“Like nobody else”: Meet Mk.gee, the new musician that Eric Clapton bows to
For the longest time, it felt like the league of guitar heroes was a step a long time ago. When people talk about the best players of all time, it often ends up feeling like a time capsule of 1960s and ‘70s artists, as if the whole skill peaked with Jimi Hendrix, Keith Richards, or Eric Clapton. However, Clapton himself would argue against that, as he spoke about one modern player whom he bows to, declaring the 28-year-old Mk.gee as a true innovator.
Meet Michael Todd Gordon, or Mk.gee, a New Jersey-born artist who has become an underground sensation that inspires the big leagues. But Clapton isn’t the only one looking at Mk.gee with awe. Countless modern artists reference the musician as a major inspiration, imploring them to push their own playing further. Acts like Fred Again, Omar Apollo, Travis Scott and more have entrusted him with songwriting and production. But even just a peak at Instagram during the artist’s recent run of shows in London it seemed as if every guitar player in the city-wide radius had flocked there, either to worship at his alter or simply to try and figure out how on earth he’s doing it.
Clapton seems baffled by the sounds that Mk.gee is managing to get out of the Fender 60s reissue Jaguar he wields. Talking to The Real Music Observer, Clapton said of the artist: “He has found things to do on the guitar that are like nobody else.” Having witnessed the young player in action, he likened it to seeing another guitar legend in the flesh, stating he felt “the same when I first saw Prince.”
Prince is one of his influences, as is Clapton. During an interview with Dazed, Gordon said of his youthful listening habits, “I built the weirdest, most extensive library of music,” keen to listen to anything and everything. He brings up Sly Stone, Bruce Springsteen, The Black Keys, Jay-Z and more. But the thing that makes him so special and so fascinating to other players is the fact that he sounds nothing like any of them.
He sounds nothing like anything else. Across his debut album, Two Star & the Dream Police, on tracks like ‘Are You Looking Up’ or ‘Candy’, he remains one step ahead of listeners. You might think for a fleeting second that you’ve caught him, that maybe you’ve heard some reference or some likeness to something else, but before the thought has even formulated, he’s slipped away and morphed into something else. His songs are slippery and meandering and unexpected but also somehow deeply hooky. They nail the difficult balance between left-field experimentation and catchy accessibility.
While his music sounds nothing like Prince’s, Clapton’s connection between Gordon and Prince makes a lot of sense simply due to the spirit of the song. Just as how Prince managed to be more interesting and innovative while also having a pop punch that made him uber popular, Mk.gee finds the same golden ground.
Head to his gig, and you’ll be met by a front row of guitar players squinting to figure out what the player is actually doing or what equipment he’s using. The actual sound and tone of the guitar have the same almost elusive quality that, like Clapton said, feels new and inventive. In online forums, there are hoards of fans trying to figure out what he’s doing, sharing that he uses baritone guitar strings and a ’90s Roland VG-8, a kind of old-school guitar synth.
Even Clapton was trying to figure it out. As well as praising the artist’s recordings, he added: “And he can do it live.”
Clearly joining the crowd in a fascinated sense of awe, staring at the artist’s kit, as he continued, “I used to have one of these things, a Tascam. It’s a four-track recording cassette machine. He uses that as a preamp. So he’s into the older stuff of sonics and tunings and a great singer.”
But unless you’re a guitar player keen to become a copycat, the how and what of Mk.gee’s music are beside the point. The average listener will simply be hooked by the sense of intrigue and emotion that his playing manages to convey. The newness of his style seems able to tap into a whole new kind of instrumental articulation of feeling. By not tying himself to any one reference and by leaving his peers in his dust, Mk.gee is evolving way ahead of everyone as this generation’s leader that the legends bow to.
