Jevon — Sirocco Studios copy 1

Jevon talks on the significance of reconnecting with the roots of music and art.

22 June, 2023

I interviewed Jevon on the 22nd June, 2023. Since our conversation we grew a strong bond, and I became a part of his team towards the end of the year. He had a lot of energy and love for people and was incredibly supportive of myself as an artist and Sirocco as an identity - the journal was even going to have its edition in collaboration with the artist. Jevon sadly passed away in Spring.

Born and raised in West London, Jevon was a classically trained musician, having produced for the likes of Nines, Pa Saleu and AJ Tracey. Jevon travelled through Brazil in 2020 for six months to explore his heritage, the culture and its various sounds to create his one-and-only album Fell In Love In Brasil. From his grandfather leaving him a collection of Brazilian vinyl to then collaborating with legends such as João Donato and Marcos Valle, the album delves into the intricate sounds of Samba, Bossa Nova and Funk.

Jevon - I’ll be honest, looking back now I think I was in spirit this whole time — I feel like something possessed me to go and really explore it. I was saying things I feel like I didn’t really know the meaning of but it felt right at the time and now looking back at it, it really resonates even more so. It’s just amazing to see and take it in after this amount of time from the album.

When I first heard the vinyl, I mean it was an emotional time for me, so it connected with me differently and allowed me to step outside of my normal comfort zone, and then when I got to Brazil that was even more of a challenge for me to step outside of my comfort zone because they have a complete different style of music-making processes compared to what I was doing. It forced me to step out and deliver.

But working with Marcos Valle, he’s a legend man, the records that he’s done are legendary in Brazil. There’s a reason why people like Kanye, Pharell, Jay-Z and Pusha T have sampled him because his music is just incredible, like you hear his music — the sounds, everything. And even now, his ear is just so sharp. As soon as he came in [to the studio] he knew what chords we were playing, all of it, you know what I mean? He was just sharp with it. Same for Joao Donato, he’s like the godfather of Brazil — Bossa Nova and Samba music — so for him to come in and acknowledge man’s music and be like ‘yeah, I give this my approval’ and to see him play on it, as old as he was, I got that opportunity for him to play on it.

What I want the next generation to understand about music is that music has been here long before all of us. It’s an art, and it should be respected as such.

With WIZRD, can explain how are you now focusing time on supporting younger artists from various backgrounds?

Really, what I want the next generation to understand about music is that music has been here long before all of us. It’s an art, and it should be respected as such. I don’t think it is being respected as such and people can naturally feel that, when someone’s being genuine or not. Their intuition is heightened now because of the times that we’re living in, so I think even more so now people are less reluctant to bullshit now — I’m happy AI is here so it can just clear all the bullshit, you know what I mean? It’s gonna clear all the music makers that aren’t really about the music. I’m not saying don’t feed your family, but it’s just that people need to learn the difference and seperate it.

You know what is, a lot of people are asleep to their creativity. It’s just about finding that process that wakes you up it. I just think you have to be conscious about your opinion and not follow the crowd, it’s so easy to be a sheep in this thing. But if you’re conscious you can make a decision for yourself and especially when it comes to your art. Being vocal is just a form of expression I’m trying to help people unlock within themselves.

I think it’s important to provide all of the knowledge and resources I’ve gained to less experienced artists because it’s just a due diligence man. When I was coming into the scene I had to figure out a lot of things for myself and there were some great people who gave me some incredible words of advice and I thank them so much. But I feel like I’m playing that part for the new generation so the same way some of them advised me is the same way I can help some of these younger artists coming in. I’m just grateful, I’m embracing that wizard, Merlin kind of position.

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