INTRODUCING: JFR Moon #AnInterview

Stuttgart born artist, JFR Moon, returns with a lip smacking popsicle flavored kiss as he brings us his second LP, “Moony”. Signed to Treibender Teppich Records, this second installment shows us that he’s more than what his former Psychedelic Folk self would have had you believe.  As he ventures into a 80s synth-pop inspired road trip, that meets Sergio Leone and the Spaghetti Western, and adds a decent splash of self-irony into the mix.

 

“JFR”, which he explains in the form of a skit on the album – stands for John Lennon, Fabian, Sixto Rodrigeuz. Fabian being the artist real name… And as for the Moon part? That remains a secret, he laughs. Home-recorded, mixed and produced by Thomas Zehnle and Ralv Milberg in Stuttgart. The album stands at only 25 minutes long… Yet whilst perhaps shorter and sweeter than some, the inspiration was, however, varied…

I never have like, ONE inspiration for something, but I think for this one I knew after I made my last album and moved back to Stuttgart from Berlin that the last album didn’t feel contemporary enough. It was just too retro for how I was feeling and what I was becoming inspired by. So then I really thought I want to find a new sound that represents me better and the first step to that was putting the guitars aside… I started to write a bit more using synthesizers and stuff. Like even beginning by finding a note on the synthesizer, rather than a note on the guitar. Also, doing things like programming the beats myself in Logic rather than writing the song and then giving it to a drummer and seeing what he would do… And with all of those things it really changed everything. Where things became more beat focused etc.

And whilst making musical comparisons may be inevitable: Conan Mockasin and Homeshake are a couple that come to mind in this particular case – JFR hits a nerve that seems to be affecting many young artist of his generation… “For me, I guess one of the biggest challenges facing young musicians today in terms of music is identity… (laughs) But no, seriously, I think it’ s hard because you can see so many things on YouTube and everywhere these days. To the point where you can have a new influence every f*cking day. When I was younger it would be more a case of this one artist, or that other artist that you like… But now days it’s so many influences that you have at one time. So I think it’s really finding your own identity, or dealing with those 100 identities that you have.”

“Moony” also sees the likes of contributions from fellow musicians such as Kevin Kuhn of Die Nerven on drums, Dennis Melster (The Blue Angel Lounge) on guitar and Martha Rose (Martha Rose) on Bass and Synths. The result speaks clearly for itself, placing JFR Moon as an exciting new face that will give your summery night hiccups, the happy edge you’ve been looking for.

Today Kaltblut has the exclusive release of the music video for “Does Me Harm” off the “Moony” LP, as well as a cosy Berlin style Thursday night interview at the bar.

KB: Is there a story behind your JRF Moon artist name?

JFR: Yes this is a skit that is on the album… JFR is an abbreviation… And the J is for “John Lennon” (laughs), the F is for my name, which is Fabian… And the R is for Sixto Rodrigeuz. And the Moon… Is a secret (laughs). But Moon was actually the first thing that I wanted to have in the name.

KB: Where did the inspiration for your second LP ‘Moony’ come from?

JFR: I never have like, ONE inspiration for something, but I think for this one I knew after I made my last album and moved back to Stuttgart from Berlin that the last album didn’t feel contemporary enough. It was just too retro for how I was feeling and what I was becoming inspired by. So then I really thought I want to find a new sound that represents me better, and the first step to that was putting the guitars aside… I started to write a bit more using synthesizers and stuff. Like even beginning by finding a note on the synthesizer, rather than a note on the guitar. Also, doing things like programming the beats myself in Logic rather than writing the song and then giving it to a drummer and seeing what he would do… And with all of those things it really changed everything. Where things became more beat focused etc.

KB: Yes there’s a track on the album called “Sugarpops” that particularly goes deeper, darker and more punk than the rest of the songs on the album. Where did the inspiration for that one come from?

JFR: So basically, this song is a perfect example of what I was talking about before… Like I wrote that song first on the guitar with some weird open jazz chords and things that I don’t really have any clue about (laughs). And then I actually showed it to some friends and was like, ‘look, here’s my new song!’And they said, ‘it sounds just like Mac Demarco’, and I was like, Oh yeah because of these long open chords… So after that happened, I put the guitar down and stayed completely away from it. But I still had the structure for the voice and put the synthesizer over it. Now it’s basically all just synthesizer, and then beat even came at the end after all of that.

KB:  The rest of the songs on the album have almost a Sergio leone – Spaghetti Western vibe mixed with elements of artist such as Conan Mockasin and Homeshake. Are there any artist out there that you look up to, and what’s your personal approach when it comes to music making?

JFR: There’s a lot of artists that I look up to (laughs) But mainly at the moment it’s actually Rap artists like Vince Staples… A friend also introduced me to Cousin Stizz, and I really like the new Kendrick Lamar album, and the Future album from last year. So there are a lot of artists out there that I respect and that inspire me or whatever…

And as for what kind of approach I have to making music, I think that always depends on the setting. Like, in JFR Moon, there I am making music on my own, so I guess in that case I really want to make songs that I can feel. So it’s not really a specific thing that I do, rather I listen to a lot of music, or I look at art, or life (laughs) and then if sometimes there comes some inspiration, I’ll try something with it. Sometimes it also comes out of an instrument… I don’t know, it could be anything.

KB: So something that not everyone might know is that your parents are in a band… Does a love of music run in the family?

JFR: I guess so… Like, my little brother is the only one that doesn’t really play music, but that’s also because he can’t so well because he has a handicap. When I was a teenager it was actually quite a drag that my parents made music. Cos they are in this rock cover band, and it’s cool but also not quite my thing. But they have a rehearsal room in the basement of our house and that’s where I also first started to play. But I only started playing guitar when I was 19, so that was also in a way pretty late. My parents also had like a big jukebox when I was younger and I used to steal money out of there (laughs). My twin brother Moritz picked up the drums as well, probably just because there was a drum kit sitting around at home that he could use. And my first guitar was a present from my mother, so I guess you could say that a love of music runs in the family (laughs)

KB: What do you think is the biggest challenge young musicians are facing today in terms of music?

JFR: For me, I guess one of the biggest challenges facing young musicians today in terms of music is identity… (laughs) But no, seriously, I think it’ s hard because you can see so many things on YouTube and everywhere these days. To the point where you can have a new influence every f*cking day. When I was younger it would be more a case of this one artist, or that other artist that you like… But now days it’s so many influences that you have at one time. So I think it’s really finding your own identity, or dealing with those 100 identities that you have.

KB: You are a multi-talented artist who also edits his own videos. How did you first get into video making?

JFR: I first started by making inline skating videos with my twin brother Moritz. The first one we made we did it on VHS and put music to it afterwards. Then we were also part of a skating magazine. But yeah I was always more into the editing and Mortiz mostly did the filming.

KB: Are there any certain topics that you find will typically inspire your songs?

JFR: So basically there two things that usually find themselves inspiring my songs. One is like this ‘love’ or relationship based thing. Like, trying to find relationships, or having short-term relationships. The song ‘Swim’ on the album is about that… It’s about meeting somebody but it really doesn’t work… It just works for a certain amount of time and then you go your separate ways. And then there are songs that are more dealing with working in bars, actually (laughs). So on the album there are actually three songs about that. Like, “Sugarpops” that we talked about is about that… It’s a song that talks about working late in a bar and it’s late but you still have to be there… and at some point you just start drinking liquor (laughs), and that’s why there is the line ”sugarpops just won’t calm me down” like, if you drink a coca cola it just won’t make you feel better, and then you realize that it’s time maybe to quit that job! (laughs)

KB: What’s your favorite meal of the day?

JFR: I really like eating something really late… So I would say a midnight snack when you are really drunk is the most enjoyable. The rest I enjoy equally! (laughs)

KB: If you could live anywhere else in the world where would it be?

JFR: Lately I’ve been to Greece and I really thought it was super enjoyable. I really like the warm countries where everything is a bit slower and hot and you can go to the beach.

KB: What’s the last movie that you watched?

JFR: Um, let me think… I don’t really watch movies very much maybe like one a month or something… Um… Oh yeah! It was a James Dean movie: “East of Eden”. But another movie that I watched lately and really liked was “A Touch of Zen”: it’s one of the first martial arts movies from the 70s and has all these beautiful shots of slow-motion fighting and a lot of low angles, and it’s about 3 hours long, I think.

“Moony” Berlin album release show 25.7.17 @ Bei Ruth

“Moony” Stuttgart album release show 27.7.17 @ Neue Schachtel

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