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J*Davey: LA-yin’ it down!

Music duo J*Davey makes incredible, eclectic, clever and distinct soundclashes, and they know just how to get their electromagnetic hybrids directly to the fans. Never one (or two) to get pigeonholed or to ever succumb to what’s considered mainstream, music’s dopest iconoclasts believe they’re creating a trustworthy and innovative brand minus any major record label confinement and without any sort of compromise to fit neatly into any genre.

One random summer afternoon in 2008, I was in the mood for what I heard Questlove tell me one time was some “musical nutrition:” something new, preferably edgy, and just all out full of energy. So I logged onto MySpace, checked my profile for a minute, uploaded some new pictures and began to venture off into a virtual safari of indie bands. Real quick, I ran across these sounds I’d been hearing in my head. The music was very electric, sparse, raw, funky, spunky, distorted, quirky, cool, original and most importantly - honest.

At that moment, music never sounded so good to me. The vocals, courtesy of Jack Davey (nee Briana Cartwright), recalled classic jazz with a hint of R&B. Her stage name is a derivative of versatility, or being a jack of all trades I should say, as well as Davy Crockett, the iconic adventurer . She rocked one of the tightest mo-hawks I’d ever seen. She was kinda cute, too! Her partner, Brook D’Leau, on the other hand, is this mild-mannered lookin’ cat with a shaved head and some ultra-cool Cali swag rockin’ vintage tees and fedoras. He’s the electrofunky Technicolor genius behind the group’s production: a Godsend to the human ears. This incredible duo, J*Davey, had just released their debut project – a double disc concept album, 'The Beauty in Distortion/The Land of the Lost' – which pays homage to the band’s keen satire on pop culture and American media, a culmination of the 1980s synth-pop bands I grew up watching on MTV and my mother’s crates of ‘70s and ‘80s funk records I couldn’t get enough of sprinkled with a dash of hip hop. J*Davey is a singular offspring of some pivotal male/female musical acts (think Eurythmics, Rene & Angela, Peaches & Herb, Ashford & Simpson, Everything but the Girl, Loose Ends, the Human League, Matt & Kim and Roxette). 'The Beauty in Distortion/The Land of the Lost' was so infectious, I streamed the album daily. I liked so many tracks, I couldn’t just reference one (and still can’t to this day). As I would rave more and more day in and day out about the group, more and more of my friends were suddenly finding themselves hooked on their grooves!

Count on this Los Angeles-based outfit (Jack is originally from St. Louis but relocated at age eight) to stay 10 toes down and to always do them. A one-time member of an all-girl singing group that was shelved by MCA Records, Jack vowed from that moment to never let anyone stifle her musical vision. I guess she was right on 'Lil’ Big Heads' when she delicately croons over some brash intergalactic synth funk this town ain’t big enough for both of us. At a high school prom in 1999, Jack met her kindred spirit. Brook was a wunderkind ever inspired by alternative rock; new wave; electronica; and punk. This cat had been experimenting with making hypnotic, trippy sounds in his father’s recording studio for fun. Post graduation, Jack and Brook linked up and became J*Davey.

They don’t have a problem with talking about their slow but steady process. Still, J*Davey kept at it: eventually catching the ears of Sa-Ra, The Roots, Kardinal Offishal and the late J. Dilla. Along those lines, they recorded a deep-rooted, syrupy funk cover of late alt-rocker Frank Zappa’s 'Dirty Love'. Somehow around Nov. 2007, Prince caught wind of the duo and invited them to open for him at his Las Vegas nightclub. The duo’s music slickly and unconsciously continues to find new audiences – earning placements on CSI: NY, Entourage and the Snoop Dogg-produced 'Bossin’ Up'. The major label came calling for a time – J*Davey was briefly signed with Warner Bros. Records’ rock music division – encouraging the band to become even more proactive about their creative output and being ‘bout their business. They still released a follow-up EP, 'Boudoir Synema', in 2009, toured extensively and built a strong presence on the Internet. I must say, their cult status hands down outshines some of the more well-known acts in music…period!

Now three years after my accidental Web tourism (and missing a few performances along the way), I’d finally earned my chance to see my favorite cyber-friendly, supersonic musical crusaders give an intimate, four-song performance called 'Uncapped,' – which I found out about via Facebook -- at Atlanta’s New Era Flagship Store. I anticipated – waited patiently for them for approximately two hours. They were running behind and had to rush through their soundcheck, but it didn’t matter. I felt like a Deadhead my damn self. I’d been repeating the streams: vibin’ to the heavy bass, creeping synth riffs, echoing drums and funky grooves of their latest EP, 'Evil Christian Cop', from 'BandCamp' all morning. They entertained us all with some Jose Cuervo Platino cocktails; I had four chased with Sprite if you care, but their Facebook page was on point by stating “J*Davey’s music is the new way to get high” ‘cause I sure as hell was!

They genuinely love their fans, which I really can appreciate. After the show, both ready to hit up their afterparty, Brook was actively inviting everyone who was there and who passed by. Jack was tellin’ me thank you after most of my comments and questions. On Twitter, the duo was still overwhelmed by the RSVPs still flooding in just that afternoon. They gave me some hints about their upcoming full-length album, 'New Designer Drug'. Jack says the project is typical J*Davey: progression and really great songs that are off kilter. Jack and Brook both agree that they’ve put the most effort into 'New Designer Drug' more than any previous offering: calling the album the “most well-thought out project we’ve done to date.”

Speaking with J*Davey is like watching both a musical relay race and marriage; they piggy back from each other, briefly interrupt one another, finish each other’s phrasing but most importantly always complimenting each other. They both hate the status quo and doing anything contrived. It’s very refreshing. They want to put the music first with no sort of expectations to follow. It was an honor and a joy to hear them laugh in between comments about defining their sound, what disturbs them about the music business, defining music, how the two concoct their brand of genre-blurred output, what makes them successful musicians, connecting with their fans, their relationship with the Internet and of course how His Royal Badness became a fan.

…on opening for Prince.
Jack: “It was an amazing honor.”
Brook: “Kinda nerve wreckin’ a lil’ bit. I mean, you know, you’re opening for someone who we consider like an idol of ours: a musical idol of ours. You’d only wanna impress, you know, but he caught wind of our music through a mutual friend who also DJs for him, DJ Rashida. So she was always feedin’ him music of ours.”
Jack: “Yeah, it’s pretty awesome. It’s surreal.”

…on defining music.
Jack: “Music is not to be defined. I think it’s just an extension of everyone’s psyche. I mean, everyone possesses music. Everyone is connected to music, so it’s not to be defined; it’s to be experienced.”
Brook: “Music is just…you rarely meet people that say they don’t like music in general…”
Jack: “We had one yesterday.”
Brook: “…even those people who think they don’t like music, there’s always a song or some kind of melody somewhere whether it’s a f#*kin’ doorbell, the ringtone, something. Like music resonates with everyone on some level. It’s something that will mark points in your life. It’s a life force.”
Jack: “Yeah.”

…on what frustrates them about music and the industry.
Jack: “We don’t let it frustrate us ‘cause it has nothin’ to do with us ‘cause we do what we’re gonna do anyway, you know, but I do wish that people would take more risks in what they listen to.”
Brook: “I hope people take more risks in just makin’ music.”
Jack: “…yeah, that would definitely be nice, but you know while they’re not, we’re forever on. That’s all; we’ll continue to stand out, you know. It definitely doesn’t phase us one way or another.”

…on the creative process.
Brook: “It’s different everytime. We thought we had a system, and the process changes constantly. But I think that keeps things very interesting and fun for us, you know. It makes us excited to create because we don’t really know which people or where it’s gonna come from, so we just dig into it.”
Jack: “…we submit to the process everytime and come with different results, which is the point.”

…on their love of fashion and art blogs.
Jack: “Don’t worry!”
Brook: “That happens automatically.”

...on social networking and connecting with their fans.
Jack: “I mean, you met us, heard of us randomly on MySpace, so I mean it has defined our career. We were probably one of the first bands from MySpace to really start garnering a lot of indie buzz. You know without that, I don’t know if it would’ve happened the way that it did. It’s such a great tool, you know, if you use it correctly. We love connecting with our fans on every level. Of course, we prefer to do shows the way that we wanna do it. So yeah we couldn’t come in this space and really set up the way that we wanted to, but anytime we get to connect with our fans is always a good time.”
Brook: “We have a lot more fun, and it’s a lot more open. It’s very loose and very candid kind of dialogue that we have with our audience in very intimate settings like this, and you know, it’s something that kinda just keeps us on our toes.”

…on coming up with themes and concepts.
Jack: “It kinda just comes up, and we flush it out in the moment and run with it. We don’t really…I think makin’ this album has been the longest process we’ve ever really taken, but other than that, we’re pretty impulsive with our ideas because we know we’re gonna have more of them so why dwell on one idea for so long? This project, we really spent our time with because we had the opportunity to do so. We’re proud of everything that we do.”

…on their musical careers.
Jack: “It’s been our way. We haven’t compromised for anybody. It’s taken us longer, but we recoup 100% of our profits, and we are the masters of our own creation and our own business. That’s what’s most rewarding. It’s more than what a lot of artists can say, so we did everything our way and that was always our thing. We wanted to…”
Brook: “…stick to our guns.”
Jack: “…yeah, stick to our guns.”
Brook: “…stick to our guns at all times. I mean, as much as there is definitely a lot of glitz and glam out there, we knew what we wanted, and we knew that even though it’s a road less traveled…”
Jack: “It’s easy to travel when it’s not a lot of people on it.”
Brook: “…and it’s more longevity. We’ll be around for longer that way. I’ve always felt strongly about that because as many acts as there are out there right now, the main question is like, ‘How long is that gonna be relevant?’ I’d rather do the slow boil than just to burn out everything like right now.”

…on the secrets to their success.
Jack: “Always stay true to whoever you are…whatever that means, and everyday that’s gonna change. So just submit to the experience.”
Brook: “You don’t know as much as you think you know ever, and I think that’s kept everything that we do pretty fresh and fun: understanding that we have no idea what’s gonna happen. We’re just here for the ride.”

J*Davey's EP 'Evil Christian Cop: The Great Mistapes' is out now - New album 'New Designer Drug' out soon.

LISTEN TO Evil Christian Cop: The Great Mistapes

CHECK OUT J*Davey @New Era Uncapped on 3littledigs.com
Words Christopher Daniel