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Whether sonically, lyrically, or visually, Dontmesswithjuan’s new album Juan & The Pursuit Of Happiness sets the tone and confirms the astonishing potential of this young emerging creative force. The entire tracklist is a powerful display of her versatility as a trailblazing artist capable of imagining a new kind of genre she calls Surrealist Electronica. We had the opportunity to chat with her about how she started making music, her new album, her fictional character Juan, the meaning of happiness for her, and so much more!
Hi Dontmesswithjuan, it’s a pleasure having you with us today!
Hey there, thank you so much for having me and hello to the readers too 🙂
Congratulations on the release of your debut album, Juan & The Pursuit Of Happiness, we loved it! What’s the story behind the album?
Thank you so much for your kind words, it brings me joy that you could appreciate it! The story behind this album is that fictional character Juan lives this first eternal cycle in 8 songs. He goes on the pursuit of happiness and each song is a level he needs to go through to get to the next. He first accepts his doubts and questions the structure around him. Then he wants to exchange the structure for something better by changing his external world. After which he realizes he needs to dive deep into his internal world. He will then fall slowly into himself and get lost in a sea of truths. He will meet Mr. Uchi, a magical bird who holds the key to the cycle and Juan will understand that the ultimate truth resides in nature. Then he will adapt to reality, go back to the beginning of the cycle and mutate into the next version of himself. In the last song, we meet the new character called Young Lady, in which she will need to leave a part of herself behind in order to be ready for the next cycle…..
Tell us more about your style, surrealist electronica, and the elements it emcompasses..
Well I guess it could easily mean many things, but for me in this moment (just starting so it will evolve), in the micro-niche I’m trying to create (in all humility because I know nothing about genres), it would be this:
First is the surreal element, this feeling of being transported outside of human reality. It’s dreamlike, but not in a dreamy vibes kind of dream, more like a real dream where things are uncertain, dark, nostalgic, melancholic.
Second is the organic textures element where a lot of sound design, foley elements and sound field recordings can come into play, mostly found in the beat elements.
Then the hypnotizing element that can come from dark & ambient textures, some nightmary/melancholic chords and/or a mesmerizing voice.
Sometimes it can be as soft as Agnes Obel and Patrick Watson and other times it can go on the more aggressive side of the spectrum like with Two Fingers or M.I.A. I would say Amon Tobin is the artist who best represents all the sides of the spectrum.
I guess it always has something experimental.
You can find a lot of emotions and kind of a journey, something cinematic.
And last but not least, in my own music, it’s surrealist because I never know what I’m doing haha. So we could say it’s all coming from the unconscious mind.
What is happiness for you?
Oh the big question! Well I guess this will also evolve with time. Probably in a few years I will look back at this and think damn, I had it all wrong haha. But I think happiness is something that comes and goes. It’s not something tangible that we can find some day and have forever. When it comes, we can’t take it for granted, nor should we wait to have it in order to move on with our lives. I think it can hide in very different places for each human and it’s good to learn where you can find it. For me personally, some of it resides in being aware and in the acceptance of the “darker stuff” and to stop trying to hide it. Also being aware of the good stuff and trying not to let either of those affect me disproportionately. Right now, I also know I’m the type of person who finds a lot of happiness by being productive and improving some skills, so I try to use that to my advantage. In the end, I find a lot of peace of mind knowing that life is also okay on the days or the periods I cannot find happiness. And when I can’t see it, I like to remember, in the absolute, that it’s still right there in a tree, in a bird, in a mountain or a lake (is that cheesy enough?), as well as inside myself, whenever I am ready to look at it again.
Which artists inspire you?
I would say I prefer diving into fewer artists, or else it becomes too much for me. But those few, affect me in a profound manner. My biggest influence is Amon Tobin, then Patrick Watson, Agnes Obel, Massive Attack, Gorillaz, Thom Yorke. Oh and I need to add Michel Gondry in here. Right now I’m fascinated by Amon Tobin who is coming back from nature and creating his digital existence through all his different monikers. His journey is beyond inspiring to me because I do have this urge of going to disconnect in nature (to connect with nature) forever and it’s a big theme in my life. All of these years of listening to him, I never knew what he looked like, diving in his music was more than enough for me. Well I did see one live show, but he was hiding in a cube lol. But I think it’s also important to adapt to our evolutionary context in order to be part. So following his journey more closely now makes me think a lot about all of this. Nature life/Digital life. He recently started his own record label to house his different aliases (5 out now and one more to come), but all under the name of Amon Tobin, it seems absolutely brilliant to me. Each one of them has a precise sonic personality, all rooted from sounds he fabricates himself. Just so exciting.
Tell us more about how you started making music..
Until recently I never really believed making music could actually be a possibility for me. But music was always kind of part of my life and I was really lucky life happened the way it did and just by reacting to life and adapting as best as I could to my reality kind of brought me here today. I do come from a family of musicians but they are all far too good for me haha. I learned a bit of classical piano when I was young, and then travelled with a guitar a lot later on. Then I tried producing some commercial music to make money, but it didn’t quite work that well for me. Having money as a first goal will never be a good path for me.
What were the challenges you faced while recording a debut album during the pandemic?
I would say the challenges were not really different from other periods. Since I do it all by myself in my bedroom and in my wardrobe, I was really lucky I could still do the same amount of work.
Did your upbringing influence or shape your sound and style?
Absolutely! I remember in another life, in high school, I was into contemporary dance and choreographing. I used to be very adamant about the music choice haha. I would go through my teachers’ CDs who had some Kid Koala, Massive Attack and a lot of experimental stuff, and I would come back home and find some Amon Tobin, Moby, Bran Van 3000, quietly hiding in my house’s vast music collection. I also dug a lot into Danny Elfman’s soundtracks on the side. I think a lot of my essence must come from those years of dancing, creating and musical selections.
Would you like to collaborate with other artists? If yes, who would be your top 5?
I would love to collaborate with everyone haha. It’s always such a unique and special experience. In my life, I am a bit of a chameleon and it’s a game I enjoy, adapting to each human being. So collaborations are always fascinating to me and I always get a lot out of doing them. Getting to connect with another human by understanding their music is a bit of a spiritual opportunity.
But let’s say for one second I could aim way too high, of course Amon Tobin haha, and then still aiming way too high I would maybe name three Montreal artists: Patrick Watson, Safia Nolin, Kaytranada. Oops I am missing one, well all my musician friends enter in this slot 🙂
Any upcoming plans you would like to share with our audience?
Not so much haha, because I learned it’s not a good idea to share plans that have not yet been concretized and also, I have no idea where this journey will take me. But I can say I have a very special surrealist videoclip coming out soon for the last song of the album. And I am crafting with another artist, the first Dontmesswithjuan little electronic live experience. Ok but I can leave a little something here about the continuity of Young Lady’s story….. It will involve water 🙂
Thank You!
Thank you so much for this opportunity and thank you to anyone reading this.
