Is It Me?

"Is It Me?" is the second track on the forthcoming Stefan Mahendra release, the project being co-written and produced by South London duo fika. The EP is scheduled for release on 3rd June via Bamboo Recordings and will explore "the inherently unpredictable aspects of love". Needless to say, the whole team is utterly excited about it.

Get ready for some laid back grooves, think D'Angelo meets Marvin Gaye meets Roy Hargrove. all that sprinkled with the timeless trumpet additions thanks to jazz virtuoso Jackson Mathod.

I was introduced to the work of the half Sri Lankan, half German, South East London-based singer Stefan Mahendra thanks to Nasko's feature of "Tear This Love Apart" back in February. Been a fan every since.

“I love the fact that we are all as passionate as each other about music”, Mahendra explains. “When we were writing the EP, we got so excited and hyped each other up so much. It’s amazing and exactly the type of energy you want when collaborating. Aside from countless delicious kebabs we consumed (big up J&D Kebabs), we also have a lot of fun just hanging out and I’m so happy to say that fika have become very good friends of mine”.

I love exploring the essence and backstory of each track I feature, so having insights from the artists themselves is invaluable. Speaking on this collaborative body of work, Jackson Mathod shares “the core ideas for the track came about really quickly with Stefan, I think we did it in literally a couple of hours. Once we had the framework we knew that the fika boys would polish off the production into what’s now the final product and I couldn’t be happier with the outcome. Also, shout out to Simon Jefferis on drums here”.

Both tracks we features so far speak about the complexity and depth of emotions engraved in what's coming in the EP. Counting the days till June!