#INTERNETVIEW27 JHL 'GSCF'
Last week, Soul Feeder released an EP "embroidered with palpable drive, full of deconstruction and harsh beats mixed with dark and sordid lyrical themes" by the New Zealand (Auckland) experimental producer known as JHL. Moments before the release of "GSFC" everywhere, the young producer shared his feelings with us and answered our questions about his debut EP.
The 'rollercoaster of emotions'
#IG: The sound of your debut EP is different from anything we've heard before. It's more raw and full of deconstruction, and the lyrics are more sharp and dark. What was your motivation and inspiration behind it?
JHL: I wanted to make something dark cause I felt the need to make something more foley, more deconstructed, more Arca-like. And the lyrics — the title track was actually the first time I've recorded myself rapping on a track, and I'm so so glad with how it turned out! Motivation-wise, I wanted to dive into more of the abyssal side of things, the inky darknesses of everything; I've always had a macabre mind with a weird fascination with the arcane, the esoteric, the morbid, and I wanted to express a bit of my fascinations and put it down into sound. I guess I was inspired by the darkness that surrounds everyone.
#IG: Overall, the compositions are very reminiscent of the soundtrack of the bleak and cold future that art and media at the end of the 20th century showed us. How close do you think we are to such a version of the future? Do we have a chance to get it right?
JHL: The nihilist in me says we're on the bleeding edge of it, like our fingers are barely hanging onto the edge of a cliff's precipice, but I do believe that humanity will prevail in some shape or form. Life will definitely prevail. Progress, to me, it's a constant push and pull between the undoing of progress and the slight inching forward of it, so I don't really know if things are *truly* getting better, but in the grand scope of things, I honestly believe we may still have a chance. *may* have a chance.
#IG: The release consists of four parts: the desperate plea, the escape, the ballad and the macabre call-to-action. What is the reason for this "journey of emotions"?
JHL: I felt sonically and logically there needs to be an emotional progression in the EP; I didn't want the whole meaning to be a kind of a monotone, singular-shade, singular-value palette of just complete darkness and "oh, everything's spiraling, aaaaagh" in every track. Granted, each song has a different tinge of darkness and variation in that darkness but it progresses. I think "need" was an incredibly important song to put in there: it serves as a brief tonal shift, a euphoric-sounding break between all the darkness and shit, and injects more accessible and I guess a smoother form of emotion and darkness in the package of a ballad, chanté vocals, something that sounds pretty and not clubby and abrasive. But yeah, the EP is a rollercoaster of emotions. Hell, I'm surprised it sounds good.
'Gring, Slit, Cauterise and Flash'
#IG: The title track of the EP is the call-to-action track "GSFC" (Gring, Slit, Cauterise and Flash). Is it a kind of instruction to get rid of the “pain”?
JHL: It's kind of like. up to your own interpretation, but I really do love that way of interpreting it, "GSCF" being like a summoning spell or an incantation to rid yourself of the pain. Two things though: the approach to songwriting and lyrics on this album was honestly stringing together words that conjure a mood, a feeling, like an impressionist painting where it's just all these blots and pointillistic blobs and animalistic brushwork that sculpt this image that appears to make sense from far away, but dig closer and it's much more ambiguous. and the words "grind, slit, cauterise and flash" were stuff I made up randomly. I was inspired by the announcer voice in Half-Life 2, the one that tells the combine, the main baddies, some stuff and tells everyone some stuff — she's also the same actor who plays glados in Portal 2, both very good games. I was gonna sample her but. I figured out my vocals sounded much better, tbh.
#IG: Which track is the most personal and deepest for you? Tell us about the process of writing it.
JHL: Honestly, I feel like all of them, except "GSCF", is very personal. "123" is probably the most personal because I did have like an attention needing phase where I needed to talk to people and needed to see the likes and the numbers and the stats and need the dopamine every time the number increases. It's definitely not as extreme as 123, but, you know, I wanted to be extreme with this EP because writing the lyrics just led me there to it anyway. "123" is definitely personal. Painfully so.
'2 seconds of praise and fame'
#IG: There's not much time left before the EP is released in all regions. How do you feel about it?
JHL: Oh god. Well. I want/need to move on from it as fast as possible. I want it to get it out there, relish in my 2 seconds of praise and fame, and go back to be vulnerable and hang out with online friends in discord calls, watching each other produce and whatnot. I have come to terms with my insular lifestyle, especially in social media. I'm just going to be a little clam for a bit, maybe post something on SoundCloud every month, finish a fuck ton of projects with me and bloodofaza. you know. work.
#IG: What transformations can we expect in your next works?
JHL: Still sad, but not like self-annihilation, the world is ending, nihilistic, crushed xanax sad. Still cunty though. The few words that come to mind with this new EP I'm working on is poignant, melodrama, personal. hell. even more personal than "GSCF". Arguably sadder, but it's not life-threatening sad. It will be more pop though! Which is great. Expect need, but less technical and more trance synths, smooth "hyperpop", and me ripping off my favourite melodic artists (himera, pretty much). 🔆
JHL: SC / Spotify / IG / NewGrounds / Twitter
SOUL FEEDER: SC / BC / FBOOK / WEB