SchemeMag.com

J*Davey Interview

By: Simóne J. Banks

Introduction:

J*Davey is a sound. It could be equated as a movement; the revolution in music. It’s the beginning to the end of mainstream bull that lacks spontaneity and personality. J*Davey is feel good music and to be put in no category. Ohh and the artists that make up J*Davey, they’re cool too! J

Enter Jack and Brook:

The girl is Jack and the boy is Brook. They live in Los Angeles and music is what they do. She’s the singer and he’s the producer. They create music for people that think outside the box. Their skin may be brown, but they aren’t R&B or hip hop musicians. They are transcending the idea of the so-called “Black music” category, and don’t care what you say. They make music for all colors, ages, shoe sizes, it doesn’t matter. “And by the way, that’s like another tiff for people to stuff in the box; male and female, Black kids, doing some weird music. We’re not the same and we’re on totally different planes, but I think it’s obvious for people to make that judgment. Just because we are Black doesn’t mean we live in the same towns, listen to the same music or drive the same cars. I understand the claims, but I feel that people say these things for no real reason.”

Their Music and You:

No real reason is right. Music lovers that love J*Davey for what they create is all Jack and Brook care about. They have already created a fan base on both coasts and internationally. “Having an audience is important period. Whether they are Black, White or green people it doesn’t matter. We have a little bit of everything for everyone. Music is our goal; we don’t make music for one specific type of person. Music is universal.”

Daring, free and sexy are just a few of the ways Jack and Brook would describe their music. Come open or stand to the side (because they want you to come!) would be the rule to seeing them live. Their music is for the people that take risks and aren’t afraid in being who they are. No carbon copy material is accepted. It’s a musical experience and like many icons such as Madonna, Prince and David Bowie whom are always reinventing themselves; their fans look for J*Davey. They are ready for whatever J*Davey brings on a musical front. “I appreciate that people appreciate our music. It has no boundaries, it’s always changing. We’re always surprising and exciting ourselves.”

To hear them speak on music is like watching an artist paint his/her own portrait. An artist knows where their facial features are placed, what they should look like and resemble. J*Davey may not be played on the radio just yet, however they know that the music being played today is missing something. “Music still exists, even though the record industry is collapsing. Especially with them having control of what people want to express. It’s becoming more of an artist’s driven kind of community. I appreciate people trying to step out the box more often from people being mundane and average. People are afraid to take risks and in often cases they don’t have talent. People are dancers. They aren’t even good performers. It’s just a lot of manufactured talent. Like an assembly line. They put the artist in there with a producer, a stylist, a voice teacher and they make an image for you. They write all your songs and you don’t even know who you are. I think that’s why so many artists go crazy because they are crafted in a record label replica. We want to be a true representation of who we are and that we aren’t doing this to fool people.”

To be J*Davey:

To remain true to the sound of J*Davey and what it represents is why their music will be timeless. So many question authenticity of an artist; from how they speak, their lyrics, even how they dress. For Jack and Brook, all those questions will be answered in their music and especially if you get to see them live. They are open books to a degree. They care about their messages and want to not only influence, but also affect you musically. “We want kids 20 years from now to pop in the CD or pull up the mp3. It’s important to have music that will cross all boundaries and all decades. For us it’s not just a cool thing to do in the meantime. It’s our careers, our livelihoods. It seems like most people are using music for immediate consumption. It’s like the McDonalds hamburger right now. In order to make timeless music it has to contain substance, something that is nurturing and that takes time. Once you put that energy into what you do. That enables you to transcend timelines.”

As a woman, the idea of authenticity is another side of the music culture. Women have always been put in boxes, and most of those boxes have something to do with physicality and not talent. For Jack, her love of mystery goes beyond her physical image. But instead, she wants you to wonder about her as a whole package. “I just do what I always do. I don’t want to ever feel like I’m posing. My image has been my image and that’s how people know about J*Davey. I don’t want to be confined, I don’t want to come across as Mohawk girl…I don’t want people to ever figure me out, because when people figure you out, they get over you fast. My goal is to keep reinventing myself. When I go through a personal reinvention, my music will change and I’m open and candid, but I still regard a little bit of mystery. I’m not up for the gimmicky, contrived bullshit. If anything, I want to stay free of that. As a woman, I will attempt to be a role model for younger girls, but at the same time I’m a grown adult. I want to be free to be who I am and touch people of all ages, colors, etc. I don’t want to be put in any category; I want people to always wonder.”

The Albums: present and future

J*Davey takes chances, and those chances are taken while creating their records. They state that during the process of evolving into J*Davey, their creative process was like throwing darts at a wall. Whatever stuck was what worked and whatever fell, well…it just didn’t satisfy. “While growing and experimenting into J*Davey, it was important for us to throw things at the wall and see what worked and what didn’t. Beauty in Distortion was simply just that, throwing darts on the wall and seeing what stuck; just a compilation of our start. Land of the Lost takes that a little further. We showcase a little more talent. It’s a bigger idea. And on the Warner Bros. debut, we’ll take it a little further.”

Pressing the buttons of music is why J*Davey is a genius sound. Music should be taken a little further. Like hip hop, the many facets of it were done by simply taken it to different levels. For Jack and Brook, there’s no point if you don’t try because the end result could be amazing! “We are always attempting to fine tune and develop what we do. We aren’t polishing it to make it more like what’s already out there. But just refining what we do and how we do it.”

Tune In:

The future is blinding right now for J*Davey. You may purchase their double disk; The Beauty in Distortion and Land of the Lost from Amoeba Records, www.amoeba.com if you are in Hollywood, CA and if you aren’t, a new extended version is coming soon. “Right now we are just doing spot shows in a few cities. A major tour will happen after our Warner Bros. project is finished. After that is done, we will probably open for somebody. Spring/Summer we’ll be doing some more things.”

There are so many avenues to experience J*Davey and though the west coast is getting a taste of the experience more than the East coast, you can still check out their music via www.jdaveybaby.com.