Jake stops by to discuss the vaporwave music production style. He tells us about how some of his life experiences directly led to his creative production process. He also discusses about his involvement with the Reddit community “World Problems” and how that inspires him to write.
Episode Links:
Jake Stevenson: https://open.spotify.com/artist/3GBYwmlNNqUlJpx2TxcmtE?si=1otCi7k2RhGAOI92XWhyjA&dl_branch=1
Vital Synth: https://vital.audio/
Summary:
Jake took a non-traditional route to making music. He woke up one day and decided that this was going to be his path, then dove in head first. His influences include alt rock bands such as Imagine Dragons, but also EDM influences such as Avicii and Feed Me. In addition, he is strongly influenced by cinematic composers such as Hans Zimmer and Jack Wall.
One of Jake’s favorite genres is Vaporwave. He describes vaporwave as a genre that repurposes or recontextualizes existing music samples. For example, he will slow the sample down, chop it up, add reverb or other effects, and reverse or rearrange some parts. He uses the term ‘plunderphonics’ to describe this process.
He goes on to describe his love of physical media. He loves CDs and distributes them as part of his process. He also describes vaporwave as being heavy on cassette, cd, or other physical media distribution. He also describes how vaporwave is nostalgia based. And emphasizes the importance of recontextualizing the sound. And it often expresses a sense of longing.
Jake began his “World Problems” album with only three tracks. He then continued to add tracks on Bandcamp. He mentions how this work is orchestral, whereas most of his work has been influenced by vaporwave artists. Regardless, he suggests that it is all about creating feelings. He likes trying to mimic the feeling of albums that have inspired him. Ultimately, he finds that he can use the vaporwave writing process as an instrument of healing.
He believes the choice of DAW is personal preference. But he believes the most important thing is to find what is going to work for you. Even if that means a work around. He also believes in the importance of working rapidly. If he comes up with a new idea he sprints to his laptop and works on it rapidly. When he becomes frustrated with structured study, he likes to take an experimental approach to synthesis…capturing whatever comes in the creative process.
Jake wrote the song “Late in the Night” with vocalist Celestic. This track was inspired by Jake’s enthusiasm for the Reddit forums “World Problems”. He was able to connect with Celestic on Twitter. She was able to tweak some existing lyrics and create a compelling vocal that fit the context of Jake’s vision.
To prevent getting stuck while writing, Jake recommends a subtractive synthesis type of approach. He will first make a big idea and then spread out the clips and progressively build back up to the full idea. He also reminds newer producers that creative output is the name of the game and not to get hung up on conforming to ‘the normal’ way of producing. Also, get opinions from other artist friends. He believes there is always a workaround to realize your vision.