A Parallel Planets piece by Tomi Uysingco
Parallel Planets presents Teen Daze
in The Chillest of the Chill
Story and Interview by Tomi Uysingco
Mentioned: chillwave, Canada, and teenage yearning
* * *
Chillwave is described by
Wikipedia as "a genre of music whose artists are often
characterized by their heavy use of effects processing, synthesizers,
looping, sampling, and heavily filtered vocals with simple melodic
lines adding that the
genre combines the larger 2000s trends towards 80s retro music and
use of ambient sound with modern pop."
Honestly?
I never got into
it. The genre's more well known acts – Neon Indian, Toro Y Moi,
Washed Out – bored me to
death. How everything caught on via hype blogs that found common
ground with the sound these producers are
making and cobbling them
together then
calling it a genre baffled me. And this coming from a guy that makes
witch house, which in itself
was/is
loosely associated with chillwave.
That
is until I heard the music of
Teen Daze.
Just
coming off a tour with Camp
Counselors that started late
September last year and
ended on November,
then capping his year off with two sold out shows with Starfucker at
Seattle in New Year's Eve, the Vancouver native has
been hard at
work with his music ever since the release of his stellar Four More
Years EP in mid-2010. Now,
hot off the heels of his latest opus Glacier, it looks like there's
no end in sight for this dude. Not quite yet. He's diligently working
on his fourth album,
but asked not to expect it any time soon – which would be a hard
tasks for fans (*ehem*me*ehem*) since his last outing is his most
realized to date.
The
ambience that
oozes from
Glacier, out on Lefse
Records, could and would melt anyone's iced out heart. A perfect
balance of beats served way chilled, delicate piano pieces and added
synth washes brings in the
isolation, sadness and the
cold of rural Canada to the forefront, but don't
get me wrong, its not a sad record. Its more hopeful at best. Beyond
that, its danceable as all hell as well.
As a matter of fact its one
of those quiet dance records,
best played with only yourself and your partner, the fire roaring in
a log cabin high above the mountains, the ice not melting until you
both do in each others arms.
It's
beyond chillwave. It's the chillest of the chill.
 |
| Teen Daze |
Coming
from a folk/post-rock
background – his other project Two Bicycles is one heart wrenching
trip to behold – it's no wonder where Teen Daze gets the delicate
parts of his music from. The
haziness and melancholia of his sound would remind someone of, well,
teenage yearning. Which fits quite well with his chosen monicker. And
while he prefers not to attach his real name to the music, around the
internet only his first name Jamison is known, you would get the
sense of his attitude toward making music, which is making it stand
on its own two feet and letting it speak for itself. There it is
again, the yearning, the passion for it all.
He
has a show on January 30th
at Public Works in San
Francisco with his buddy Blackbird Blackbird, another one of those
acts that has chillwave attached to his name, that would surely bring
the vibes and the feels. If you're in the area, best check that show
out. Before all that though,
and right on time too since
there are just too much superlatives in my head right now after
listening to Glacier for the nth time, read
on as we talk to the
man behind Teen Daze himself as he answers a few of our questions.
* * *
Parallel Planets: Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you start making music as Teen Daze?
Teen Daze: "In 2009/early 2010, I was working on a new album for a project I had been doing for several years. I had made several records, but never really had them properly released. So this record I was working on was a more straight-ahead, dance record, influenced by lots of French Touch sounds. At the same time, I caught wind of artists like Washed Out and Toro Y Moi, and loved the idea of making some music that would still be considered electronic, but with more of a downtempo feel. These artists lead way to a lot of similar sounds I had listened to, and almost forgotten about; bands like The Album Leaf, Zero 7 and even Boards Of Canada. I was so wrapped up in dance music, I forgot about all the downtempo electronic music that I loved. So I started writing some tunes that were more in the 90 BPM range, rather than 128. I wrote and recorded six songs, made a new project name for them, and posted a few songs on Myspace. The rest is history!"
Parallel Planets: How has Abbotsford's landscape influenced you in making your album Glacier? The album is more ambient sounding than your earlier work, was making it much like being inspired by Out of the Silent Planet or Utopian Visions like in your last albums? Or was it a completely different experience?
Teen Daze: "The influence of the landscape around me was a much more physical one, rather than the philosophical or cerebral one. Rather than take a world that didn’t actually exist, and try to create a soundtrack for it, I decided to soundtrack the world that was right outside my window. I find myself to be more and more affected by season, and last winter was just a very inspired time."
Parallel Planets: The Inner Mansions' Always Returning finds you covering Brian Eno, is he a huge influence to your work? Who or what are your influences in making music?
Teen Daze: "Yes, of course. I think anyone making electronic music, whether it’s ambient music or not, owes a massive debt of gratitude to him. When it comes to my creative process, I put a huge emphasis on “feeling”, and trying to create an atmosphere, and Brian Eno is the master of that. He can create a mood instantly with his music. Other influences come and go; musically I find I’m inspired by different things all the time. I’ve been trying to not let those influences dictate what I create though. There’s two artists that come to mind when it comes to people that I take influence from more in ideals than in actual sonics: Majical Cloudz and Jon Hopkins. I don’t think my music sounds anything like either of them, but their originality is inspiring. Neither of their records sound like any other record, and that’s something I’d like to strive towards."
Parallel Planets: It's your first time touring with a full band, did you adjust easily to it? Do you think its a natural progression to Teen Daze's sound?
Teen Daze: "Thankfully I’ve played in bands before, and I’ve gone on tours with four or five people in a van, so I’m used to the physicality of it. I’m also thankful for the friends that I had come on tour with me. Travelling with people you already know you connect with makes the process much easier. I do think it’s a natural progression in the sound; we had a lot of fun taking the original ideas of the songs and recreating them in such a way that they were uniquely ours. The new album was also written with liver performance in mind, so it’s amazing to get to see it come to fruition."
Parallel Planets: How did the tour with Camp Counselors go?
Teen Daze: "Wonderful, Kyle is an amazing person. It won’t be the last tour I do with him, I’m sure."
Parallel Planets: I've been listening to Lost Songs Vol. 1-3 a lot lately, can you shed more light about these pieces?
Teen Daze: "Those songs were just collecting dust on my hard drive, and I thought it would be a fun surprise for fans of my stuff. I always love it when artists that I like do stuff like that. It was cool that it coincided with reaching 20,000 likes on Facebook, which is still sort of crazy to me. The songs themselves are split up into the three volumes for a specific reason: Vol. 1 is much more of a dance record; ideas for songs that mostly involve four on the floor feels. Vol. 2 showcases some of my experimenting in hip hop beats. Vol. 3 is more song-based, more beachy and summery. It’s nice to get them out, and to be able to give them away for free. Nothing would have really come of the songs otherwise."
Parallel Planets: What are your future plans with Teen Daze and your other project, Two Bicycles? Any plans to tour Asia anytime soon?
Teen Daze: "I’m going to start work on a new Teen Daze album sometime next year, but for now I’ll be playing some solo shows and some DJ sets in the next few months. Mostly just local stuff; I prefer not to tour very much, so it’s nice to be able to perform without having to spend six weeks away from home. I have a new Two Bicycles album that I’m wrapping up, and should hopefully see release in 2014. It’s a quiet folk record."
Teen Daze: "In 2009/early 2010, I was working on a new album for a project I had been doing for several years. I had made several records, but never really had them properly released. So this record I was working on was a more straight-ahead, dance record, influenced by lots of French Touch sounds. At the same time, I caught wind of artists like Washed Out and Toro Y Moi, and loved the idea of making some music that would still be considered electronic, but with more of a downtempo feel. These artists lead way to a lot of similar sounds I had listened to, and almost forgotten about; bands like The Album Leaf, Zero 7 and even Boards Of Canada. I was so wrapped up in dance music, I forgot about all the downtempo electronic music that I loved. So I started writing some tunes that were more in the 90 BPM range, rather than 128. I wrote and recorded six songs, made a new project name for them, and posted a few songs on Myspace. The rest is history!"
Parallel Planets: How has Abbotsford's landscape influenced you in making your album Glacier? The album is more ambient sounding than your earlier work, was making it much like being inspired by Out of the Silent Planet or Utopian Visions like in your last albums? Or was it a completely different experience?
Teen Daze: "The influence of the landscape around me was a much more physical one, rather than the philosophical or cerebral one. Rather than take a world that didn’t actually exist, and try to create a soundtrack for it, I decided to soundtrack the world that was right outside my window. I find myself to be more and more affected by season, and last winter was just a very inspired time."
Parallel Planets: The Inner Mansions' Always Returning finds you covering Brian Eno, is he a huge influence to your work? Who or what are your influences in making music?
Teen Daze: "Yes, of course. I think anyone making electronic music, whether it’s ambient music or not, owes a massive debt of gratitude to him. When it comes to my creative process, I put a huge emphasis on “feeling”, and trying to create an atmosphere, and Brian Eno is the master of that. He can create a mood instantly with his music. Other influences come and go; musically I find I’m inspired by different things all the time. I’ve been trying to not let those influences dictate what I create though. There’s two artists that come to mind when it comes to people that I take influence from more in ideals than in actual sonics: Majical Cloudz and Jon Hopkins. I don’t think my music sounds anything like either of them, but their originality is inspiring. Neither of their records sound like any other record, and that’s something I’d like to strive towards."
Parallel Planets: It's your first time touring with a full band, did you adjust easily to it? Do you think its a natural progression to Teen Daze's sound?
Teen Daze: "Thankfully I’ve played in bands before, and I’ve gone on tours with four or five people in a van, so I’m used to the physicality of it. I’m also thankful for the friends that I had come on tour with me. Travelling with people you already know you connect with makes the process much easier. I do think it’s a natural progression in the sound; we had a lot of fun taking the original ideas of the songs and recreating them in such a way that they were uniquely ours. The new album was also written with liver performance in mind, so it’s amazing to get to see it come to fruition."
Parallel Planets: How did the tour with Camp Counselors go?
Teen Daze: "Wonderful, Kyle is an amazing person. It won’t be the last tour I do with him, I’m sure."
Parallel Planets: I've been listening to Lost Songs Vol. 1-3 a lot lately, can you shed more light about these pieces?
Teen Daze: "Those songs were just collecting dust on my hard drive, and I thought it would be a fun surprise for fans of my stuff. I always love it when artists that I like do stuff like that. It was cool that it coincided with reaching 20,000 likes on Facebook, which is still sort of crazy to me. The songs themselves are split up into the three volumes for a specific reason: Vol. 1 is much more of a dance record; ideas for songs that mostly involve four on the floor feels. Vol. 2 showcases some of my experimenting in hip hop beats. Vol. 3 is more song-based, more beachy and summery. It’s nice to get them out, and to be able to give them away for free. Nothing would have really come of the songs otherwise."
Parallel Planets: What are your future plans with Teen Daze and your other project, Two Bicycles? Any plans to tour Asia anytime soon?
Teen Daze: "I’m going to start work on a new Teen Daze album sometime next year, but for now I’ll be playing some solo shows and some DJ sets in the next few months. Mostly just local stuff; I prefer not to tour very much, so it’s nice to be able to perform without having to spend six weeks away from home. I have a new Two Bicycles album that I’m wrapping up, and should hopefully see release in 2014. It’s a quiet folk record."
More from Teen Daze
Editor's Note: Extra-terrestrial thanks to Airplay Junkie for hooking Parallel Planets up with Teen Daze.
0 comments:
Post a Comment