Clean Out Louis On Blending Pop & Chaos, And Their Debut EP 'Clean Sheet'

With their new single ‘Hold Me’, Copenhagen duo Clean Out Louis continue to blur the lines between pop, chaos, and charm, crafting a genre-hopping track that feels like a wild mental sightseeing tour.

As they just released their debut EP ‘Clean Sheet’, we sat down with Sylvester Zabello and Mingus Runge to talk about the ride so far, the stories behind the sound, and what’s coming next.

There’s something magnetic about your “la la la” choruses and unhinged structure—how do you take such chaotic energy and still make it so addictive?

Thank you so much!! Very quickly, the idea of a catchy pop call-and-response chorus came, but the instrumental and theme invited a much more quirky, horror-sounding response than a perfect-sounding vocal singing “la la la.”

We probably made fifty different takes in different voices—some more raspy, some more “childish,” and so on—to create a thick layer of undefinable vocals that couldn’t be replicated by a single person. The structure wasn’t planned that much; the ending/outro was determined by what felt right, which is the best compass in the weird world of music. That being said, “Hold Me” was the hardest nut to crack to date. During the process, we quickly felt that the song was almost finished, but something was off. It took over a year to turn it into a unified entity—not just a collection of ideas on the same track.

“Hold Me” is being described as a tourist bus ride through the mind’s light and dark. If that’s true—what landmarks are we passing on that ride?

The way we see it, the verses are from the guide’s perspective, showing things our narrator doesn’t want to see—in other words, the naked truth from inside. In the chorus, the narrator seeks affirmation and asks, “What do you make of me?”—probably out of shame or fear of what they’ve just witnessed. What those truths or landmarks actually are is different for each person—and something we ourselves are too afraid to say out loud.

“Clean Sheet” is a collection of “weird and wonderful paths.” Was there ever a moment in the studio where you thought: “This is too weird—or just weird enough”?

Oh yes—but luckily, the weirdness isn’t something we look for; it happens on its own. Being brave enough to try things that feel “too weird” or “too corny” is something we always strive for, because that’s where it gets exciting for us.

You’ve both been part of other projects—Høker and Turbolens. How did those experiences shape your sound and vision for Clean Out Louis?

Without those bands, we wouldn’t have made this one. They shaped the entire project just by existing, because we used Clean Out Louis (before it even had a name) as a playground or free space in the studio—letting out the songs, ideas, and energies we couldn’t express in the other bands. Here, we didn’t have set roles or instruments—we had total freedom, and we still do.

From COLORS to Office Magazine, the buzz is growing fast. Do you feel the pressure to keep evolving—or are you intentionally leaning into the unpredictability?

The pressure to evolve is inevitable—but it was there before we ever made music. We want to become better and better. That said, some of the best music we’ve made (and still make) comes from improvisation and writing purely intuitively. So most of the time, we put ourselves in the best position not to have a plan—until some kind of universe or direction appears.

“I’m In Love” was about hesitation. “Foreigner” explored freedom. What themes are currently keeping you up at night or driving your songwriting?

A lot—staying sane in this day and age, feeling alienated on planet Earth, aliens in general, and loveee, to name a few.

There’s this charming discomfort in your tracks—like the listener’s not supposed to settle in. Is that intentional, or just how you naturally create together?

Thank you so much—it’s not intentional, but it’s something we love. We really love a Yin-Yang kind of thing with contrasts in music. As listeners, we enjoy feeling a bit on edge—like there’s something in the music that wasn’t made to keep us safe, but has its own agenda.

You’re often compared to acts like Gorillaz or Stereo MC’s—artists with strong visual identities. How much do visuals factor into your creative process?

It’s a big deal—and the visual side of music seems to be becoming more and more important. We strive for a visual identity as strong as Gorillaz or Stereo MC’s, but we’re not there yet. At the very least, we can say that we’re working on something :)

You’ve both toured and played with other acts. What does the ultimate Clean Out Louis live show look like—full-throttle chaos or finely tuned madness?

Again, the best would be a mix of both worlds. We’re currently working on and exploring how much we, as a duo, can do on stage. We’re at our best when we have to improvise in chaos—and we always strive to be in a place where we don’t fully know what will happen in the heat of the moment. Playing live might be our favorite thing in the world, so we want to create the best show we possibly can.

With “Clean Sheet” about to drop, what’s next for you two? More music? A visual project? A tour? Or something completely unexpected?

This EP is the official start of everything—and thank you so much for some of the best questions we’ve gotten to date. As we’re writing this, we’re on our way to Barcelona to play a gig and are also preparing another show we can’t talk about yet. Some time ago, we wrote a song that opened a new path we feel we need to follow. We have a good feeling it will turn into something greater—maybe our debut album. All we can say is that we’re currently writing some of the best songs we’ve ever written. The next chapter for Clean Out Louis will be a good mix of all of the above, and we can’t wait to share it with the world!

With their genre-defying debut EP Clean Sheet out in the world, Clean Out Louis are just getting started. Whether it’s warped pop hooks, eerie vocal textures, or beautifully uncomfortable live chaos, the Copenhagen duo are carving out a space that feels entirely their own. And if “Hold Me” is any indication, this ride is only going to get wilder from here.