Mukqs

Mukqs serves as the solo alias for Maxwell Allison, who helped establish the experimental Chicago label Hausu Mountain and continues to handle its visual identity. He frequently joins forces with the imprint’s co-operator Doug Kaplan across several ensembles, among them the psychedelic outfit Good Willsmith, the buoyant rock group BBsitters Club, and the plunderphonic pair Pepper Mill Rondo. Under the Mukqs name Allison generates improvised electronic pieces by capturing everything straight to cassette without any overdubs, relying on samplers, drum machines, loopers, and assorted electronics. The resulting patchwork sound echoes his singular visual style—dense, dreamlike, vivid, and steeped in video-game imagery alongside Japanese cultural references. Although the majority of his output stays on cassette, the ambitious 11,666,666,666,666,666,666 surfaced on vinyl in 2017 as one of his standout statements. He also cut two abstract hip-hop records alongside rapper Sharkula, Prune City in 2019 and Take Caution on the Beach in 2021, while the frantic glitch workout Stonewasher surfaced in 2023.

Allison first appeared on record in 2013 via the opening installment of Hausu Mountain’s Mugen split-cassette series, with Kaplan, performing as MrDougDoug, occupying the opposite side. Patient Sounds Intl. issued Please Can You Keep My Secret the following year, and two digital mixes followed in 2015. A cluster of Mukqs titles emerged in 2016, among them joint tapes with DJWWWW and Constellation Botsu plus solo cassettes on Hausu Mountain and Apothecary Compositions. Umor Rex, a Mexican imprint, put out a tape in 2017, after which the project delivered its debut vinyl LP, 11,666,666,666,666,666,666. Magas’ Midwich Productions label released the set, marking an unexpected turn toward open, spacious electro. Subsequent cassettes on Doom Trip and Unifactor Tapes, together with the Crazy Bread collaboration alongside Ryley Walker, preceded the 2019 Hausu Mountain pairing Prune City with Chicago street rapper Sharkula. A further joint effort, Take Caution on the Beach, arrived in 2021, while Walker’s Husky Pants imprint handled Mukqs’ In Human Form. The intense, glitchy Stonewasher closed the sequence in 2023.