Jorge Velez Interview

Jorge Velez is one of these artists who usually surprise you with each one of their releases because you never know what you are going to find, he is the type of producer who is not satisfied with following a line. His ideas are unlimited and the adaptation of these to a musical environment is his best virtue.

– How do you currently define your style, how has it changed since your previous stage?

I don’t really think about things like style. Constant development over time is natural if you put in the work and that work will be affected by who you are as a person, by your thoughts and environment. I think style happens more when there’s a conscious desire to stand out from what ever else is out there. I’m mainly trying to put down whatever is coming out during the creative process, as honestly as possible, and not thinking about anything else that’s out there either in the current musical scene or scenes.

– You’ve worked with L.I.E.S. Records, the great label of your compatriot Ron Morelli. Personally this record label is one of the greatest achievements of contemporary electronic music, what does it mean for you to publish on a label like this?

It’s obviously an honor to have been with Ron’s label since the very beginning. I’m proud of what he’s accomplished with it and what he continues to accomplish. Seeing friends succeed in their personal vision is a great thing.

– Are you going to publish again with L.I.E.S. Records?

Maybe? If it’s the right fit I’m sure Ron will consider it.

– From your most recent discography I would like to highlight Morning And Evening Exercises, album in which you show in equal parts your facet as a musician and your facet as a producer of electronic music. This album is a very complete work, each track is a different story, how do you conceive this release?

That was a compilation of improvisations and small film cues put out by Scum Yr Earth out of France. It was put together very spontaneously and seemed to fall into place on its own. Not a lot of heavy conceptualisation behind it or any of my other releases. I usually work off a spark of an idea and then proceed quickly before the thing fades away.

– Morning And Evening Exercises was released on cassette, so it looks like the copies were sold out soon, what do you think about this format?

It’s a format people seem to love again. Anything to get the music out there is fine with me, though I’m personally more into listening to audio files and vinyl.

– You publish Morning And Evening Exercises in summer 2018, that same year you also publish other works in your bandcamp account, releases with more uniform styles. Do you think that unlike EPs, albums should be heterogeneous? 

I wouldn’t agree that the direction of my Bandcamp releases is uniform. If anything I think, probably to my detriment, all my things sound very unlike each other. Eps, albums and single tracks all hold the same weight for me.

– Many of your works you publish in your bandcamp

account, old account of your Temple Recordings seal, what happened to Temple Recordings?

Templo as a physical label didn’t survive beyond the single 7” release.

– As you know, in order to prepare an interview like this you need to document yourself and investigate, and something that caught my attention is your album The Saturn Star, theoretically published on the English label Utter. There is no trace of this album in any online store, can you unveil this mystery?

Coming soon!

– We admire all those versatile artists, all those who dare with any genre and that, in addition, any of its facets is interesting. Is there a genre that you have never worked with and are thinking of doing it, or would you like to do it?

I’d love to do a few things that I’ll keep secret for now but, yes, experimenting and trying different approaches is always great.

– Are you planning on retrieving any of your aliases?

I don’t see a reason to. But there may be some things in future under a new alias or two.

– Do you plan to publish any work soon?

Yes, there’s The Saturn Star, an album/visual project forthcoming on UTTER and I have about four completed albums and a few completed Eps but I’m holding on to those for the time being. I don’t want them to get lost in the current deluge. Waiting for music to be music again and not “content”.

– We see you as a quite independent artist, is there any artist or any stamp that inspires you to create your works?

Yes, anyone with the DIY spirit going back as far as people have been creating! Any artist who has achieved a true fulfillment – or near fulfillment – of whatever their vision is, on their own terms. This could be in film, painting, music. Oh…and Prince. J

– One thing we can’t overlook is your gigs,live sets or djing?

Live sets are incredibly transportive for me. I hope to be playing out a bit soon. And don’t expect it to sound like my recordings.

Ximo Noguera