Photo by Mathias Haugard

Dance without disappointment to the weird and wonderful Clean Out Louis. Comprised of Mingus & Sylvester, a charismatic duo with groovy, alt-pop music that makes you feel good. Soft and crisp vocals sing over familiar R&B beats. The music feels like it’s breaking into something new, something exciting, and we can’t wait to see what they do next.

1. Who are Clean Out Louis?
Clean Out Louis is a duo consisting of Mingus Runge and Sylvester Zabello.
We’re 24 years old, from Copenhagen, and we make music that you’ll probably like — you just might not know it yet 🙂

2. For someone who hasn’t discovered you yet, how would you describe your music?
Our music is a weird, catchy, and groovy mix that doesn’t really have a name. It probably falls under alternative pop, but we love all kinds of genres, instruments, and colours — so we just try to combine the things we love into what we call Clean Out Louis.

3. What inspired you as artists?
We met in high school and quickly discovered that we approached music in the same way and shared an extraordinary similar taste.
That openness toward music is still a big driving force for us when we create together.
Back then, we were in two separate bands, but we always had each other as a kind of musical free zone — no boundaries, no roles — just pure creativity.

4. What is your pre-show routine?
One of our rituals is making direct eye contact for 30 seconds right before going on stage — no interruptions.
It’s intense, but it makes us feel completely connected.

5. Where do you feel you fit into the music landscape?
It’s hard to say, because we don’t really see ourselves as a specific “genre band.”
With our EP Clean Sheet coming out on May 23rd, we feel like we’ve landed in some kind of alternative wonky pop corner.
We’re always evolving, but this EP shows some of the different worlds and energies we’ve explored in the studio.

6. What are your favourite musical genres, and are there any you dislike?
We love it all — though we don’t really listen to a lot of noise or death metal, even though we love how much feeling goes into it.

7. Is there a story behind the band’s name?
Yes! Sylvester didn’t know he was actually named Louis until his first day of school.
It caused a bit of an identity crisis at age six — and honestly, it still confuses him today.
The “Clean Out” part just sounded cool.

8. What would you say is your greatest strength as a band/artist?
The love we have for each other, and the way we communicate.
Being in a band is like being in a relationship — just a bit harder, haha.

9. What would you say is your greatest weakness as a band/artist?
Overthinking.

10. What music artists have influenced your work?
We grew up loving legends like Prince and David Bowie — they’ve definitely been a big influence.
But most of all: Gorillaz. Not just the music, but their whole approach to mixing genres and the approach to collaborations — has always inspired us.

11. Who would you most like to collaborate with artistically?
Damon Albarn, Imogen Heap, Toro Y Moi, and Pharrell — we could go on and on.
We’d also love to work with a big classical orchestra and wild instrumentalists or vocalists who aren’t necessarily “artists” in the traditional sense.

12. Worst performance?
We once played a private gig for a big company where everyone — and we mean everyone — was so drunk they barely noticed there was a performance happening.

13. Biggest obstacle & how did you overcome it?
Starting a band with your best friend and keeping the friendship part intact.
The key: Honesty and communication 🙂

14. What is your creative process when making music? Do you work with others, or is it just you?
We mostly work as a duo. We usually have way too many ideas, mess around for a long time, and then try to solve the puzzle — cutting out the ideas that don’t belong, even if we love them.

We do bring in a few trusted people if needed. We just want to make the best music possible — whether that takes 2 or 20 people doesn’t really matter to us.

15. This year, what can we expect?

First off, our EP is dropping on May 23rd. Then we have a concert in Copenhagen in August.

After that: silence — because we’re working on something exciting, and it might just be the best we’ve ever done. We need full focus 😉