulted in death threats.
With fans like Tom Ford and more falling under NEO 10Y’s spell, we spoke to Thakkar about what it means to be non-binary, Internet trolls and worshipping the “divine female.”
Your stage name NEO 10Y is inspired by a phrase in biological science, can you explain why you chose it?
“When I started making songs as NEO 10Y, I was inspired by a vigilante super hero version of myself and because I had done a lot of work under my birth name, I felt like I wanted an evolution. I found the word neoteny in biology which means the retention of childhood characteristics in adulthood, which when you translate it to a spiritual sense, it’s the idea of leading with your heart open and the lack of judgement and systemic oppression you have when you are a kid.
It’s also really cool that it has N.T. within it, and is digitized to the number 10 which, if you think about the universe in 1s and 0s, represents the a sense of completeness in binary code.”
You gave up on music for nearly a decade, what led you to go back?
“I actually lost out on a music scholarship at school, and it definitely left me stunted. Also at that time there was never a place for an artist like me. I’m really grateful of the digital evolution of music and the democratisation of creative license in the space, because that’s how I can still be in charge off my own voice, aesthetic, vision and message.
When I learnt piano as a kid, I was taught to essentially do piano recitals, but it felt too robotic to me and I didn’t identify with that part of the process. I went on to teach myself the guitar, which I played open mic nights on and off for a while but it wasn’t until three years ago that I felt I was in a place where I had a voice and valid message to share real songs with.”
Your concept film The Kid That Killed Trump drew a lot of ire when it dropped and resulted in death threats. Did you know when you were creating it that it would court controversy?
“I knew what I was doing… to an extent. I did it anonymously because I was legitimately scared of potential political repercussions because no one had expressed this visually yet – and it was before he was even president. Kathy Griffin and Snoop Dogg and countless others came afterwards, which only proves group consciousness and the public sentiment.
The death threats are just social media having a field day and you have to kind of laugh it off. Internet trolls are part and parcel of this entertainment reality… the anti vegan comments I get are worse half the time!”
There’s been a lot of discussion about what it means to be non-binary, especially following Sam Smith’s announcement earlier this year. As a non-binary individual yourself, are there any common misconceptions you’ve come across?
“For me, non binary is a very spiritual and innate sense of understanding that we are all comprised of male and female energies. For me personally, I worship the divine female as much as I possibly can in the physical world that we live in, but I am not trans as I do not have gender dysphoria.
Even though I am in a male body, my spirit does not subscribe to gender norms and I think that if everyone acknowledged their non binary nature, we would generate a lot more peace and equality in the world.
A common misconception about non binary individuals is that some type of wardrobe or physical world change is required. It is simply a spiritual state of understanding the fluidity of gender within yourself.
We will not see a reduction in toxic masculinity if cis het males think that being non binary and accepting their female energy means that they need to change their physical appearance. Gen Z are all woke, queer, non binary, pansexuals in the making, so there’s hope yet!”
Beyond music, you’ve worked in the fashion industry for brands including Louis Vuitton and Jean Paul Gautier and had your own fashion brand Ada + Nik – does fashion still play a big role in your creative life?
“Personal style definitely does! I love expression through uniqueness and iconography, and if anything, designing my own wardrobe with Ada + Nik for four years definitely helped elevate that for me. I am so grateful to have such amazing creative friends around me. Ada is slaying with Ada Zanditon Couture, she dressed Ariana [Grande] for the God Is A Woman video and we still collaborate on shoots.
Personally, I am at a stage where I am really happy creating ethereal constructs through songs, visuals and live shows. I think a lot about our impact on the planet and so I’m not currently putting anything physical out there at this stage, but who knows. I still work with brands that I respect. I love Tom Ford [the accompanying shoot was groomed by Tom Ford Beauty at their concept store in Covent Garden] and he’s vegan now too, which really sets the bar for the future of the industry, a really exciting time.”
What’s next?
“I am in the studio at the moment working on some new tracks for later this year. I just filmed a mini documentary with BBC Ideas, and I am doing more consciousness work – ‘vodcasts’, talks and guest lectures. I am also working with the healing power of plants, particularly cannabis, which is finally becoming more available in the UK.”
So weed and music for the rest of 2019 – iconic!’