Bassvictim: More Than a Duo By Kathryn Isabel Cook

By Kathryn Isabel Cook 

Oftentimes I will go into a deep dive, spending hours on Youtube or Spotify listening to new music. Almost a year ago, that was how I heard Bassvictim for the first time. Bassvictim is a duo made up of Polish-English singer songwriter Maria Manow and American-English producer Ike Clateman. The first song I heard by Bassvictim was called “Air on a G String”. The song was so catchy and satisfying to listen to that I assumed it was already popular and sent it to my friends almost immediately. To my surprise, they only had a few thousand monthly listeners on spotify at the time. I started to listen to more of their music, utterly shocked that their songs weren’t extremely popular. They were doing something that I had never heard before— combining rap beats with indie-influenced electronica and extremely raw vocals. I booked my first Bassvictim concert ticket for $60 and drove ten hours to New York for the concert. 

The duo was formed when Maria and Ike found themselves leaving a party at the same time, joking that they were “victims of the bass,” and they have been making music since. Maria and Ike have had a very public romantic relationship and breakup. Bassvictim was so outward

about their personal lives that they received pushback from fans and critics. Maria even posted on the Bassvictim subreddit, defending both herself and Ike. She has since deleted her personal instagram. 

Their stage presence is distinct and unique. Ike sat on the ground with his laptop, and Maria danced around the stage in front of a projection of animated horses. She wore a white cropped tank top and denim shorts over blue tights that complemented her long, light blue hair. The crowd ranged from teenagers to people in their 30s. It wasn’t hard to make it to the front, everyone was welcoming and excited to be there. The fashion at the show was very personal. I saw teenagers wearing converse and jeans, women wearing black nightclub dresses and men wearing slacks and baseball caps. Many people were dressed in a way that I couldn't assign to a specific style. The combination of different colors and styles emphasized the dress-code free nature of downtown Manhattan nightlife. It felt like the room was full of genuine self- expression and creativity rather than aesthetic box categories. At my second Bassvictim show in London, the outfits I saw were much more fantastical. I photographed a couple of girls dressed head to toe in soft-pastel harijuku inspired outfits—they even wore colored contacts and wigs. I met a group of girls from New York that wore midriff-exposing dresses, natural hair, and white tennis shoes. A fellow music producer from Paris that I made friends with had a matching beige patterned jacket and pants, complemented by his long curly hair and cigarette ring. I believe that Bassvictim’s music is a catalyst for authenticity in music and fashion. Witnessing artists be fully themselves is sometimes the inspiration that a new scene needs to take off. As electronic duos become more and more popular, I can say that Bassvictim are entirely original.

Their music has gone through a strong evolution. Their first album, Basspunk, was released in 2025, and since then they have added experimental beats and bass, electronic 

melodies, and even emotional piano ballads into their discography. Each of their albums are diverse. Some of their songs are high energy, bass heavy tracks that you might hear at a club, while some are mellow and folksy. With each new album, I expect something entirely different from the last. One thing I appreciate about Bassvictim is their approach to vocals. Instead of the perfect, heavily filtered vocals found in most house and EDM music, Maria’s vocals are extremely raw. In some songs she is whispering, sometimes singing, screaming, or even rapping. I could not assign the duo to one genre, they are something entirely new, but their brand stays consistent with raw artistic and experimental expression, and I am very excited to see what they create next.

https://bassvictim.org/