Instant Fantasy Shares Karl Sölve Steven Remix from ‘The Wet EP Remixes’
Instant Fantasy is the solo project of Ōtautahi based multidisciplinary artist and music Gemma Syme.
For nearly two decades Gemma has been shapeshifting through genre, performing in groups Trimasterbate, Holiday with Friends, 47 Diamantes, Diana Rozz, Fantasing, Femscrem and Stonehenge Aotearoa. Syme is a prolific collaborator, writing and featuring on tracks with Shocking Pinks, Glass Vaults, Dominic Hoey or Junus Orca and remixing tracks for Chelsea Jade, Indi and Introverted Dancefloor. Instant Fantasy teamed up with Sunreturn in 2025 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of The Wet EP and to release Emocean, her first new song in over a decade.
Throughout 2026 Syme stayed busy with releases from dORKWIND (featuring members or Cortina and Golden Axe), Stonehenge Aotearoa and Whakawhitia (a collaborative performance of Ariana Tikao and Nicolas Woollaston at the Tinyfest). She also launched the Original Material Podcast, where Syme interviews musicians about their formative musical experiences.
Rounding out the year Syme has announced The Wet EP Remixes, where Karl Sölve Steven, Junus Orca, Tender Moonlight, The Short Shorts and Yvois remix and recontextualise Syme’s solemn originals into spirited, synthesised soundscapes. In anticipation of the EP’s December 4 release date, Instant Fantasy has shared the latest single Wake Up With Bruises (Karl Sölve Steven Remix).
STREAM INSTANT FANTASY WAKE UP WITH BRUISES (KARL SÖLVE STEVEN REMIX)
STREAM ORIGINAL MATERIAL WITH KARL SÖLVE STEVEN
Acclaimed MC, award winning composer and Sunreturn alum Karl Sölve Steven warps the spacious yearning & languid libidinous emanating from Instant Fantasy’s 2015 original via bouncing 808s, flickering hi-hats, detuned vocals and a sampled hook from Coco Solid’s 2008 classic Graffiti Girls For Life.
“Karl is awesome – he was on my mind for the remix EP cause I LOVED the V Ä V A album he made with Anna Fält,” shares Gemma. “We must have first met at Radio Active when The Drab Doo-Riffs used to go play at Mighty Mighty,” remembers Karl. “Wow that seems like a very long time ago!”
“What’s so great about the Instant Fantasy stuff for me is the feelings are so raw but there’s grit alongside it that means you don’t just plunge into a world of sadness. There was something about the emotion in the chords for Wake Up With Bruises that made me want to mess around with them, to see if I could spend more time within those feelings by rearranging it all slightly. I added another chord (C) that I thought was implied somehow and kind of shifted the harmonic rhythm and emphasis a bit, but I’m not sure it’s even noticeable… then 808s.”
“Coco Solid’s Graffiti Girls For Life hook has such a beautiful descending melody that I’ve always loved. There is a toughness and a humour that I thought was a necessary compliment to the emotions I was leaning into in my interpretation. I’m super grateful to Coco Solid and her team for being willing to collaborate.”
Karl’s decision to incorporate the Graffiti Girls sample was an unexpected but meaningful moment for Gemma, “When Karl sent back his mix with the Graffiti Girls sample it blew my mind. I was like, ‘How did he know Coco Solid is one of my favourite artists?’ It was quite a wild feeling because I found out about her by picking up a CD in a store on Karangahape Road in the late 2000’s with a pink cover called Coco Solid presents RAP N’ ROLL. Fan girled ever since.”
Reflecting on the result she says “I’m really appreciative of the way he was really sensitive to the original, and gave it a new lease of life.”
