Three Music Thingz with Joh Chase
Hey hey hey, it's another rendition of Three Music Thingz, the blogseries where I ask musicians for three thingz that are essential to their music-making.
Today we've got the incredible Joh Chase. Joh Chase is a Seattle-raised, Los Angeles-based singer-songwriter and their album SOLO is out right this moment.
Bandcamp New & Notable Apr 18, 2024
I know I'm on the record here as loving everything from hip hop with a dance-punk feel to heavy drone-y instrumental post-rock to nouveau bubblegum pop...but you should also know I have a real penchant for a certain kind of album, a special kind of album, and that is the Rootsy, Rock-n-Roll-y, In-Your-Feelings, Singer-Songwriter-Sing-A-Long Road Trip album.
SOLO completely scratches that restless fill-the-tank-'n'-go itch. The expansive arrangements, the organic percussion, the confident crunch of the guitars, and most importantly, Joh Chase's ardent and elastic singing voice all combine to create tunes that are practically screaming out to be played loud on a lonesome freeway. Are we talking Car Wheels on a Gravel Road vibes? The Story vibes?? Yes I think we are.
A standout track is the first one, "Gone," a bluesy slow-burner which serves as a smoldering statement of personal liberation: "The party is over and I'm still buzzed walking the neighborhood....I'm gone with the wind now." This energy infuses the rest of the album—I think it's crucial to note that the "solo" of the album title invokes individuality and independence, but in practice it refers to Joh's red Solo cup. Going your own way can be a hell of a party if you do it right.
Joh was kind enough to share their three music thingz with the blog...let's check them out!
- My voice
From singing in the passenger seat behind my parents in the car growing up to taking voice lessons from opera singers and jazz singers, my voice has been a constant friend in my life and the most important thing in my music outwardly to the world and also inwardly, for my own audiation experience. I can say so much with my voice and it brings me so much pleasure and enjoyment. In being a musician, there is now so much back end. So much internet, emails, social media etc, that being able to enjoy my own voice and have access to that, is a salve. - My Old Style custom made Jag-style electric
Old Style Guitar Shop is a cute little guitar and instrument shop in Silverlake. The guy who runs it also a hand makes guitars as well as modifies ones that he finds. I have a 1910 Kay guitar from there that was modified to be an electric guitar with flat wound strings. A little over a year ago I picked up a gorgeous hand made Jag-style electric from the shop and it plays so beautifully. Being able to really crank the volume on it and shape my sounds with pedals etc has been a big part of my live shows in the last couple years and something that makes my music what it is, these days. - My free-write practice
I write almost daily as a practice to clear out the gunk in my creative machine. Being a musician is an emotional and spiritual exercise for me. I need it to exist more fully and more truthfully as myself. The free-write gives me a daily refresh on clearing my sub-conscious of some of the stuff that has been making it hard for me to see the solution or next step in some part of my process. I rely heavily on this practice and took it on after reading a bit of "The Artist's Way", a powerful artist tool.
Thank you Joh!! Listen to their album SOLO and check out their link aggregation. And thanks for reading I Enjoy Music. If you like it, tell a friend.