by Alexander Jones aka THATS NOKAY
A few years ago I found myself banging away on a $12 Casio from goodwill in a basement in Edmonds making some weird experimental pop songs. Soon a pandemic was upon us and I decided to buckle down and learn how to make beats and use Logic to record. Some friends gave some pointers and drum kits to download, and soon I was off and running, making beat tapes and collaborating with vocalists over the instrumentals.
Listen to the album while reading the text.
One morning as I was preparing to release another beat tape of instrumentals, the melodies intertwined within the instrumentals began speaking a deeper message; these weren’t simply meant to be a beat tape, but rather actual songs with vocals. Listening to that message, I decided to hold the tracks back and began writing to the melodies, comprising a 12 song album known as Radical Presence.
I found myself concocting a unique formula through incorporating some of the biggest musical influences over my life. What if I could combine the influence of hip hop producers I love like Q-Tip, DJ Premier, DJ Quik, J Dilla, Yasiin Bey, and Dr. Dre, with the shoegaze/dreampop influence of artists like Slowdive and My Bloody Valentine, with some of the more experimental sounds I have fallen in love with like Boards of Canada, How To Dress Well, Blood Orange, UNKLE and Shabazz Palaces to create something new?
Recorded at home on a laptop, after much trial and error, I finally completed recording twelve tracks in December 2022. I felt proud to say I completed an album start to finish completely on my own. Rachel Field at Resonant Audio added her mastering expertise to the project.
Mesmerized called the single Fantasies “An exciting aural journey, an ethereal wall of frequencies that seeks to be a powerful convection agent for our deepest thoughts.” and the track was premiered on the Afternoon show with Larry Mizzel, Jr. on KEXP.
Radical Presence will be released everywhere on February 24, 2023. To celebrate the release of the album, I will be performing live at one of the most historic venues where Sonic Youth and Nirvana once played, The Central Saloon in Seattle, WA on Friday March 3, 2023 with Dark Sparkler, Woodbae & Treestar, Evictions and Rap Ghost.
Cool music, cool video! I hope your music gets the attention it deserves. Good luck!
Thank you so much Amox!!