New York City-based producer and songwriter, Jāmin, has shared “Say It Again”. The track is a collaboration with best-selling author Taiye Selasie and features vocals from Nomadic.
Warm low end, ghostly backing vocals and flickering hi-hats back the lyrical exploration of a relationship with a connection so strong it keeps you, even when your mind tells you to go. “Say It Again” precedes the release of the Jāmin EP on June 21st.
In this interview spotlight, I chat with Jāmin about the new project, challenges, technology and more.
Full Q&A along with links and music below.
Where are you from and what style of music do you create? (In your own words, not necessarily in marketing terms or by popular genre classifications.)
I live in Jackson Heights, Queens NY, one of the most culturally diverse neighborhoods in the world.
I make open format music. R&B electronic, with hiphop and Afro -Caribbean influences. Music to move your body. Head nod down the street, music to dance, or make babies.
What led you down this path of music and what motivates you to keep going?
I grew up surrounded by music. My mom would play classical songs on the piano with me in her belly, one of my earliest memories is playing my dads drum set. My mom lived in Africa and had African instruments and music playing. My older sisters were always playing new pop, R&B and rock. Prince, Madonna, Stevie Wonder, Fishbone, Al B Sure, Fugazi, Parliament, Big Daddy Kane, etc.
How is “Say It Again” different from “Do You Remember”? Were you trying to accomplish anything specific?
The two songs were born out of different relationships and different dynamics. My music is always a representation of the people I’m collaborating with and what we are vibing on, so the music is naturally unique each time. As a producer I try to capture the sonic essence of distinct moments , and as a song writer and musician I try to channel emotion and convey it in sound, color and texture. On Do You Remember, Carol C brought the original track to a new zone, so I followed her there musically and Sage Atwood brought it all the way with his guitar lines. Say It Again started really barebones with a riff by my friend Daniel Mate, then the vocal melody improvising by Nomadic and lyrical storyline by Taiye . I brought in more tribal drums and 808s and Sage ally-ooped that one on the mix.
Name one or two challenges you face as an indie musician in this oversaturated, digital music age?
Promotion, eyes and ears and hearts. It’s hard to be noticed when there are so many people making and releasing music! And it’s so easy to distribute music and connect with people via social media. The biggest challenge is for people to hear your music.
How has technology helped you (since we know it does help)?
Technology has helped me make music! Production software is amazing. The soft-synths, drum machines, editors, plug-ins. Wow. so powerful. On my first songs I would send it to a mix engineer and try to “fix it in the mix”, and then “fix it in the master” . Neither worked and it makes sense because there are so many decisions made in those two processes. So now I/we mix the songs and do our own temp mastering. I mix almost all of my songs with Sage, our styles and approaches balance each others well. This means we have control all the way through to the end. And the more songs we make from beginning to end, the more we learn about each step. If you never get to mix and master a song you never really know if you chose the right kick. We call it the “Make More Pots” theory. The more you make the better you get at making them, but you have to make them all the way from beginning to end (and release them on streaming because the sonics change there too).
What was the last song you listened to?
“Jimmy” on the “Tuff Riddim” by my singer friend and co-collaborator J-Rile! He is a super talented singer from Jamaica with dope energy and big potential. We met this winter and did a few songs together. We have a big tune together coming out this summer, it’s called “No Smoke”; video to follow. I’m headed back to JA soon to create more with him and some other dope newer artists, like Prohgres, Gihrl, Blvckh3ro, Aza Lineage, and Jaz Elise. Hoping to link up with Sizzla too, an artist I have admired since ’98.
Which do you prefer? Vinyl? CDs? MP3s?
Vinyl for the depth and color and richness of sound. CDs for their loudness. MP3s for their convenience (and i also kind of like what really low quality digital conversion does to sound (as a purposeful effect)
How about this one…. Do you prefer Spotify? Apple Music? Bandcamp? Or something else? Why?
Spotify for its functionality and algorithms (acquiring the Echonest seemed to really propel their binary curation forward). Apple for its audio quality.
Where is the best place to connect with you online and discover more music?
@sayjaymin on insta–tweet–book and follow on youtube.com/jaminmusic and www.jaminmusic.com
Anything else before we sign off?
Yes, thanks for asking.
In case you are wondering how to pronounce my name, my creative parents took the family name Benjamin and remixed it: Jāmin, Pronounced Jaymin.
