Ekkstacy Is Gen Z's Most Authentic Rockstar

In was it seemingly becoming a familiar story, Ekkstacy first saw success on TikTok in 2021 with his track "I Walk This Earth All by Myself," bypassing the traditional gatekeeping methods set by the music industry and scoring a distribution deal with UnitedMasters.

The 22-year-old singer-songwriter is currently on a 27-city tour in support of his 2024 self-titled album, which features collaborations with the likes of the Kid Laroi and Trippie Redd. Ekkstacy will stop at the Ground in downtown Miami on Saturday, March 2, with local band Camp Blu as the opener. With a sound that blends hip-hop, pop, and punk, his live shows are very reminiscent of punk rock shows, complete with mosh pits where people in the crowd lose themselves.

But few pits compare to the one Stacy had during a mini-show inside a Toronto restroom. "I think it was the homie Top Gun; he plays bass in [Alexsucks]," he says of who came up with the idea to do the show in the odd space.

Still, don't let his wild onstage antics throw you off. Stacy tends to come off as shy in person. Even so, he's the closest thing Gen Z has to an Iggy Pop. During an era where personalities are fabricated for the public, Stacy comes off as authentic and humble. And when he's not putting his vulnerability on the line, he's probably skating with his friends.

"I skate every day pretty much unless it's snowing like it is now. But when I'm in Vancouver or Los Angeles, I skate every day. I got really nice tre flips; I can say that confidently," he adds.

Skateboarding also led to his love for tattoos. "I first heard Misfits when I was playing [the video game] Skate 3 — 'London Dungeon' — and I was like, 'Oh, this is tight.'" He famously has the band's skull design emblazoned on his left hand.

His favorite piece of body art? That would be the Jesus portrait next to a quote saying, "Fuck the fucking world," and the word "Forever" going shoulder to shoulder on his back. "I love my back; it's like finished now," he says. "It's a bunch of crazy shit; I don't even know. A bunch of European dudes from Copenhagen did it, though. It's sick."

Nevertheless, when it comes to his music, Stacy doesn't collaborate with many artists. "It's a little scary sometimes, bro, 'cause you're like, Oh, man, I don't want to blow it," he says. "Sometimes I can't make music on the spot. It takes me a little bit of time, but it's been good. It was, you know, scary, but it worked out every time."

The Vancouver native got out of his comfort zone for 2024's Ekkstacy, working with rapper Trippie Redd on the song "Problem." "It was surreal; it was weird. He picks me up in a Trackhawk and really late in Miami one night. I was just like, Bro, what is going on right now?"
From Ekkstacy's look and sound, there is no denying that Lil Peep, the former GothBoiClique member who died of an overdose in 2017, was deeply influential to Stacy. "He was a big inspiration for me when I was when I was 16," he says. "'Cobain' was my favorite song from him. 'Drive By' is really fire. 'Hollywood Dreaming' is so underrated, bro. At first, I hated the Gab3 feature, and then I started to love it."

With a moody approach to music, complete with postpunk influences and emo lyrics, you'd be forgiven for thinking that Stacy rarely experiences joy. But on tracks like "Goo Lagoon," which references the long-running Nickelodeon animated series SpongeBob SquarePants, Ekkstacy shows that he does have a sense of humor. "[My favorite episode is] the one where SpongeBob is teaching Patrick how to blow bubbles," he says earnestly. "They make the bubbles, and SpongeBob teaches Squidward how to do the dance, and then they're like doing this bubble."

For his live performances, Ekkstacy has his favorites — he calls out "Chicago," "Fuck," and "Goo Lagoon" among those he enjoys — however, he's also trying to keep the set list as fresh as possible, fine-tuning it with each show.

"We're trying to just make it more goated," he explains. "I played the same set for like so long, and then like, the first day of tour, I was like, 'Bro, this needs to be different.' So we changed it, and then we were like, 'Okay, it can still be even more different.' Then we learned some new songs from the album, and then I was like, 'Damn, [add] an acoustic set.' And then we were like, 'That's sick!' And now we're just gonna try to learn even more songs."

The acoustic set was a new addition that occurred early in the tour, adding "Love" and "Love Part Two" to the mix.

Day-one fans shouldn't worry either, as he also kept plenty of older tracks on the setlist. "We're still ripping the old songs, bro — shit's hella fun. We'll always do those old songs. It's important. I wouldn't even have enough songs to play if I didn't play the first two albums," Ekkstacy says.

With winter in full swing up north, Stacy is looking forward to the Miami stop of his tour. "I'm happy to be out of the fucking cold, dude. We're in Canada right now — it's freezing," he adds.

Ekkstacy. With Camp Blu. 7 p.m. Saturday, March 2, at the Ground, 34 NE 11th St., Miami; thegroundmiami.com. Tickets cost $22 via ticketmaster.com.