African-American producer and MC Jneiro Jarel is recognized for his collaboration with MF DOOM. He is less known for having produced “The Craft of the Lost Art”, a timeless hip-hop UFO where he combines aliases [translation note: I have no idea if "hip-hop UFO" is an accurate translation but I'm definitely calling it that from now on]. This singular sounding beatmaker, mainly signed on European labels, gives us an interview on the occasion of the release of “After a Thousand Years”. A clever mix of funk, jazz and Afro-Brazilian music, released by Far Out Recording. (Interview taken from Star Wax n ° 57 - link to the Pdf )
You started early in music. Where did you spend your teenage years?
I was born in New York but grew up in Houston, Texas. This is where I spent my teenage years with my cousin DJ Starr and my cousin Tarek who was an MC. We all lived in Texas, but with New York roots. Already there was no doubt that I was going to do hip-hop. It was a huge influence for me because at the time my cousin DJ Starr had sounds that I couldn't hear anywhere else in Texas. He was bringing back records and tapes from New York. And I used to tell other people that I knew everything because we had it before it was released in Houston.
Were you first an MC or a beatmaker?
The first time I produced a beat was in 1989 with my cousin Tarek. We had a band called APB (Aliens from the Planet Brooklyn) and together we self-produced our first demo. MCing was really my thing at the time, but I also wanted to make beats because every time someone offered me a beat I was not satisfied and therefore I always wanted to hear something 'other. At one point I was tired of telling producers, so I finally got behind the EPS 16 Plus. (Ensoniq EPS is a 16-bit keyboard and sampler manufactured from '88 to '91 --editor's note). And, from 1992, I started making my own beats.
Is it your meeting with Hank Shocklee (member of The Bomb Squad, the collective of producers of Public Enemy) which brought you to work with MCs and to realize “Craft of The Lost Art”?
There is no doubt that Hank Shocklee and the entire Public Enemy team have influenced and inspired me enormously. I loved and I love Public Enemy. But I worked more with MCs when I was still living in Texas, before making the album “Craft of the Lost Art”. And that was cool, but I realized I wanted some artistic direction. I didn't want to represent just any old fashioned way. Blasphemy in lyrics is not my thing and a lot of MCs I used to hang out with were rude. That's why I didn't really continue to work with a lot of MCs. For the LP “Craft of the Lost Art” I worked with Jawwaad and there were a few appearances from DOOM and Khujo Goodie, but all the other rappers on the project are me with different pseudonyms.
[NewsFedora Note: the interviewer keeps bringing up JJ's Shape of Broad Minds album so definitely check it out if you've never heard it before. It's how I first discovered him almost 15 years ago]
It's surprising because in the end you mostly released records on European labels: Kindred Spirits a Dutch label, Lex under the English label of Warp, and today Far Out Records... and yet you haven't lived in Europe?
Believe it or not, I have never lived in Europe. Most of the time, they came to meet me when I was in New York. I met Kindred Spirits at Rich Medina's APT party in Manhattan, around 2002. And I met the Lex Records staff the same way, soon after. With Far Out, we had been in contact over the years and we became friends. We had a common interest in Brazilian music, so it was only natural to collaborate. What is funny is that I have always liked European artists. The music is rather avant-garde, which I respect. Especially since European labels have always seemed to understand my artistic vision. Someone like Jimi Hendrix had to go abroad to really start to be recognized. It was from then that people understood his music. I thought about moving to London for a while, but it never happened.
When and why did you move to Cahuita? What is the influence of the country on your music?
I had been staying in Costa Rica intermittently, since 2012. Nature is what attracts me. I love animals and the sounds of nature. My sound hasn't been influenced by country life, it always has been, but I still find inspiration in the natural environment. Costa Rica is good for my inspiration. It helps me to produce new organic sounds…
Between 2014 and 2020 you didn't release anything, why? I think you had a health problem ...
You missed some releases, in 2014 there was the EP “Flora” which began the Viberian Trilogy. Then, to hear some of the work I published between 2015 and 2016, I suggest you check out
Jarel's Lost Pieces trilogy (vol. 1-3) via my Bandcamp. But it is true that I had a hard time during this period because I had several computer bugs and hard drive crashes. So I lost original files. More recently, in 2018, I launched the '80s inspired EP “Micröclimate” / Future New Wave. This is the project I worked on before going to live in Costa Rica. Otherwise in 2016 and 2017 most of my energy was dedicated to the show. It was a period when I was very focused on the stage, organizing parties and I did two Boiler Room shows in New Orleans.
Does the name of your new album come from the fact that you waited a long time to release it?
No, it draws inspiration from Bible prophecies found in the books of Isaiah, Daniel, and Revelation, announcing the physical and spiritual restoration of the earth and mankind after the thousand-year reign of the Messianic kingdom. This record is to celebrate a world where love is eternal, peace and harmony abound under a sovereign and divine reign.
What is the difference between your way of producing “Fauna” and “After a Thousand Years”?
The biggest difference is that "Fauna" is a solo work from A to Z in MIDI, so in digital plus some samples. With “After A Thousand Years”, I wanted it to sound more organic, with live instrumentation and artistic collaborations. That's why I invited artists like Bill Summers, Masauko Chipembere, Scott Burton and George Katsiris on the project. I wanted to merge our sounds together. I have different approaches at different times. When I did “Fauna” I was more into electronic music mode. With this album, it was different and it always changes. I don't want to get stuck in a way of producing.
So you use different machines ...
Yes, my home studio setup has changed several times over the years. I used different equipment, different software and different instruments. And now that I travel more, I use smaller, lighter hardware to carry.
Do you write the music or do you improvise?
Freestyle! I don't write music. It's all in my head. Sometimes I hear successful compositions and sometimes not, so I build layer by layer until I come to a successful title. Finally at the beginning I don't really know how it's going to unfold.
On the title "African Bahia" you credited Dr Who Dat?, Another of your nicknames. Why?
Dr Who Dat? it's the “soundscaper” that adds all the weird textures and background sounds to my tracks. It represents the quirky side of my brain. It is inspired by the music from the science fiction TV series "Dr. Who" that I listened to when I was growing up. I love all the abnormal and futuristic sounds I hear in music.
Who made the artwork for the LP?
Tim Short did the work. We connected via social networks. I contacted him because I found him to be talented. I think he interpreted the prophetic theme of the album pretty well which is an apocalyptic event… Tim captured the whole spiritual journey. In this journey, the system of the world we currently live in is broken down and then gradually rebuilt with perfect conditions for humanity and the earth. And at the end of it, you come out with true peace, harmony, and spiritual enlightenment.
