RECORDS LiVE

Donna: Hello, welcome, Janize. Do you have some records for me? 

Janize: Yes, I like your shoes, by the way. Can we have a moment for her glorious shoes?

Donna: They’re shiny. Yeah, I’m like a crow. If it’s shiny, I’m going to wear it. Thank you! OK, I think out of everyone that I’ve interviewed for this show thus far, your record selection pleasantly surprised me the most.

Song Plays: Ichiko Aoba – 太陽さん (Mr.Sun)

Donna: There is so much vibe, and especially this Ichiko Aoba. It’s a great one to start off with. She’s very magical. Yes, that’s the perfect word. So, what is it about if one is not familiar? This is from the Japanese jazz arena. What is it about Japanese jazz that draws you in or did initially when you first found it?

Janize: There’s a Japanese jazz where they’re actually just playing straight ahead jazz or experimental jazz. There are definitely some jazz notes in this song for sure. And like, really in a lot of her music she’s playing jazz chords. The style that she’s playing is like a medium swing. What she’s doing rhythmically on the guitar I call chunking, which is a very jazz thing, but she actually classifies as a folk songwriter, yeah. 

Donna: Interesting. Do you think the cadence of the Japanese language affects which genre the song falls into? 

Janize: I don’t know, I haven’t really thought about that so much. I want to say I don’t think so? Yeah. 

Donna: I think in terms of languages, it’s always something so interesting to think about. Does the feel of the language itself affect the genre? Or where the song may have originated from initially. 

Janize: Oh yeah, definitely. You know, I feel like every language has its own timbre, has its own tone, has its own character. So, it definitely brings whatever it’s bringing spiritually, you know, even though you can’t understand it. Specifically with this one, there’s like a sweetness. There’s a softness. There’s some like diva singing type Japanese singers out there, which I really enjoy, but there are also a lot of Japanese singers who are very, like almost dainty the way that they sing. I feel like that’s like a very specific, like female, Japanese singer kind of quality. 

Donna: How would you classify the English language as someone who writes music themselves? 

Janize: It’s hard to classify it because I speak it, I sing in it and I kind of just turn off my brain when it does happen. I don’t know. I haven’t thought about that. It’s hard to say because I feel like I’m wrapped up in it. I’m like in the soup, so I don’t know what it tastes like. It’s like when you cook and you keep tasting your food. That’s what English sounds like to me, I guess. Nothing.

Song Plays: Asiatica – Oh Darlin’

Donna: Your entire playlist is very ambient. I think this song in particular is a little bit more like a classic song structure if you were to think of pop, so what does this song mean to you? Where does the influence of this one come from in terms of your songwriting and how you align with it personally? 

Janize: The song rang a bell because in my mind, it’s true alternative R&B. Like there’s alternative R&B right now that sounds like it’s not like your typical 90s R&B, but it’s definitely very much like your 2020s R&B, in which there’s like a band heavy vibe to it. It kind of leans a little neo soul, but it’s not as jazzy. I feel like what I like about this is that it’s like indie with a hint of R&B. Her vocals, her layers, I don’t know, it just hits a note for me that feels like when I was a kid. So yeah. 

Donna: Well, let’s tap into that a little bit more. What about your childhood? Do you recall when you listened to this? Is it like a specific feeling? Because I remember you mentioned that you moved here from the Philippines, right? So, is it something that is recalled? From your time in the Philippines? Or is it from when you had already immigrated here? 

Janize: Yeah, definitely the time before I moved. Definitely spent a lot more time alone then, too. I was the youngest of four and the one before me is a boy, so he never let me play with him and his friends. So, I spent a lot of time alone, a lot of time not really thinking because you don’t really think when you’re that young, but just experiencing things. Something about this track feels like that, where I don’t really have to think so much. I can just kind of be and feel. There’s something that rings very like, I’m free and this feels like freedom right now. Mentally, I guess.

Donna: Yeah. So, when you were a child and being able to be alone to experience different things, was it a source of freedom for you or was it also kind of like “I don’t really know how to apply myself in this time?” 

Janize: Yeah, I think that’s the coolest thing about being a kid. You were never worried about how you were going to spend your time, like moments kind of just came at you. So, if somebody came and was like, “Hey, you want to play?” you’re like “Yeah, not doing anything, let’s go.” Or you know you’re staying at home and I’m like “I’m just gonna go eat some food,” so I guess I’m gonna do that. Which I still do now. I guess nothing’s changed. But at least then, I would never overthink it the way that I would now. So that’s the difference. 

Donna: I love that you’re recalling that ease of thought along with this song. It’s almost like when you listen to it, it’s a reminder to yourself to just kind of let go and not get too deep into your head.

Janize: It’s too easy to do that, it’s too easy, especially when… I’m not going to go there…

Donna: OK, yeah. No, please go there by all means. 

Janize: I’m addicted to social media, and I doom scroll like a maniac and that’s probably why I overthink. It’s a confession. Do you also do that? Is it just me?

Audience cheers in agreement

Donna: Social media!

Janize: OK anyway. So, I think that’s why I like music like this, because then it like, draws me away from these things that I feel like I’ve developed based off of where our society is going. It’s nice when music can like tap in and be like “Hey, remember when, like it wasn’t like that?” It’s more subconscious than somebody actually saying something to you.

Donna: Yeah. Do you feel that your time in the social media realm has informed your music, or does it feel like two completely separate worlds? 

Janize: Thankfully, it’s completely separate, yeah. 

Donna: I mean, you know, some people look for the social media music. Which isn’t a bad thing.

Janize: No, not at all. Not at all. 

Donna: There’s some TikTok artists that I really love, but I also feel like it brings about a very different type of sound that is more commodified, out of that genre, in particular.

Song Plays: Harriet Brown – Under Your Tongue

Donna: In line with music that’s really good to just kind of let your brain go to, this Harriet Brown track… I was very impressed by it when I heard it, the vocals on this are one of my favorite things. 

Janize: I’m a huge Prince fan and anytime I’ve played this in the car, whoever I was with would be like, “Is this Prince?” No, it’s not, but it’s so good and it does sound like Prince. Harriet Brown does a really good job. His vocals are phenomenal on this track. Something about it is subdued, but it feels like you’re cuddling. You know, the song feels like you’re cuddling, and it’s nice for that. 

Donna: Did any of your siblings help get you into music or is that a path that you carved for yourself as you got older? 

Janize: No, I definitely gawked at my sister who wrote music and played in bands. She’s ten years older than me, so when I was around six, I would witness her having band rehearsals in our living room. At some point I went with her and my mom to a recording studio because she was going to record a song that she wrote. So, I grew up just kind of watching her doing that and I don’t think I really in my head was like “I want to do that,” but I just ended up also doing that. I think because I just saw it. I was in that environment. 

Donna: Was she an influence at all for you in terms of what you listen to regularly now? 

Janize: Not at all, not at all. We have very different music tastes, but it’s different also because when she was writing heavily, we were in the Philippines, so completely different landscape, completely different genres. A lot of Filipino music is really just American music with Tagalog. We have bands that kind of sound like The Beatles, but we also have some really great folk artists. My sister is definitely more of like a singer-songwriter. She really cares about what she’s saying, the words, she really loves to tell stories which for me is very different, very different. 

Donna: Well, what is your focus when you’re creating a track, or you have an idea that you’re playing with? Instead of telling a story through words, what is your preferred device? 

Janize: I think the difference between her and me is that I don’t really tell stories. It’s more like a conversation. If we were in a room together and I have something to say to you, or maybe you had said something to me, and this is my response to what you had to say. It would be something like that. And it would be less of me trying to put you through this journey, but more so like help you feel through something. 

Donna: What do you feel is the place of music in our society today since we are so consumed by social media? What is your preferred use of music amongst that as well? 

Janize: My preferred method or what I like to do with music, or I guess what ends up being, is that music is very meditative for me. I listen to it to reclaim myself. Usually when a song really hits me, or feels really good to me, or resonates, it’s because it’s reminding me of myself. Reminding me of who I am, and where I am, and the reality of the life that I’m living. So, I don’t know. It’s really subtle too. I have yet to find the song that’s like “Oh my gosh! Like, that was like I did shrooms and everything’s better.” But little bits here and there will be a nice getting back to center. So, it’s very meditative for me. 

Donna: Yeah. This next one by Contour is very much along those meditative lines. However, I was kind of surprised at how short it was. 

Janize: I love that about it.

Donna: Tell me a little more about what appeals to you with the length of this track. 

Song Plays: Contour – Pour

Janize: I love short tracks. A song doesn’t always need to take up that much space. It almost makes me think of like when you’re with a group of people and there’s that one quiet person and all of a sudden they said something, and they’ve never said anything before, but then when they did finally say something you’re like “What the fuck?” Like they got something to say for sure. I feel like that’s what a short song is. Not really trying to say too much, but when they do it hits. I love this song because it reminds me of A Tribe Called Quest, and as a Filipino we love hip-hop. We love R&B. It hits like that particular beginning of jazz/hip-hop fusion, which I feel like Tribe pioneered. So that’s like a nice kind of like… How do you say? I can’t find the word. 

Donna: Like a taste, a snippet. 

Janize: Yeah, like a nod to that. 

Donna: How do you feel about classic song structure in general? Like for example, if you were to take a songwriting class… And then let’s go ahead and roll some Lionmilk while we chat about that, because this one is a little bit more of the old-fashioned song structure.

Song Plays: Lionmilk – let it happen

Donna: If you were to take a songwriting class, they would be like, “OK, this is your pre-chorus and this is your chorus, and this is where your bridge goes…” As someone who likes to emote into the music, how do you respond to that? 

Janize: I think there’s different uses for different structures. Really, you know, your intro, verse, chorus, maybe a pre-chorus before the chorus, maybe go back to the chorus again or whatever… At that point you’re just mathing and like “Does this feel right?” But with song structures, you know, there’s like, easy, tangible ones that you can just kind of rinse and repeat. Which is nice, but I really appreciate it when people do something different. You only really get to appreciate that once you analyze and learn the song too, which is really fun. But I don’t know, I think whatever floats your boat for that. Yeah, whatever the song needs. 

Donna: Ooh, what do you mean by that? How do you know what a song needs when you are creating?

Janize: I truly believe that every song has its own soul. Like every song is a baby, and so we hope that every good parent lets a baby and human turn into what they need to turn into as they live on and it’s the same for a song. They want to be written a certain way. There’s this Herbie Hancock interview somewhere on YouTube, I watched it ages ago, but he was writing a song, and he was so frustrated because he didn’t know what to do with it. He was like “This needs something, like we need to go somewhere else with it” and then he took a break. He came back and he was like, “You know what? It doesn’t need anything. It’s perfect the way that it is.” So yeah, I don’t know. It’s just a feeling thing. You kind of just listen to it and it tells you “I’m done,” and you just listen. 

Donna: When you’re creating the full composition of the song with your band mates, do you feel like you’re always all on the same page in terms of how to honor the baby, or were there times in the past or maybe in the future where that process has looked different for you guys? 

Janize: I feel like generally we agree, but with any creative project, there’s always a back and forth. I may have an idea that they’re not about and I’m like, “OK, but can we try it?” Or vice versa. But it’s always a matter of you know, at the very least we should try it and hear it. If it feels right, we’ll go with it. If it doesn’t, then it’s each of our individual responsibilities to be honest with that. That’s how we roll.

Donna: Have there been any situations in the past where certain songs ended up, at the end of the day, being a way that you didn’t originally anticipate, and how did you cope with the change?

Janize: I can’t speak for everyone, but for me, I feel like if it didn’t turn out the way that I wanted to I would have been like “Can we keep working on it?” So far, I can honestly say that I’ve been very happy with how everything’s turned out. I work with excellent musicians, excellent friends. They’re my besties and yeah, no complaints. 

Donna: Wow, that’s amazing because I feel like creating music is very much a team sport and you all have to play on the same team and you all have to know what play it is. Sometimes it’s hard to get on the same page, right? Especially when we’re having an off day here and there. 

Janize: Totally, totally. I’ve definitely had at least one day I recall where I had to walk out of the room because I got really frustrated. But my bandmates are very, very patient, and very emotionally intelligent and I really, really appreciate them very much for letting me be a brat sometimes. Yeah.

Donna: We all got to let out our inner diva. You can’t let the diva hibernate.

Donna: I’m so sad to say that this is our last song. By Bremer McCoy.

Song Plays: Bremer/McCoy – Op

Donna: This is a nice little note to end on. I love this cover. 

Janize: Yeah, it’s giving… drought.

Donna: Desert chic.

Janize: No, I love this cover and I love this song. 

Donna: Once again, super vibey. Really great note to end the night on. Where in your daily life does this song fit? 

Janize: The five tracks that I had prior to this; those tracks I’ve been listening to a lot recently. This track I listened to heavily last year. I was living in Vancouver, Washington with my partner Steven and during that time, you know, we were away from California, we were away from our band. We weren’t playing as much. It was a huge time of aloneness, which was very, very needed, because prior to that, you know, prior to the pandemic it was just go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go, go… And so, the last two years was just kind of like a pause and a break from all of that, which I hope everybody was able to get. I know some of us didn’t, but hopefully do get it at some point. This song was a lot of that stillness time for me. 

Donna: What did you discover during that time of stillness that you were able to bring back into your band that you feel made you guys stronger? 

Janize: Our last song that we released called “Clarity,” I want to say is the answer to that. Being away from the band and us really just being away from each other, it almost kind of felt like, how are we going to keep this going? Are we going to keep this going? It made us realize and more strongly feel how much we actually want to continue staying committed to the project and to each other. I feel like that was the strength. The strength was the affirmation of “OK, we’re really serious and this is bigger than us,” because for some reason, even though we were apart for two years it still kept happening. People were asking us to play shows even though we were essentially kind of dead. Not posting anything. And so, the fact that there was constantly an interest, even though we’ve like stepped away, we were like, “OK, we’ve got to run with this.” And some other things as well. 

Donna: Where do you see you guys as a band going within the next year or two? 

Janize: Hopefully we have Maseratis and some Porsches… I’m kidding. I’m sorry. I’m totally kidding. I like my van. 

Donna: Janize, I will never knock your Porsche. Don’t worry. 

Janize: Actually, I don’t really like Porsches, but what was I going to say? Musically?

Donna: Yeah. What are you looking forward to? 

Janize: Writing a record. We have a lot of new music that I’m super excited to develop. I’m really, really excited as to how we’re going to continue to produce our music. We have spent a lot more time in the studio, versus what we used to before we started again, or pre-pandemic. We’re getting into a lot more production, so that’s exciting. So just more music and being able to really just dive into the art. 

Donna: That’s incredible. I’m so excited for you guys and congratulations on all the music that you’ve got cooking back there in your brains. Yes. Fabulous! Well, Janize, thank you so much.

Janize: Thank you. Thank you all.