LA favorite Jerome LOL has had an incredibly busy 2013, and this new year seems to see no slowing down from the producer and DJ. His upcoming EP will feature two diverse sides of his work, highlighting his mastery of music production, as well as understanding what it takes to get us all on the dancefloor.
His EP Deleted/Fool will see the light of day come February 4th, and in preparation for this, he answered a few questions for us about his art, music, and gives some advice about dj-ing for large crowds.
EARMILK: First off, thanks for taking the time to chat with us! Right off the bat, your EP is dropping in February, can you give us some insight on what fans can expect?
Jerome LOL: Thanks for wanting to ask me questions! The EP is four tracks that feature vocals by either Sara Z or Angelina Lucero. The A Side of the vinyl is the Sara Z side and the B Side is the Anglina side.
I deliberately wanted to display two different sounds with this EP, which is why the cover is split like it is and why it is called Deleted/Fool. I still think all of the tracks go together; it’s not like they are completely different styles, more just like different moods.
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/129526912" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="false" /]
EM: Your music and your set (the last time I saw you) held an emotional dimension to dance music that not everyone can successfully evoke, as well as a heavy jazz influence. Who/what are your main inspirations behind this EP?
JL: That’s a very nice compliment, thank you. I have a fun time trying to get away with playing sets that go beyond just trying to “turn up.” Sometimes it doesn’t work, but it’s nice when it does. My main musical aspirations with this EP were Buddy Rich, Teddy Riley, and a lot of ambient records, though I didn’t listen to a lot of music while writing. Other inspirations include Los Angeles, patterns and space.
[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7mfgH8dVHXY[/youtube]
EM: I’ve seen your website and am surprised to have found out that you designed it yourself, as well as creating all your cover-art. Was this a part of your music since the beginning/how did you get into web design and art in general?
JL: When I make music, I am constantly thinking about visual accompaniments to the music. Since no one buys CDs anymore, the booklet is a thing of the past, but with the internet, your able to provide as much or as little visual context to audio as you would like. I really don’t know anything about web design, except some beginner HTML. I have to look up how to change the color of text and stuff like that every time I start a webpage. My whole approach, though, is to provide something more like a CD booklet with these pages. It’s not some complicated website with a thousand links and comments and logins and all that nonsense. It’s just a visual document to accompany the music.
EM: How important do you think it is for your music and your art to interact? It seems like you’re involved with your projects in every way!
JL: All I can do is put it out there. Obviously the majority of people aren’t going to sit and watch a video for 4 minutes when listening to the song, but at least there is the option. There are a lot of ways to interact with music, whether it’s while driving, dancing in a club, sitting alone, working at a desk, etc. Watching or experiencing a visual accompaniment is just also another way, but definitely not the only way.
EM: Can you give us a little information on why you designed the website to look the way it does?
JM: I’ll assume you are talking about the auto-scrolling site for the song “Fool” (the website changes a lot, so that’s just one iteration).
I just wanted a visual accompaniment to the song that was on the page. I wanted it to be really simple (not flash, not YouTube, etc.) but I wanted movement. So, I thought about the idea of scrolling really fast and how that can create animation, so I found some nifty javascript code that scrolls down a page for you automatically. I changed the perimeters to make it go faster than one would functionally use, and then I made a really really really long webpage. If any coder looks at the source they would probably be horrified to see how messy it is, but it works as it is meant to, which is what’s important. I would love to see more creativity with HTML; I know there is a lot out there, but a lot of people seem to have forgotten that it can be a platform in which to work creatively.
EM: Could you help us touch up our site a little bit one of these days?!
Haha I think your site would lose all of its functionality, but I am open to the idea.
EM: Okay, back to music. Do you have any production or dj-ing/tips for any anyone trying to get into the music world?
When you produce, make things that you want to hear. Don’t try to please other producers and audiences by copying current trends. As far as DJing, don’t play vocals over vocals!
[soundcloud url="https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/109837072" params="auto_play=false&hide_related=false&visual=true" width="100%" height="450" iframe="false" /]
I guess it took me a while to be comfortable with making music that I, myself, wanted to hear, knowing it wasn’t going to be the type of music that would be played in dance clubs and by a bunch of DJs. I’m ok with that now and I am happier with making music.
EM: What else do you have in store for fans in 2014?
JL: I’m not sure what I am doing tonight let alone what I am going to do for the rest of the year.
Fair enough. Thank you Jerome LOL for talking to us! Make sure to check out his fascinating website designed by himself, and snag his upcoming EP on the fourth!
Jerome LOL
Deleted/Fool
- Friends of Friends
- February 4, 2014
