Interview curated by our founder Michael.
______________________________________________________
Phuture: JKuch!!! It’s about gosh dang stinkin’ time we get to know you further. Been a fan of you for a couple years now (big shouts to Surreal) but you got on our ‘MUST HAVE OR DIE’ list when you dropped ‘Janguru’ several months ago. I say we get things started off with our OG question – what did you have for breakfast 🙂 ?
JKuch: Thank you so much for the love! It’s great to be releasing on Phuture finally as well. For breakfast I had the same thing I usually do which is scrambled eggs and toast with some orange juice.
______________________________________________________
Phuture: Let’s cut to the juice… err zest with what went into ‘Zest’. Can you tell us a bit about what inspired this track?
To me personally it’s as if you’ve fallen in love but can’t quite accept that you deserve it – and just want to drive the emotions away into a new emotion entirely. Super curious to hear your take/meaning behind this though!
JKuch: Well it’s a long story I’d rather not dig into too much but I’d say it relates. Let’s just say it is about falling for someone but knowing that uncontrollable circumstances and outside people will eventually lead to the demise of the relationship in the long run. Although you know certain things will get in the way you still try to pursue the relationship regardless. Your mind tells you it might be a bad idea but you still continue. “I don’t want to get to know you” trying to avoid getting more attached. The anxiety you can feel from situations like that can get real intense which is similar to the intensity of the first section of the song. I feel like a lot of people could connect to it that way or through everyone’s situations at home with this pandemic of feeling trapped and wanting to “drive tonight”.
______________________________________________________
Phuture: BPM…
Production:
Dinner @ grandma’s house:
Listening:
At the club:
3 am sunday after the club:
Wednesday afternoon grilled cheese:
Funeral:
JKuch:
Production: 150
Dinner @ grandma’s house: 118
Listening: 150
At the club: 128
3 am sunday after the club: 120
Wednesday afternoon grilled cheese: 155
Funeral: 95
______________________________________________________
Phuture: If Spotify & Soundcloud were on the brink of tarnishing and only one could survive, which would it be? Why?
JKuch: I think Spotify because they’ve surprised me in really good ways. I’ve had songs I’ve released that just would get insane streams with very little effort on there. Spotify has a great domino effect with playlists and picking up traction. I like Spotify as an artist but I don’t actually use it to listen to music. SoundCloud is great for finding unique songs that won’t really fit the Spotify culture..
______________________________________________________
Phuture: What’s your take on Narwhals? Would you eat one or wrestle one? Would you have it as a pet?
JKuch: I think they are cool. I would try eating it if it were offered and I would never try to fight one. I’m real bad with pets so I don’t think it would be a good idea to have one.
______________________________________________________
Phuture: Uh-oh – you just got word that the world is ending in 12 minutes and you can only pick 3-4 songs to listen to before it’s all over. What do you pick?
JKuch: I’d say Never Catch Me by Flying Lotus, When You Die by MGMT, and Neon by John Mayer. I feel like the first two songs talk about death in an interesting way and John Mayer is just nostalgic for me so i’d like to hear a childhood song before the world ends.
______________________________________________________
Phuture: We’re in a weird time and place with this coronavirus pandemic. How is this affecting you?
JKuch: I’m very lucky now with being with family but I have been keeping myself busy with making music as much as possible. I’m naturally introverted so I’m not feeling too lonely.
______________________________________________________
Phuture: At what moment did you realize music was your calling?
JKuch: When I released Flying House and saw the traction it got along with the attention of a bunch of musicians in the soundcloud community.
______________________________________________________
Phuture: For those producers right now going through dry spells, unmotivated & lacking clarity – what advice do you have to give them?
JKuch: I’ve found that getting angry about music helps. For example, if I see another producer do better with sound design or gaining traction I try to tell myself I need to do better with production and just start working on music more. Also trying to release a song every month or so is better to make sure I have a song done regardless of if it’s perfect just so that it hits the timeframe I want.
______________________________________________________
Phuture: Give us 5 artists who are going to take over 2020!
JKuch: Moore Kismet, Sofasound, underscores, Knapsack, and Valentine.
______________________________________________________
Phuture: Anything else you want to add?
JKuch: I’ve got a song coming out on Night Owl collective May 23nd including a self release that same month. I’m hoping to have a song out every month after that.
_______________________________________________________
Explore more of JKuch. here: