Meet Manchester’s latest up and coming artist: Goteki 45

This week, The Manchester Tab caught up with Louis Reynolds, aka Goteki 45 about his inspirations, his eclectic sound and latest track and how he is staying positive and creative, even when Manchester’s music industry has been hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic.

Louis is not only a nightlife photographer, but also a budding dance music producer, who started out mixing Rihanna and has now gone on to having his tunes played on BBC Radio 2.

How did you come up with your name?

Credit: Louis Reynolds @goteki_45

The name actually came from some of my fondest childhood memories, playing a game called WipeOut with my dad on the PS1. It was just fun at the time, but as I grew older, the rave soundtrack, the design and the whole story behind the game has completely fascinated me.

One of the ‘teams’ I used to play as was called Goteki 45 – a rogue racing team from Hawaii who joined the league to essentially go rogue and mess stuff up rather than ‘play the game’. Seemed fitting!

What type of music do you make and what are your inspirations?

The music at the moment is still so so varied. It’s all Electronic for sure, but like, my first EP, ‘Cairodrome’ was a three-tracker, with hints of techno, reggaeton with dubstep and thumping subs.

The record I did with Zoe (Szou) though was essentially a summery, hip hop inspired pop song.

Because I have been exposed to such a vast range of music growing up, I feel like now is that time to get it all out of my system – I’m sure something more consistent will come later, but if not, I’ll keep smashing them out anyway.

How has the music scene in Manchester has been affected during coronavirus?

We’re all trying our best. I mean I’m lucky enough to have been brought out of redundancy, but I know so many who are still struggling. I think people are getting creative though. Amidst all the bollocks the government is telling us to do, I think people are really working hard to still make sure they can support themselves, and each other.

Save Our Scene UK are doing some really great stuff that I’m in awe of really. They’re fundraising through love to help the most in need of any sort of help, first hand.

Talk us through some of your tracks…

The latest one, Take Your Time (feat. Szou) has had support that has just blown me and Zoe (Szou) away. It keeps getting played on BBC Radio Manchester (shouts DJ Roesh!) and people are just loving it.

After the first EP, I fancied doing something happy, something that reminded me of doing festivals last year. So I sent her the tune, she recorded her stunning vocals, and that was it, it was done. BBC Radio and a few NTS Radio shows have been rinsing it, so for me, if I could get it in front of Annie Mac I think I’d be happy to chill out a bit then!

What are your aspirations for the future, do you see music as being a career path?

To be honest, I’ve been doing this for years. I’ve been doing it since I was 12 and making Rihanna remixes, but I was always too precious and embarrassed about releasing anything beyond my group of friends.

After a few conversations with my friend Ryan, who DJ’s and produces as Mella Dee, I got a boost of confidence that I feel was long overdue. I took on this overpowering “f*ck it” attitude, and as soon as I realised this, I put it straight into Cairodrome.

Do you think it shows? I think it does. So the future for me is, well, “f*ck it”. I’ll keep churning them out regardless, and I’ll put every inch of me into it while I am. If people like it on the way then that’s great too.

What can we expect to hear from you next?

The next thing I’ve been working on is much more personal to me. I won’t go into it, but lets just say it’s not necessarily club focused – more of a listening experience.

Credit: @jacob_pudifoot and @ethankelsall

It’s highly emotionally-charged, so I think people are going to really connect to it in different ways. It’ll be followed it up with a visual too, which is really exciting. Does anyone watch music videos anymore?

Would you ever want to break into the club scene and hold your own nights? What are your goals for the future, despite Covid?

I’ve done my own nights before at Soup Kitchen and some other venues in town, and when we do another it’ll be ace, but for now, no.

In terms of the future, It’s really uncertain unfortunately, but I’m more than ever aiming for the stars, keeping positive. At the end of the day, me and all my friends who do music, we want to make it, of course because its fun and its just what we do, but it’s also so that if you make it, you get to bring your peers up with you.

That’s the aim for me I think – when I can bring my talented friends, family and pals up with me. But hey, one step at a time I guess! Let’s get that track to Annie Mac first 😉

Follow Goteki 45 on: Twitter, Spotify, Instagram and Bandcamp.

Feature image credit images credited to: Louis Reynolds @goteki_45

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