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Asian Dan Q&A : Jim-E Stack

Jim-E Stacks’ Lemme has been on repeat for me during these warmer times and I am sure it will be well into the end of the summer #summervibes. Mr. Jim-E was kind enough to answer a few questions revealing why cassettes are the ideal musical medium, that Leighton Meister’s music and Drake’s beats are the future and that he <3's Jerome from LOL Boys with all his <3. Check out Jim-E Stack's latest remix of Chaos in The CBD's "Birthday Song" - a feel good bumper of a tune that includes some lovely chopped up RnB vocals. Chaos In The CBD – Birthday Song (Jim-E Stack Remix) by Jim-E Stack

Love Jim-E Stack on Facebook and harass @JIMESTACK1 on Twitter.

Asian Dan Q&A : Jim-E Stack

Who is Jim-E Stack?

Some dude who makes music and tweets.

How would you describe your music?

Club music. I guess my music is stuff you’d hear and dance to in the club…I hope. If I tell my aunt and uncle from Indianapolis that I make “club music” they can understand it in a general sense, so that’s cool. So many heads say they make this future-post-house-step-bass or whatever it is, but how are your aunt and uncle from Indianapolis supposed to understand that? Maybe they don’t need to. I dunno.

What was your first musical memory?

My little brother and I used to share a bedroom back in San Francisco, where I was born and raised, probably in 1998 or 1999. I remember our family didn’t seriously bang with CDs and stuff yet, only our parents had a CD player. But my brother and I had this lil cassette player boom-box in our room. We’d hit up the Warehouse Records in the neighborhood to get cassettes every once in a while. When we were going to sleep at night I remember popping in the Eiffel 65 cassette or the Backstreet Boys cassette. I’d chill in bed like, “Yep, this is dope.”

What are your biggest influences, musical or otherwise?

People. I think there are people or whatever that influence me musically, and then there are people that influence my music. My favorite musicians, whether they’re DJs, producers, or singers like Leighton Meester, all influence me musically. I hope people get my dumb jokes. But anyways they shape who I am as a music listener and lover, not so much a music maker.

My boy Jamilio is gonna call me a groupie for this but whatever I guess I am one. Noah “40” Shebib has seriously influenced me musically, as a listener. The stuff he’s done with Drake in the last few years, and some recent stuff with Lil Wayne opened me up to a deeper, more ambient side of hip hop, or hip hop/rap in some iTunes libraries, that I didn’t really get down with before. Listening to 40’s mellower productions brought me back to some records with more R&B vibes that I’d owned for a while but kind of put aside. Like Aaliyah or Cassie. All that obvious R&B shit that everyone is wet for. As much as I sometimes wish I was a devout, self-righteous R&B head or whatever, I’m really not. I didn’t grow up listening to SWV records or anything. I got into it backwards.

There are also the people who directly influence my music. They have an impact on the way I make music. Some of these people aren’t even musicians. They’re just the kids I want to see having a good time dancing to my tunes, or some girl who I’m thinking about while making some beat on my computer. NGUZUNGUZU is a group that has really influenced my music and the way I make it. Shout outs to Asma and Daniel. Their music is so weird and crazy, but it’s totally their own. Sometimes I hear them ignoring some subtle production standards and just doing shit their way. That really helps push me towards doing my shit my way on my own tracks. NGUZUNGUZU always inspires me to be myself with my music, so I’m really making songs for me, not just the listeners. I think that’s what counts ultimately too. If I’m not trying to make music that’s uniquely me, and special to me, it’s never going to stand out to listeners, so why bother.

Jerome P of LOL Boys has probably influenced my music the most out of any artist or porn star or animal. I met him two years ago in San Francisco and ever since then he’s been putting me on to the weirdest music and been pushing me to make my music distinctly my own. I would not be the DJ/producer or musician I am today without him. Respek Jerome. Love you.

Who are your top 5 producers/DJs of all time?

Karizma

Switch

Green Velvet/Cajmere

Armand Van Helden

Dubbel Dutch

What are your top 5 dance tracks of all time?

These 5 change sometimes but this seems about right.

Cajmere – Perculator

Jacques Green – Another Girl

Karizma – Ride

Aaliyah – Are You That Somebody (Cedaa Remix)

Dubbel Dutch – Deep Underground

Future plans for Jim-E Stack?

I’m finishing up my EP on Good Years, due out in September. I’m really glad to be working with Good Years. They/we are really coming up. Beyond that I’m just working on a bunch of different stuff. Some club tunes, some more melodic, down-tempo, emo stuff. I’ve been out in California for the past month, but I’m headed back to my new spot in New Orleans next month. Stoked for that.

I’m just trying to get my shit together, and I’ll probably keep trying to. I’ll also probably talk to Asian Dan more on iChat.

If you really want to keep up just go to jimestack.com.

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