ETCETCETCETC

JJ Brine is a bit of an odd duck. His website claims that he was possessed by a demon entity during the recording of his debut LP President of Mozambique. I’m still not sure if this is a joke or not. His songs combine fractured, poppy dance hooks with manipulated, bizarre vocals that wouldn’t sound out of place in  a David Lynch film. Also, his first single “Ghost of Your Mother’s Womb” was written from the perspective of an aborted fetus. So there’s that.

Short, with a mop of bleach-blonde hair contrasting with his all black attire and equally black, piercing eyes, Brine himself comes across normal…ish.  At times during our interview, it seemed like he was having a hard time answering questions that were pretty straightforward, and on more than one occasion discussed, at length, working with people that I would come to find didn’t actually exist. Perhaps he was putting me on, or perhaps he’s insane. Either way, JJ Brine is, both literally and figuratively, a unique voice.

ETC: How long have you been making music for? What inspired you?
JJ: Time doesn’t configure itself correctly. I guess I’ve been doing this for about 2 years. I was in Lebanon and during that time of social unrest, I was entertaining myself with Garageband. Something was unleashed in me that has not been quelled since.

ETC: Your album is called the President of Mozambique. I’m really ignorant. Where is that?
JJ: Sub-Saharan Africa.

ETC: Have you ever been there?
JJ: I mean, in the spiritual realm. 

ETC: I was going to ask you about that. According to your site, this album was made while you were possessed? Do you mean literally? 
JJ: I don’t know. I mean it could be literal, it could be an energy. I guess that’s what possession is, right? When an external energy source is making a home in you, and reproducing itself there. So…yes.  

ETC: How do they come to you? How did the President of Mozambique come to you?
JJ: It was just a very obvious incantation. It was like “Okay, you have to say the name of the ghost. And you also have to say if you want to recognize it in a crowd and want to have it come to you. I had to recognize any phantoms in the crowd. And that’s the way it was. Consolidating different energies. Now, I still do intend to  visit Mozambique in the physical world.

ETC: Why do you disguise your vocals?
JJ: Well, that was my first exposure to music, for whatever reason. I love the idea of being a character and exploring any spirits that might be in my vicinity at any moment. And vocal transformers provide an application for that. I definitely think that to make something that transcends me, I have to be comfortable with something that identifies itself as something as being beyond me. Also, to sound like Chloe.

ETC: What’s your favorite song on this album?
JJ: “Ghost of your Mother’s Womb.” That’s the most personal, though not to me.

ETC: I really liked the video for that song. Did you do it yourself?
JJ: Well, I co-directed it with Sam Brogan of Rodanti Bros Films.

ETC: Who’s the girl in the video?
JJ: Oh, that’s Lena Marquise. She’s Chloe.

ETC: You mentioned her. Who’s Chloe?
JJ: Chloe is my vanished twin and Lena is representative of her. In the flesh. In the temporal realm. She doesn’t help me make music. But she certainly does look like Chloe.

ETC: So who helps you with the music then?
JJ: I write the songs and make the demos. And then I have a co-producer with a lot of gear who tweaks it. He opens it up. I tell him what to do. It’s sort of a comfort issue, I guess, because I could work on these things forever.

ETC: So where do you see your music going? What’s your goal?
JJ: I see these things as evolving. I don’t neccesarily have control over what I’m participating in and what I’m not. I mean, one could say that I do in theory, but what I do know is that I don’t have the freedom of will to choose to participate in this or not. I see myself doing what I need to do and advancing my interests in so far that I have room to maneuver.

ETC: What do you mean exactly? It sounds like you don’t have any control.
JJ: I don’t know in what sense I WOULD have control.

Thanks to JJ Brine for his time and putting up for my dumb shit. President of Mozambique is out now on DrugLord Records. You can check out more from JJ Brine on his tumblr and hear his whole album for free on his Soundcloud.

Photos property of Etc Etc Etc

I think I prefer this new “regular” voiced Dan Deacon as opposed to super high-pitched mouse-voiced Deacon.

I’m a little late to the game posting this, but it’s just because, like Jay-Z and Kanye, I too have a strong dislike for authority. In fact, around these parts they call me Jaywalkin’ Jones…also, Douchenozzle Dave. 

I really like you a lot Sigur Ros, and I don’t want this to come off the wrong way, but…look just let me say my piece. Almost all of your songs follow a similar pattern of starting off soft and quiet, and then gradually building up to a crescendo of noise. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a really neat trick, and was really cool on (), it’s just you’ve been using it…a lot.

But don’t fret, I have some advice that I think would really help! How about, in the middle of the the gradual build, you add some sort of beautiful choir, harmonizing with Jonsi! Either an all female choir, or perhaps even a children’s….what? Oh, you’ve already done that? And it’s amazing? Well, then….nevermind. 

If nothing else, listen to this song for that fly little fucker stuntin’ on the single art. 

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