JPOD’s trademark sound is a tasteful fusion of soulful sounds with crispy rhythms and bold basslines.
Using chunky hip hop breakbeats and bouncy, electro basslines as the foundation for organic expressions of world, reggae, folk, bluegrass and more, JPOD takes listeners on a diverse journey through styles and tempos, bridging gaps everywhere that inspiration leads.
I am... JPOD, a dancer that makes and plays the music that makes me dance. If you have ever seen me perform you will know what I am talking about. I move like a dancefloor conductor. I have been writing music since 1996 and gravitate towards psychedelic and melodic glitch-hop. That said I attempt many tempos including breakbeat, drumstep, and have lately even been digging house! I try to sound completely unique and in general will move away from a sound if it becomes too popular. My recent influences include Tipper, Spoonbill, Opiuo and anything else that has stretchy basslines, chunky beats and generally interesting sounds.
My first official gig was... In Kelowna, BC for the now-retired Higher Ground events series. That was back in my vinyl days and I was playing underground hip hop and funky trip-hop.
Choosing a name was... A bit of a difficult process and JPOD wasn't my first idea. I remember wanting it to be some cool-sounding thing like Aphex Twin or Orbital. I believe the first thing I called myself was Pseudo Phoid. But that quickly seemed silly and I gave it up for JPOD, which is much more personal since my initials are J-P-D.
In the studio I usually... Try to quit my browser immediately and ignore all thoughts of business communication in order to have uninterrupted creative flow. And this usually works pretty well as I often pull ten-hour days with relatively little interruption. Because of this I have been able to write songs in a matter of two or three days – sometimes less.
If I could tour with anyone... My first choice would be Tipper because his music doesn't seem to get boring. But I would tour with lots of different artists because I have a unique style that isn't ragey and tends to set up headliners really well.
Social media is... Generally a pain in the ass and, despite it having lots of benefits for communicating with fans, puts an enormous amount of pressure on artists to regularly engage when they are often more suited to being creative.
My favourite app... Should probably be TouchOSC because that's what I use to control Ableton at my live shows. However, outside of this context I would say SkyView because it’s so useful and interesting to know what you're looking at in the night sky.
Life on the road is... A first-world problem because I always end up with more cash than I can fit in my wallet, which SUCKS and is SO ANNOYING. ARGH. It can be both the most inflating and deflating of times because a good show brings lots of energy and compliments while a slow show might bring requests, hecklers or haters. And sometimes the best and worst shows are only one day apart! But in general it is always great to meet the people that are paying for my shows because they are the ones truly supporting my career.
If you’ll have me on your bill, all I ask is that my rider contains... The most important item on my rider is table space to setup my gear. Nothing is worse than showing up with no room to setup because instead of starting a set comfortably I have to do a juggling act while playing. Promoters take note – if you want your talent to do the best job they can then MAKE SURE THEIR SETUP IS AS EASY AS POSSIBLE!
The most scary scenario I’ve found myself in, was... I can recall a time when I was with two friends on a road trip and we narrowly escaped being sandwiched between a stopped car and a speeding car by pulling to the side. The speeding car smashed the stopped car and we were completely unscathed. Then there was the time I jumped off a 90 foot cliff and didn't think I was going to clear the rocks at the bottom. I must have been one or two feet from them when I hit the water. All sweet.
What celebrity/ famous person would you love to be your spokesperson... If I could choose a celebrity spokesperson I would have said Rihanna because she had ‘all of the Likes’, but apparently this week that changed to Shakira. So I guess I'll say Kanye because I hate his attitude and drama always gets more attention.
Three people you’d like to invite around for a dinner party... Are my friends Oscar, Dean and Jim because they live far away and I don't see them often enough. For said dinner party I would probably cook breakfast because I'm not much of a cook but I can make really good french toast and omelettes.No matter the expense, send me a case of... If price isn't an issue then I want a case of universities because they are probably one of the best money-making machines that exist. But if that's not possible then a case of really, really expensive tequila will do.
The last time I saw the inside of a gym was... Two days ago when I was driving by a gym and saw some guys looking in the window of the gym. I was curious why they were looking in the gym because they looked ready to go into the gym but they weren't already in the gym and it made me wonder. So while driving I also looked into the gym and then I thought maybe the gym was closed.
What’s the one chore you dislike the most? The chore I dislike most is catching up on emails when they really start to get out of hand.
Do you have any phobias... please explain? I have some phobias. The more normal phobia is of spiders. Small ones are ok but the bigger faster ones really piss me off. My weird phobia is buttons. That's right, buttons. The ones that are on clothes. Ever since I can remember I hated touching them because they are gross. Now that I am an adult I can manage but I still don't like them – especially on other people's or thrift-store clothes, or loose in a jar. Disgusting.
Would you ever partake in a reality show? I would probably do a reality show because it would be an interesting experience, but I'm sure if it were anything involving voting people out I would get voted out early – probably because I wouldn't be conniving or evil enough to play the game right. I would just be myself and try to like everyone and that probably wouldn't win.
JPODIf I could prank anyone I would probably prank... Stephen Harper by giving him Alzheimer's Disease or something comparable that would render him unable to continue being one of the worst Prime Ministers Canada has ever known.
JPOD plays Earth Frequency Festival, which takes place on 13-16 February. JPOD also plays the Rabbit Eat Lettuce launch party (Coffs Harbour) on 17 Jan, Subtropic @ Sugarhut (Cairns) on 20 Feb, UFO Club (Sydney) on 21 Feb, Omelette Records Party (Melbourne) on 28 Feb, Glitch In The System (Perth) on 7 Mar and Mobius (Hobart) on 14 Mar.
