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# Underground trans producer a.k.a. skips unveils debut EP ‘Jawfiller’ – an acute reflection of their trans experience
- URL: https://www.scenemag.co.uk/underground-trans-producer-a-k-a-skips-unveils-debut-ep-jawfiller-an-acute-reflection-of-their-trans-experience/
- Published: 2023-11-09T10:11:27.000Z
- Updated: 2023-11-09T10:11:27.000Z
- Description: Flush with creative ingenuity, Jawfiller contains a diverse, unpredictable collection of tracks all threaded by a.k.a. skips’ distinct vision.
- Author: Graham Robson
- Tags: Music, music, new music, Trans

***Lead photo cred: @JOSHUASPENCERPHOTO***

Underground trans producer **a.k.a. skips** uses dance music as a vehicle to cultivate a vibrant cultural spirit. For him, community is everything.

Throughout much of the 2010s, the creative polymath built an impressive CV under his hyper-electronic alias **Ducky**, having surged through the electronic music world due to his heavy-hitting collaborations and touring slots with artists such as **Jauz**, **MUST DIE!**, **Anna Lunoe**, **Mija**, **Kayzo**, and **NGHTMRE**; performances at festivals such as **Ultra Music Festival**, **EDC Las Vegas**, **Bonnaroo**, and **Lollapalooza**; and releases on vaunted labels such as **Deadbeats**, **Astralwerks**, **Dim Mak**, **Activia Benz**, **Spinnin**, **NEST**, and more.

In 2021, a.k.a. skips retired the Ducky project and began his private transition as a transgender man – a journey that allowed him to diverge from the normative expectations of an electronic musician and find homes in new art forms, new spaces, and in a new body.

This past summer, he released his first photobook *i want to rest and be held by someone who loves me*. He also had an original painting (**Mouse Trap!**) included in renowned Los Angeles art gallery **La Luz De Jesus** – all while tattooing out of a shop in Los Angeles.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/image-1-e1699524624688.jpg)

Naturally, the a.k.a. skips moniker has also become an extension of his new creative ethos – an ideology that embraces queerness and sexuality through loud, bold, and unabashed aesthetic choices, a cultivation of a new artistic identity whose mere existence is a defiant artistic statement.

As a result, he’s attracted a community that celebrates his queer lifestyle and allows him to be the person he’s always wanted to be. Since releasing his first music under the new alias in May (*F.T.N.U.* and *My Only Mistake*), he’s translated this newfound freedom into a sound defined by 90s throwback rave stylings – an evocation of wild warehouse parties where the outcasts can party to their heart’s desire.

#### “So proud to present my first EP as a.k.a. skips. This project is a love letter to queer and trans life, and the unique connection that a proper rave provides is fundamental to my understanding of what a community can be. An unabashed commitment to love and connection, and a rejection of the systems that would separate us. Let’s dance.” – a.k.a. skips

Today, a.k.a. skips releases his debut EP, ***Jawfiller***, a five-track package that pushes the boundaries of dance music through an unapologetically queer lens. Edgy, brooding, and filled to the brim with heart-pounding club beats, *Jawfiller* is an acute reflection of a.k.a. skips’ trans experience. Referencing the literal jawfillers commonly used to create a more masculine appearance, the title represents how the external can be transmuted to reflect greater truths about who we really are.

![](https://www.scenemag.co.uk/content/images/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/image-2-e1699524645904.jpg)

Photo cred: @JOSHUASPENCERPHOTO

Listeners got their first taste of Jawfiller with the EP’s lead single, *I.T.C.T.M.*, – a playful club banger that is as infectious as it is subversive. Next was *If The DJ Let Me*, a gritty, propulsive house track that’s filled to the brim with dusty breakbeats, ethereal synth pads, and nostalgic chord progressions. Then, he released *F.M.T.D.*, a raucous techno banger that bursts with unhindered sexuality and confident energy.

Jawfiller is rounded out by two new tracks, including EP opener *I Get Along With Everyone*. The track opens with a rapid fire sample of skips’ processed voice, repeating, “I get along with everyone/it’s not that hard/I just do what I want/It’s easy,” a perfect tone setter for the EP’s liberatory sonic and structural choices. Stabbing bass tones and backing drum breaks build with a swirling mix of vocals before a whistle blow gives way to thumping kick drums and vintage rave chord progressions – a combination of aesthetics that accurately reflects the EP’s overall vibe.

There’s also *Shut Up*, a ghoulish techno heater that combines stuttering kick drum rhythms with cacophonous, distorted synth progressions – a singular dance music listening experience that combines nightmarish thrills with gleeful club euphoria.

Flush with creative ingenuity, *Jawfiller* contains a diverse, unpredictable collection of tracks all threaded by a.k.a. skips’ distinct vision. The EP comes out of the gate fully formed, and portends a bright future for the producer as he further settles into his new life and culture.

**Connect with a.k.a. skips [HERE](https://ffm.bio/akaskips?ref=scenemag.co.uk)**