#there's also the time between recording and eps dropping- what fans are digging into today

[myloish]

there's this thing with critical role (and RP shows in general but most of my experience is with CR,) where you are aware that you are watching both a narrative unfold in real-time, but that it is also being done through a group of people who are also having fun, and making jokes, and are really tuned in for the moment

and so because of this, sometimes things in-game happen because someone at the table was feeling a little sillay, and sometimes that has long-term ramifications (🦌🐟). and sometimes it's a spur of the moment thing that could be important, but there are a lot of important things going on, and so it gets pushed under the rug

it also doesn't help that sessions are at least a week apart, and it just seems difficult to carry too much negative energy between characters week-to-week. If this were all happening consecutively to a written character, they'd feel the frustrations pile up fast. but there's a lot of breathing room between all of the small things, and unless someone deliberately keeps note of those things and repeatedly brings them up (bard's lament), they do kind of just get dropped.

and so you end up with people who are just like. waiting for imogen to tear orym apart because he gave laudna a beat of approval for the bor'dor incident. you end up with people who spent the entirety of late CR2 waiting for the nein to reckon with how they mistreated, or at least underappreciated, caduceus. (🙋‍♀️)

and on the one hand it's like, yeah, these actions could have consequences. and it'd be really great if that did get explored in canon. but it's also funny going from scathing twitter threads about the weak, fractal connections of these characters that are sure to blow up in their face, and then the next episode imogen is giving orym a piggyback ride through the sky.

#critical role #for the record i dont think either side is doing it 'wrong' i just think the dissonance is fascinating #there's also the time between recording and eps dropping- what fans are digging into today #has been old news to the cast for weeks- and now they have to purposely create a moment to circle back to it #tbh i think the that really played into essek in CR2. going from 'welcome to the mighty nein!' (cheers) #to beau calling him a war criminal

[onestowatch]

Q&A: Topaz Jones Is Cooler Than Your Favorite Rapper

The dictionary has two definitions of the word Topaz. The first one is “a precious stone.” The second is “a large tropical American hummingbird.” Hip-hop artist Topaz Jones seems to be an amalgamation of both. The New York-based artist has been injecting live instrumentation into traditional hip-hop song structures to create his own brand of modern funk. Inspired by Outkast and driven by Parliament-Funkadelic bass lines, Topaz has displayed his progressive musical prowess recently on singles like “Toothache” and “Cotton Fields.”

His debut LP, Arcade, was released in 2016 and now we’re in 2018 and ready for new music. I caught up with Topaz Jones to discuss his exposure to the music industry as a child, his plans to achieve his musical goals, standing out in Hip-Hop, and how the current state of the music industry allows for experimentation in all forms. Read the full interview below.

OTW: How did you get into music?

Topaz Jones: I grew up with a dad who was a musician and a lot of other family members who were musicians as well. I had a very practical view of the music industry. A lot of the kids who I grew up around saw working in music as a lofty goal. I was fortunate enough to know what it looked like to work in the music industry and not necessarily have to be Michael Jackson to sustain a living off of it. I decided pretty early that a career in music was something that I wanted for myself. I started writing songs when I was around seven or eight years old but I really didn’t feel a part of the music industry until 2014 when I put my first real mixtape out.

Did having prior knowledge of how the music industry worked gave you an advantage – or did it affect how you made music and connections?

It was a privilege because I already knew that there was a lot of hard work involved. I was very aware because my dad was a musician and I watched how dedicated he was to playing his guitar every day. His love and passion for the craft was always there. I try to apply that to everything I do in production and writing.

Did your 2016 debut project, Arcade, have the impact that you wanted?

The things you want never come to you dressed the way you expected. I put a lot of weight on that project because I graduated from school and I was trying to get out of having a day job. I definitely wanted it to do really well. I’ve always wanted to tour. Even to this day, I haven’t been on a major tour yet. The only thing that I was disappointed about was that I didn’t get to hit the road and play that music in front of a lot of people but as far as the response I got from it, I feel like people began to understand who I was as an artist. At that time, I was really happy with the way the project resonated. Personally, I felt as if I reached a new level of authenticity in my work.

What’s the biggest priority for you at this stage of your career?

Trying to keep it pure. I’m trying to continue having fun and trying not to put so much pressure on myself. A lot of times, I’ll start criticizing myself before I even finish expressing a thought and I’ve been trying to get better at allowing myself to create more freely and refine later. I’ve noticed a lot of the greats are expert refiners. I want to join that class of artists.

You have a unique sound within Hip-Hop. Did your sound come to you naturally or did you have to experiment a lot?

I always had a very strong musical compass. I would hear songs on the radio as a kid and know what I liked and didn’t like about them. Similarly, I have to know what I like. It’s not that I don’t try all those other sounds; I’ve experimented with all of the sounds under the sun. But naturally, the things that call to me on an intrinsic level are the things that end up getting finished.

Hip-hop is in an interesting place right now. Where do you fit into it?

That’s like the hardest thing in the world because there’s so much happening right now. People are really pessimistic about music in general right now. I’ve been guilty of having that kind of elitism and having that “Oh it’s not as good as it used to be” attitude but I think that excuse is wearing thin now. There are so many good things happening. There’s so much experimentation. So many lanes are being created. There are so many lanes that it’s hard to pigeonhole myself into any one of them. My ultimate goal would be to have my own lane and have other people fall into that lane. That would be the ideal scenario but there’s a lot of stuff coming out right now. There’s a revival of funk, soul, and things that were always a part of hip-hop but didn’t have as much shine 5-10 years ago. Things are cyclical so I knew it would come back around.

What artists from the 90’s or early 2000’s do you think paved the way for your sound?

The Internet has really flattened time and space in a really cool way. My little cousin listens to Ray Charles and the “Rolex” song back to back (laughs). Back in the day, I would have had to buy a bunch of different CD’s and spend a handful of money to get that experience. I think for me, the biggest precursor is Andre 3000 and Outkast. They were really my introduction to hip-hop. They were hugely successful commercially and responsible for the experimentation that led to new creative directions being accepted. Outkast, to me, were The Beatles of hip-hop.

In today’s climate, being a musician isn’t just about the music but it’s also about your interaction with fans and building a community on social media. How do you balance those things?

The honest answer is that I really don’t. I’m pretty terrible at social media (laughs). As of recently, I’m starting to get more followers on Instagram but my Twitter’s pretty dead. I’ve tried so many times to be the life of the party on the internet and I think all that I’m doing is taking time away from the music. Without fail, the people who do all the talking on social media are great for what they’re great for. A lot of people that I look up to are people that shy away from that and focus on creating great bodies of work. I aspire to be like those people and allow my work to speak for itself. If I have something cool to document, I’ll give it a shot but I’m trying to put less weight on social media.

What made you drop your series of double EPs this year?

I was looking at the landscape and I realized that there’s really no limitations anymore. We’re tied to these ideas of what a release should be based on. We create physical metrics for products that aren’t physical anymore. It’s like why would I worry about the difference between an EP and an LP? The Pusha T album being 7 songs is the future. I’m ready to try things. We’re currently in a singles market. I often do a lot of switch-ups to show my versatility when I make music so this is my newest way of showcasing that but with a rollout.

Can you tell us about your latest single, Cotton Fields?

Cotton Fields is probably one of the most personal songs I’ve made. It was one of the only songs that I produced 100% by myself so it was cool to prove to myself that I can make that kind of song. It was also one of the last things that I recorded at my childhood home in New Jersey so there’s a lot of sentimental value attached to it. It’s something that makes me feel really good and it’s connected to a point and time in my life.

What’s the rest of the year looking like for you?

We’re about to shoot the Toothache video and do a lot more shows. Also working on the new record man. I feel like I’m in a vortex but it’s a positive vortex. Hopefully, I dig myself out with something really nice and shiny to show the world.

How do you approach festival stages? How do you capture audiences in an overexposed environment?

I find that festival audiences are easier to please a lot of the time. Obviously, the best thing is when people come to see you and pay for a ticket. I’d like to believe that people go to music festivals to experience a lot of different music. I feel that when people who haven’t heard of me before are exposed to my performance, I do a decent job of getting them to latch on. I look out in the audience and try to make as many personal connections with people as I can. I try to stare people in the eyes in a non-creepy way (laughs). I’m just trying to build my following and invite people into the world that I’m creating.

If people only had time to listen to one song of yours to understand who you are as an artist, what song would it be?

Damn, that’s hard man (laughs). It’s hard because there’s the artist that I want to be, the artist that other people want me to be, and the artist that I actually am is somewhere in between. I would probably lean towards “Cotton Fields” or “Toothache.” I think my fans would probably lean towards “Tropicana.” Where I’m going musically is always changing. I’m never going to make an album that sounds like the last one so it’s hard to pin me down and that’s intentional.

#Topaz Jones #Cotton Fields #Toothache #Arcade #Interview #Feature

[onestowatch]

No Joy Is Going Through Their Radiohead ‘Kid A’ Phase [Q&A]

The Adult Swim festival bore a significantly talented bunch of artists that still have our heads floating atop cloud nine. One group in particular makes a living out of creating songs that do just that. 

No Joy is the Canadian dream machine that has people stepping outside of themselves and straight into their music. The world first welcomed the indie rock, dream-pop mixture back in 2009, a simpler time if you ask the band’s lead, Jasamine White-Gluz. 

2010 saw the band release their critically acclaimed debut album, Ghost Blonde, and sign with the record label Mexican Summer. Since then, the dreamy quartet have been releasing music perfect for blasting with the drop-top down on a road-trip through California. In 2017, the band resurfaced with a collaborative project with fellow artist Sonic Boom, blending electronic and indie rock sonics, furthering the band’s complexity and authenticity. 

After their riveting set at Adul Swim Festival, which set the tone for the second day of the festival, we had a chance to catch up with Jasamine White-Gluz of No Joy and talk about being a musical sponge, going through their Radiohead Kid A phase, and so much more.

OTW: No Joy's origin story is pretty unique, with you, Jasamine, living in Los Angeles and Laura living in Montreal. How did the desire to create No Joy come about?

No Joy: It was kind of an early internet thing because now the story isn't cool at all, but in 2009 it was really cool to like send emails with files and take the files and write songs separately. But we lived in Montreal. We're from there. When it started, we were all in different places, and now band always lives in different places and most of the time we just write together digitally.

So it's something that has continued since your origin, making music separately and then come together to perform it?

Yeah, exactly. Practice a little bit before we have to play a show.

Since we're on the subject of your music, the music you create is a perfect blend between serenity and chaos. Who or what are some of the band's musical inspirations?

Ooh thanks! I guess different things inspire different parts of the band. I love the band the Deftones, and that's a band that always had really heavy but very soft and melodic vocals, so that was something that I've always been influenced by. And I'm influenced by all kinds of stuff, really. Sometimes things influence me production-wise, but I might not be a huge fan of the artist, but I just like what they're doing production-wise.

So overall you'd say you’re like a musical sponge?

Yeah, yeah! I like all kinds of stuff, so I like when people say, "I listen to all kinds of music... but not country.” (laughter) I listen to country too, though.

That's good because I'm definitely the person that's like "...everything BUT country."

(laughter) I like country, there's some good stuff. You just gotta know where to look—you gotta dig.

To transition back to No Joy a bit, the band's most recent EP was with Sonic Boom and you can really hear the change in sound. Were you all looking for something different or was it a hail-mary kind of thing?

We had done so many records as a rock band, and I was getting more interested in electronic music a little bit and learning how to write songs that way. So, I started writing songs that way and spoke to Pete, who is Sonic Boom, and asked him if he wanted to collab because he has far more experience in that kind of thing. After we finished the four songs we were like, "Well, I guess I'll put it out," but there was no real intention to do it. It was sort of like an exploration of making songs without guitars for me, and then that led to the new record I made. There are still guitars, but it's pretty much 50/50 between guitars and electronic stuff.

It was like really allowing creative expression to take over.

Yeah, and to challenge yourself. I mean, not to quote Radiohead, but when they made Kid A, they said that they wanted to challenge themselves and make something different. It can be so easy to just keep making the same thing you do all of the time, but it's really a challenge when you pick up a new instrument and you're like "I actually suck at this!" And I have to teach myself how to do it, how to write a song with it, how to put it into my live show and figure all of that out. That's the fun part for me.

It's all apart of the process of growth and moving forward

Yeah, and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. But to keep going, that's key for me.

What are some things this new year has heating up for you both music-wise and overall?

I wrote and produced a new record last fall and its this kind of thing where when you do everything yourself, you have to make deadlines, otherwise, you'll just keep going forever and it will never end. So, hopefully, that'll be out this upcoming year! It's been sitting for so long and that's been pretty exciting, doing that and spending time just doing that only really has been really good. In 2020, there will be some tours and a new album, but probably towards the latter half of 2020. It's my Kid A, where I try to play instruments and I kind of suck at them (laughter). But we're trying!

When Cartoon Network is transitioning into Adult Swim, they present a disclaimer that says: "Adult Swim may contain mature material some viewers may not find suitable." So, if you had to have a disclaimer set forth before you entered any room, what would it be?

It'd be like, disclaimer: Before you talk to me, give me a second (laughter) give me a second to assess the room and like, don't talk loud at me. Give me a minute to get there and then we'll talk, but I need a second to warm up. That would be the disclaimer because I'm a double cancer like—please.

If you could create a universe out of anything—with absolutely no limitations—what would your universe consist of?

Oh my god, like, cute animals probably! Just a bunch of cute animals that are hanging out, being cute, in nice weather.

What's your ideal weather?

Honestly this but not playing a show. When I left Montreal there were maybe six or seven inches of snow, so this is the ideal. LA has the best weather. I usually come here like three or four times a year to escape the freezing cold, but, yeah, my ideal universe would be sunny with animals.

If you could describe your music as a color, what would you say it was?

Ooh, that's a good question. I don't know... I feel like maybe a sea-foam similar to what I’m wearing because it's like, it could be fun and nice but could also be scary because the ocean is scary sometimes. Like a sea blue, maybe.

Who are your favorite performers performing at the festival?

The lineup is so good, it's like so eclectic and such an interesting group of musicians. Yesterday, we got to see Tim Hecker who is amazing and Health was so good and today is just ridiculous! Like, we soundchecked right after 2 Chainz!

That was probably such an interesting mashup.

I know! (laughter) And we were like waiting for them to finish soundcheck and were like, "This is going to be crazy, we have to stay the whole time because I want to see this!" 

Speaking of live performances, what is the first live performance you ever went to?

My first show I ever went to see was No Doubt on their “Tragic Human Tour.” It was so good! Gwen Stefani, what an icon.  

Who are your Ones to Watch?

Our good friend Will, his act is called Baths and he just started his own record label and he just put out a new song! His music is so great and we did a tour with him as well. I'm really excited for him because it seems like a whole new chapter where he's putting out his own records and his new stuff sounds crazy so I'd like to shout him out because I think he's onto something that's going to be really crazy good!

#No Joy #Adult Swim festival #interview #indie #alternative #indie rock #shoegaze