JETOPA
Central, Central and Western, Hong Kong | Established. Jan 01, 2006 | INDIE
Music
Press
After 4 weeks on the chart, Jetopa "Life Goes On" holds at #38 on American Idol Underground for the week of 5 November 2007 - Kakibubu Media Limited
Hong Kong based Jetopa has been awarded two Honorable Mention awards in the 16th Annual 2009 Billboard World Song Contest. “Twin Angels” and “China Charlie” were two tracks that were ranked among the top 1,500 hit songs in this highly acclaimed annual competition that receives thousands of song entries from across the world. The two award-winning tracks can be found on Jetopa’s latest EP entitled "Life Goes On." - Kakibubu Media Limited
May 2008:
"Rainy Afternoons" track included in 12-song Italian compilation CD "New Age Music & New Sounds" Sea of Tranquility sampler (v. 184) with distribution of over 20,000 throughout Italian market.
Excerpt from review (translated from Italian):
" ... His debut CD, Desert Flight, was released in 2006. It is characterized by an undertone of cultural fusion between East and West. Guitar acoustics meddle with ethereal reminisces that perhaps recall melodies of the 80s spanning between pop-dark and folk music. Schmidt recorded all twelve tracks of the CD in his home apartment studio. Some of the tracks, like the instrumental “Rainy Afternoons”, are the result of a series of evolutions of the original track over a number of years, and molded into their final version only as part of the production effort for the debut CD. The ballad “Hai Ku Shi Lan” is a beautiful example of Schmidt’s bridging East and West tones of his music. The lyrics of the song are in Mandarin, and portray a passionate dialogue between a man and woman of their endless love.
In 2007 Schmidt released an Extended Play CD entitled “Life Goes On”, featuring six tracks. The CD celebrates the varying shades of emotions characterizing human existence, ranging from sadness to joy. Particularly sentimental is the “Twin Angels” ballad, the story of a young couple fallen into desperation over the loss of their two children, twins, still infants. The lyrics of the tracks, for the images they portray, convey a similarity to the magic and loss thread of Lou Reed’s compositions: feelings of pain, death, suffering, and loneliness one experiences due to loss, whether of loved ones or of people unknown, despite which, after all, as the title of the song and the CD says, “life goes on.” The persevering spirit of man yields a strength within us that ultimately enables us to face the challenges, adversities and difficulties of life, despite our failures and the continuously varying tones of emotional and sentimental feelings which characterize life as we live it ..." - Emme K (Italy)
15 August 2007:
Jetopa's "Life Goes On" has risen to position #28 in American Idol Underground's Top 50 Charts in the Rock genre. - Kakibubu Media Limited
Discography
September 2006:
"DESERT FLIGHT" - Audio CD (12 tracks) released
May 2007:
"Twin Angels" - single released
June 2007:
"China Charlie" - single released
September 2007:
"LIFE GOES ON" - Audio CD (EP; 6 tracks) released -- "Twin Angels" and "China Charlie" receive Honorable Mention Awards (top 1500 songs) in 16th annual BILLBOARD WORLD SONG CONTEST
May 2008:
"Rainy Afternoons" track included in 12-song Italian compilation CD "New Age Music & New Sounds" Sea of Tranquility sampler (v. 184) with distribution of over 20,000 throughout Italian market.
Photos
Bio
Who is JETOPA?
"Jetopa" was formed by Thomas A. Schmidt -- architect, musician, writer, and illustrator -- as a much-needed creative outlet for surviving the chaos of Hong Kong.
Why are you called JETOPA?
Unfortunately, my real name is an extremely common name in places like Germany. Therefore, in an effort to come up with a unique identity for an international audience, I decided to combine some of the letters of my name with those of my two sisters -- JETOPA. Afterwards, while doing an Internet search, I then came across a Spanish blog which claimed that the word "jetopa" is actually an obscure Spanish verb meaning "to have found something without having to seek ... an unintentional discovery" -- how bizarre is that?
How was the album made?
I recorded the majority of tracks on a PC-based music workstation in my tiny flat in Hong Kong using Cakewalk"s Sonar 5.2. I play guitars, keyboards, sing, and do synth-like sound effects with my mouth on a number of tracks -- I do a great police siren impersonation! The drums and percussion are a combination of royalty-free drum loops, programmable drum machines, and pounding on cardboard boxes. Several of the songs were recorded in past years on various other analogue media, and then later digitized and enhanced with additional layered tracks. In fact, the instrumental piece "Rainy Afternoons" has been a work in progress for the past 20 years -- and it keeps evolving! The manufacturing of the discs, graphic / packaging design, and post-production mastering was done through US-based Discmakers.
Are there meanings behind each of the songs?
Each of the twelve songs on the CD has various personal meanings, and underlying stories. In fact, the song Desert Flight was named AFTER playing the untitled song on a walkman for hundreds of people while backpacking across the world and surveying what kind of images the music evoked -- almost unanimously, the music conjured up images of flight, speed, expansiveness, and graceful movement for the vast majority of people -- hence the name "Desert Flight". That really proved to me that music is the "universal language". I would be interested in hearing how the music affects other people across the world -- therefore, there is a "post-listening" survey for listeners to post their feedback and review the album.
One of the songs is in Chinese -- did you sing that?
Well, my apologies in advance to Mandarin speakers everywhere! While I am self-taught, I still struggle to speak Mandarin despite many years of study -- it's a fascinating language, and there are so many hidden meanings in various phrases and proverbs, so I tried to do a love song in Chinese composed of various phrases that are used between two lovers.
Where can I buy your CD?
Internationally, Desert Flight is available through the Internet from my publisher www.kakibubu.com, the very popular www.cdbaby.com, and soon as individual downloaded tracks on Apple I-Tunes and other download sites. In Hong Kong, the CD is available at various local record stores and boutique shops -- keep your eyes peeled!
Do you perform live in Hong Kong or elsewhere?
It was never really my intention to play live venues on a regular basis, but where there are opportunities, I am open to them! I've had the great fortune of performing live with Guzheng master Lunlun Zou in Hong Kong, and it's quite possible that we may collaborate on more cross-cultural pieces in the future.
Where did you get that cool image for the album cover?
I was traveling solo through Egypt several years ago in the remote desert oasis of Siwa, where I had the pleasure of spending a few days of absolute solitude in Egypt's first ecoresort, White Mountain Resort. It was there where I got the strong inspiration of putting out my own CD of my original music. The image on the album cover is of one of the exterior stairways from that fantastic organic handcrafted resort, and the image on the rear cover is a decaying ancient city of mud in Siwa that actually melted during a freak rainstorm years ago -- I can't wait to go back to chill out in the intense heat! There?s really no other place in the world like it.
One last thing -- do you have plans to do another album?
Definitely.
Links
