Kavi Sucks: “I Am Mentally Well And My Brain Is Perfectly Healthy”
There’s been a refreshing shift in Australian music lately. Where emerging artists might have previously felt the need to minimise their ambitions in a bid to play into a laidback and carefree Aussie stereotype, the next generation of artists in this country have started owning their desire to be global popstars. Eora artist Kavi embodies this new era to a T.
To enter Kavi’s world is to step into a place where everyone is free to be themselves — and preferably post all about it on X. It’s in the real world where his vision truly comes to life, though: I saw him perform at BIGSOUND earlier this year, and he’s well on his way to becoming Australia’s most chaotic popstar.
Kavi’s set to support fellow pop phenomenon BIG WETT at Eora’s Factory Theatre on Saturday, November 11, and it looks to be a collision of stars so powerful that it may alter the course of history forever (… or it’ll just be a very fun night). Junkee caught up with Kavi to hear about a jacuzzi-related mishap, his thought process after posting on Instagram and knowing the first 20 digits of pi. When Walt Whitman wrote “I contain multitudes”, he also accidentally predicted Kavi’s existence.
Junkee: A mistake that turned into an opportunity?
Experiencing true love (having a crush on a boy who didn’t like me back) this one time and planning all facets of our future together — including (but not limited to) financial decisions (saved his PayID in my CommBank app), our housing situation (made us an obsidian castle in Minecraft with three villagers as pets), and relationship therapy (added him on Co-Star). Unfortunately this led to a deep depression, but I was consequently inspired to write the greatest debut EP of all time (KRUSHED!). Thus, I reached unprecedented levels of fame, wealth and success. In many ways I’m like [Avril Lavigne’s] skater boy rocking up on MTV.
Cringe quote you used to live by?
This is a quote from ancient religious texts, and it was passed down through generations of my family over centuries. Unfortunately due to the modern-day climate crisis, it has aged poorly (references to excessive air-conditioning usage and aircraft emissions), and it is therefore no longer a quote I can live by. “This one is for the boys with the boomin’ system/Top down, AC with the cooler system/When he come up in the club, he be blazin’ up/Got stacks on deck like he savin’ up/And he ill, he real, he might gotta deal/He pop bottles and he got the right kind of build/He cold, he dope, he might sell coke/He always in the air, but he never fly coach.”
Worst advice you got and blindly followed?
I was told that I didn’t need Botox, and I stupidly followed this abhorrent advice between the ages of 0 to 15. Thankfully, upon using the power of my mind, I eventually utilised critical thinking skills and realised that it would be disingenuous of me to be an international pop sensation without having undergone cosmetic procedures.
The worst failure you’re up for sharing, and what you learned from it?
- Spending thousands of dollars of Centrelink Pandemic Leave Disaster Payments on an Airbnb penthouse apartment for my going-away party before I left Melbourne to move to Sydney.
- Forgetting to turn off the jacuzzi overnight, resulting in a beer bottle lid becoming lodged in the plumbing.
- Opening a Zip Pay account to fund my move to Sydney after using all my savings to pay for the jacuzzi repairs, and consequently living in debt for my first year in a new city.
The moral of this tale, parable and fable is to have more money.
Anything you used to be wrong about?
I am mentally well and my brain is perfectly healthy and functioning exactly as it ought to be.
Embarrassing internet habit?
Whenever I post an Instagram story, I scroll through the millions of people who have viewed it, and for each person, I spend 5-10 minutes astrally projecting into their body in order to determine what sentiments they harbour towards the aforementioned story. While I am within their mind, much like the Australian Census, I like to conduct advanced data analysis by posing a variety of thoughtful questions such as, “What would this individual rate this story out of 10?”, “In terms of humour, would this person say they were extremely satisfied?”, “Does [your name here] have a crush on me?”, and so on and so forth.
Ideal morning routine versus actual morning routine?
Ideally I would not be awake. Disturbingly, I am actually often required to be out of bed before 2PM, in which case my morning routine is as follows (in any order):
- Crying.
- Thinking about the political and economic state of the world right now.
- Experiencing ego death.
- Liking Bella Hadid’s story on Instagram.
- Smiling, giggling and laughing.
Something very off-brand for you?
Knowing the first 20 digits of pi by heart (not a joke).
Bad health decision?
Quitting cigarettes.
What do you waste money on?
Vapes.
Worst procrastination habit?
Having fake arguments in the shower.
Kavi is set to support BIG WETT as part of her show at Eora’s Factory Theatre on Saturday, November 11. You can grab last-minute tickets here.
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Illustration credit: Matt Lauricella, @pigeonboyart