MOKITA's heart beats with electro-pop love songs

With his solid concoction of pop and electronic elements, Mokita (which btw is a New Guinea word meaning "a truth everybody knows but nobody speaks) has been establishing himself as one of the rapid emerging music artists of our generation.

His undeniable talent and his contemporary mix of electro-pop has made his collaborations with some major players in the country and pop world possible.

Mokita has worked with Demi Lovato, Ryan Tedder, Maggie Rogers, Cheat Codes, Daya, Betty Who, Tayler Buono, Tritonal, Armin Van Buuren, etc.

In this interview, John-Luke Carter opens up about his musical background, what keeps him busy and the story behind his self-produced, written and performed song “Love Alone.”

What inspired you to become a musician?

I grew up in the church singing in the choir and taking piano lessons. I just fell in love with music at an early age. There wasn’t a ton of other things that I was good at, so naturally I just spent a lot of time playing and listening to music.

On a typical day, what do you usually do aside from making music?

Aside from making music, I love to read, work out, eat and hang with friends.

Can you share with us the story behind your recent debut song “Love Alone”?

Love Alone honestly just came out of nowhere one night. I was just playing piano in my studio and the chorus melody just got in my head and then about 45 minutes later, I had written the whole song. I had never written a song that fast before, so it was hard to tell in that moment if I really liked it.

I revisited it the next day and produced out the whole thing out in a few hours. I think the reason it moved so quickly is because I wrote it out of an honest place. I think everyone that’s ever been in a relationship can relate to the fear of being vulnerable, especially because there is always a chance that those feelings won’t be reciprocated. Being transparent and honest is always worth it, but it's a scary thing, and that’s really what the song is about.

Do you consider yourself an emotional person?

I'm definitely an emotional person but I don’t really wear my emotions on my sleeve. I kinda bottle things up, which I why I think I use music as a way to express a lot of things.

What can we expect next from you?

I have a lot of new music on the way and working on some cool collaborations. I'm also planning on a playing a ton more shows this next year.

If you’re going to be a book, what book will you be and why?

One of my favorite books of all time is ‘Into the Wild’. I love spontaneity and adventure. I feel like I love that book because he doesn’t take life too seriously.

If you can support any charity/organization/person, what/who would it be and why?

One of the organizations that is close to my heart is The American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. I had a close friend of mine commit suicide when I was younger and I grew up struggling with severe depression so that’s something I still battle with.