In Conversation: Jean Dawson

Smashing through genre boundaries and holding the torch as one of the most exciting and innovative artists right now, Jean Dawson’s music proves his attitude toward guitar music – and that is to deconstruct it and rebuild it as his own. Born in San Diego, and raised between that city and Tijuana, Mexico, Jean grew up on a diet of eclectic and diverse music courtesy of his parents, before embarking to the US for school, going on to study film at California State University in Los Angeles. It was there he began his musical career. He flew onto the radar with 2019’s ‘Bad Sports’, before receiving critical acclaim and amassing a cult following via his debut record ‘Pixel Bath’ in 2020.

Latest LP, ‘CHAOS NOW*’ takes you on a cinematic, nostalgia-fuelled ride, packed with experimental production and a slew of killer features. With a passionate devotion to the visual element as well as the music, Jean creates stimulating and visceral worlds and experiences, with the word ‘genre’ merely being that – a word.

Gearing up for his first ever headline tour, with prior tours cancelled due to COVID and other mitigating circumstances, we had the opportunity to sit down with Jean to chat about all things ‘CHAOS NOW*’, and everything else in between…

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‘CHAOS NOW*’ is out now – this is the longest time between albums there has been for you! How do you feel to finally put this into the world, after nearly two years since your last record? 

It feels like that [COVID] happened not too long ago, so for me it’s kind of been like a blink. There has been a lot of shit that’s happened between but definitely feels good! I feel good to have the capacity to do something and feel very happy about it. 

How did you approach the creation of ‘CHAOS NOW*’ compared to previous efforts, was it different this time around?

The difference between this one and ‘Pixel Bath’, for me, is a lot of the language I used on the last album was very flowery; the flowers had scent but not the most intentional meaning. This one [‘CHAOS NOW*’] still isn’t as dictating, it’s still reminiscent of a very poetic way to dance around something, but in a way where I felt more akin to myself. 

‘Pixel Bath’ has a very interesting place in my heart, where I made that album as a response to myself. The first project I’d ever done, ‘Bad Sports’, was me really, really experimenting, and then ‘Pixel Bath’ was a controlled experiment. I’m like ‘OK – I know the ingredients but let me see how far I can tweak this until it turns into something else.’ Whereas the creation of ‘CHAOS NOW*’… there’s been three iterations of it, made three different times. The first was just to supplement live shows, so really fast and punky, but then the tours never happened due to COVID. Then COVID was ending, and I was going on another tour so thought let’s refine this, then I didn’t do that tour…so I was like, yeah this is an album now. Basically, started from zero again.  

Three times is a lot!

Yeah! It’s had a funny little life cycle. I didn’t know what I was chasing until the last iteration. 

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It’s very different to ‘Pixel Bath’… but still inherently you if that makes sense? 

Mhm, yeah. It’s a proper evolution of it. I coulda sidestepped, that’s what the first iteration was like, and it was like [‘Pixel Bath’] B-sides. Iteration two was B-sides on steroids…then the third iteration was just: this is a step above the thing. I wanted to be more honest. And earnest.

Yeah. The first single, ‘MENTHOL*’, was very different. Although, I’m interested to know why it didn’t make the album?

I felt like it served its purpose, especially for where I was at that time and place. It was a very special moment. I’d lived with it for a while and was like ‘Oh man I’m being selfish’, so when I put it out it was like a completely different intention to what the album’s intention is. So, I just felt like I could’ve put it there, could’ve added more, done all these things but I’m kind of not the person to go look back at things. That’s that, let’s keep it moving.

It was just a very special moment for me, and my journey – Mac [Demarco] being one of my heroes. I had very intimate conversations about music with him and you know, he’s one of those people who taught me (without trying to teach me) those let go, let be situations. ‘This is a thing, enjoy it. If you fucking don’t enjoy it, don’t do it.’ It was really important for me to hear, especially from him, at that time. And I think when that happened, I felt like maybe it’s more important, not just for me, but for anybody else that needs that, to hear it. It has its own shine; it doesn’t need to be cluttered by any other ideas. 

Yeah of course, we have that voice note outro on the song. I also feel you’re someone who’s picky about who you collaborate with. Like on this new album, there’s only a couple of features, Pixel Bath only a couple. 

Yeah. It just has to be very, very, very visceral, right? I have a lot of songs, with a lot of features, that didn’t make the album because they didn’t fit the intention of the album. The people I had the privilege to work with, whether it be Earl, Isaiah, George… those are all people that I love. Earl is probably my favourite artist of all time. So that for me, was a very weird experience. Having him on the record felt really full circle – like Earl taught me how to rap. I wanted to be Earl when I was fourteen, I was obsessed with him. Developing a relationship with him was surreal, like even now hanging out with him I’m like ‘what the fuck is going on? I don’t understand anything anymore’.

Going back to touring, you said the last couple didn’t happen, so I bet you’re really excited to take this album out on the road, like you have tour in what – a couple of weeks?

Yeah I think it’s perfect. It’s built to be there; it’s built for ultimate expression. We’re going one hundred miles an hour from jump. I’m really excited to do this tour, I mean it’s my first headline tour and a lot of the dates have sold out, and all that other ‘ooh cool shit, big guy over here’. Nah, it’s very flattering and I’m very excited to share the hour or two hours with the people that decide to come and have that experience for themselves. I’m there to service them. I wanna make sure they feel like the shows are a release, something where you’re like ‘I feel fucking great after that’. 

For sure. As someone who’s been to countless shows myself, the best ones are the ones I find to be an experience, rather than simply watching five guys play their songs. You go, come out and you’re like ‘man I need a minute!’

Yeah dude! The last time I felt like that, for real, was – I saw Bjork live! 

Man, no way.

Yeah! My fucking brain exploded. I’m like how in the fuck did that happen? It felt like you got thrown into a dishwasher. You’re like this is fucking insane, I don’t know how any of this is happening. It’s like magic. Bjork’s music is very conducive of that experience. I don’t know how much my shit is conducive to that, but I know that you’ll leave at least sweaty and out of breath. And for me, that’s fine. 

For sure. Bjork is amazing. I’ve not yet had the pleasure of seeing her live, she’s high up on my list though!

Dude, when you do get the chance: wear fresh underwear. 

With the album, in terms of genre – I hate that word – you go all over the place. So, growing up what did you listen to? What did your parents listen to, your family listen to? 

Man, so my musical upbringing is very unique. Nobody in my family ever made music, not one artist in my family besides myself. My mom learned English to rap music. And Michael Jackson. So, her identity as being a Mexican woman, living right on the [US] border, English isn’t so foreign. But she was learning it with dudes just belting and screaming and rapping. She went to school in the States, and all her friends listened to hip-hop, so she was very informed. My mom knows more about rap music than I do. My dad also had an infatuation with Hispanic culture, he’d been around a lot of Spanish music. So, when they met they were like two sides of the same coin.

My mom was also kind of like a punk, like I still try to understand her character arc! She really loves rock music too. She loves Americana. And then, Mexican people really love The Smiths. It’s a big thing for Mexican people – The Smiths, The Cure. Yeah, just Manchester is really important to Mexico. I grew up listening to The Smiths, and all these new wave, dark wave stuff via my mom, then was listening to super West Coast hip-hop from my dad. My musical identity and influence come from a weird, blurred place. Coz like my parents, I don’t identify with any one genre. 

That makes sense, because when listening to the music I hear lots of influences. Like you said you grew up listening to everything, and I can hear that. I actually want to take a step back from music and talk about your visual content. A lot of is quite cinematic, and so is the album. Do you always have a specific vision for the visuals, while making the music?

It’s always afterthought for sure. Visuals for me, especially the ones I’ve been working on recently with Bradley Calder who’s a close friend and fucking genius…we sit at the table and ping pong ideas back and forth until we’re like ‘yep, these are the things – let’s go for this’. But while I’m making the music, a lot of it comes out as cinematic or soundscape-y in a way because our lives are that, you know what I mean? If you’re taking a walk, why not make it the most beautiful walk you could ever take. Ok, there’s a few artists I’ve been obsessed with that just like, supplement my life in the most beautiful way. As of recent, I’m going through my super, super Brian Eno phase.

Yes! 100%.

Like, almost too much. Where like every time I get in the car, I’m like I gotta listen to this ‘coz I’m driving. This music supplements our real life if it’s allowed to. Right? So, for me, I don’t know if I’d like to have theme music for everything I do, I feel like that’d make me go crazy. But when you choose to have something to supplement the smallest part of your life, which I think music is – it should be treated as a service to yourself and other people – while the visual world itself, oh you know, that fucking old saying: ‘life imitates art or art is imitating life’. It’s all the same thing.

So, the visual world that comes from the music, is just the hyper aestheticized version. I spent a lot of time listening to movie scores. You know, it’s funny that I’ve never said this, but I spent a lot of time listening to original soundtracks for video games. I used to walk around listening to ‘Dry Dry Docks’ from Mario 64. I don’t know why; I was just like this is really pleasing. I remember walking around high school listening to this like 8-bit, or 16-bit, just listening to it and thinking this makes my world feel so funny and so wonky. And I was really immersed with that. 

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It’s always a marriage, you know. Like the best films often have the best soundtracks, the most iconic scenes have iconic music. 

Dude, it makes everything good. You know what’s funny, the only time I can’t listen to music is when I’m eating. Can’t. Grosses me out. It’s really weird. I guess music is so special that the brute mentality of ‘I need to eat this to survive’ doesn’t fit with music for me. Ah, I don’t fucking know. It’s stressful man. I feel like there’s something here that people haven’t talked about. 

Man, this is a whole interview in itself. Next time we can talk what food goes with what music. 

Bro, I’m telling you right now, the best food to go with Death Grips is Takis.

Is what?

Ah fuck – I forget. They’re an American crisp. They’re fucking super spicy. 

So, spicy crisps for Death Grips?

There you go. That or vanilla ice cream, that goes really well with Death Grips. 

I’ll try that tomorrow. I’ll be like ‘Jean Dawson told me to do it’.

Yeah Jean Dawson told me to do it, and now I’m in a psych ward. Coz this is crazy. Oh my god. 

Well, that was a tangent wasn’t it. So, CHAOS NOW* is just round the corner, and headline tour in a couple weeks…what’s next for Jean Dawson? What’s the future looking like? If you can think that far, I know it’s a big question.  

Um, you know I’m always thinking that far ahead. Obviously do the tour, fully immerse myself in that for a bit. I know we’re doing US, then we’re gonna do Australia, then pretty sure the UK…

Finally!

Yeah dude I’m stoked. All the homies are like you need to go to the UK. 

We do have the best crowds.

Dude, I know. You got the best music too, I’m so excited. People from the UK are sick man, you guys are fucking tight. I’m excited for ‘CHAOS NOW*’, maybe some visual stuff, definitely want to write a film…I kinda just go as I go. I’m just excited to see the near future of the life, and what the music brings to people. It doesn’t belong to me after its release; it becomes the world’s baby. 

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‘CHAOS NOW*’ is out now.

Words: James Mellen
Main Photo Credit: Nico Hernandez