JFX316

A podcast interview with From The Vaults about "Don't Get Killed" - From The Vaults podcast

I don’t know where Jared Whittaker finds time to sleep. With two podcasts to record and produce, a comic shop to help run, columns to write for Panels on Pages, and two musical projects, I just don’t know how he does it. In this interview Whittaker and I discuss the music he releases under the name JFX316. On Halloween, JFX316 will release his new album Don’t Get Killed. Let’s get into the interview where I do my best Marc Maron impression and make things all conversational.


Kelly Harrass: First off I want to say congrats on getting the album out there. We’re doing this interview before it’s actually released and I’m wondering what you’re feeling about the upcoming release?

Jared Whittaker: Thanks. I don’t know how to feel about it really. After 8 years, I’m just glad I have enough songs that I like to make an album happen. I’m always my own harshest critic. I’m never really satisfied with anything I do. But I do really dig these songs that are going to be on the record. On a lot of them, I’m doing things that I’ve never done before, production and performing-wise. I’m pretty happy with the way they turned out.

KH: Being happy with your own stuff is really all you can ask for.

What’s the song writing process like for you? Writing lyrics has always been something that I can’t wrap my head around. I can write other stuff just fine, but I’ve tried to write songs before and I can’t do it.

JW: I’ve been putting together songs the whole time I’ve been making music, but this is first time I’ve ever arranged words on music I’ve done. I’ve done remixes that involve vocals before, so it’s not really new to me. My writing style is more stream of consciousness and less hook oriented. While there are some songs that have some hooks, but for the most part, I just write pretty straight off the top of my head. The main issue with me is getting over how I sound on record. I’ve have a little complex about my voice, having gotten hassled about it in school and beyond. Just concentrating on the words rather than the delivery.

The artists, music and otherwise, that I like the best are less song formula oriented. Kool Keith is a pretty big example. While he has hooks in most songs, some songs he just goes off without a hook. It’s kind of like free style beat poetry. I like just saying whatever I want without worrying about the confines of a “song”.

KH: I’m sure being on a popular podcast, the Superfly Comics Podcast on the Panels on Pages PoP!-Cast Network (plugs, hell yeah), has helped you with your voice issues a bit. So, do you prefer to have the words in front of you when you record or do you like to just go in with a general idea of what you’re going to say?

JW: I’ve actually found recently that transferring from notebooks and scraps of paper to computer is a lot harder and time-consuming than I thought. I usually have the words on screen while I’m recording vocals. There are songs on the record where I had words written ahead of time, but after trying to record, found that the words weren’t working and changed them. It’s also the benefit of recording yourself. You don’t really have wait very long if you have an idea or you want to change something and try to work on something else. I’ve never paid to record in a studio in my musical life.

KH: How does recording process go for you? I know these are completely different, but when I used to record for Last Week in PoP I could only record my bits when the house was empty. It was kind of a stressful process for me. The smallest screw-up would ruin everything and I’d have to start over. I’m guessing it’s the same for you, but I noticed little things my voice would do that nobody else would notice and they drove me insane.

JW: That’s kind of the same. I suffer from over-analyze everything I do, music-wise. It’s a big reason that it took so long to do another record is that I wasn’t really sure if I could do it. And adding vocals to the mix has been making it more d - Cracking the Books blog

"An odd imaginarium of dubsteb, electronica, a dash of guitar, a slight hint of cacophony, and generous portions of middle finger are what the music itself is made of. Sits well right alongside the bouillabaisse of apathy, rage, disenchantment, disbelief, and generous portions of middle finger that comprise the majority of the vocals and rhymes."

"I can now add JFX316 to that list after haring an album that would rather stage dive in to a crowd of Occupy protesters on Wall Street from 50 stories up than be considered “Hip-Hop”."

- count3rcu1ture.com