JOHAN LENOX: ALL IN HIS OWN WAY

WORDS EMILIE LOUIZIDES

Johan Lenox Isn't afraid to acknowledge how jaded the music industry can make an artist, producer and composer like himself become. Before going on stage for his final show on tour with 070 Shake he shares, "I've kind of seen a lot of what you can do in the industry firsthand. I've been up close with major artists in every genre. I really know what it looks like, and in some cases, I don't really want some of that stuff. I guess, maybe, I want to do it my own way." With a new single out, an album forthcoming, and a foundation of classical and orchestral music training and an Ivy League education, Lenox Is building a musical world that is distinctly his, blending genres and sounds, and creating - to his point - all in his own way.

Emilie Louizides: You wear multiple hats as an artist, composer and producer and your own personal style of music-making also combines multiple genres. Have these been intentional choices, to keep your own music and career overall so varied?

Johan Lenox: I guess I get impatient easily, and so I just tend to jump around a lot. But I think the sound of my music is definitely a reflection of all the other stuff I do. I think the fact that I’ve worked in different worlds, like they're all impacts of music, so I think it maybe makes it like the music doesn't live that easily at any particular lane, because I've never lived that way. Honestly, I never really thought about that. But yeah, I guess that's probably why that happened.

I never really locked into a scene. I was also never really a fan of music that much. I listen to music because I like music, but I was never in a scene as like, a hardcore fan or something. I never really built my identity around liking any particular artist. So there's always been this kind of distance, maybe that happens when I listen to stuff, I take what's interesting, and then I go somewhere completely different.

I think people find their place where they want to be. [070] Shake is similar to me in that way, I feel like we're both fairly curious about random shit to the extent that it can, like, influence or help us, but also, like, largely, don't spend that much time listening to other people's music.

EL: You’ve gone through intensive training to become the musician you are today. Where do you think you might be in your career if you hadn’t pursued music-focused higher education?

JL: I probably wouldn't be doing music. I don't know. I think I would have shifted to something else before that. I mean, yeah, I don't know. I mean, it started when I was like twelve, so it's kind of hard to imagine what I was going to be doing. You know, even before that it started with me learning piano when I was like, eight/nine/ten, taught myself piano for the most part. But then I started taking lessons. Didn't really like that. Quit the lessons, realized I wanted to be taking the lessons in composition, started doing that in seventh grade. That's like 13. So, yeah, I don't know. I mean, I was into, like, visual art too, and then I basically didn't have enough time in my schedule in high school to do both. So my parents were just like, you gotta pick one. I'm glad it did go this way, because I think I'd be, I'd be much more unhappy as a visual artist. You know, I think it seems like a worse field to be in unfortunately. I guess maybe I’d be a filmmaker or some shit maybe by this point.

EL: What's cool about music is that you really do have the opportunity to dip back into the visual side of it whenever you want. I imagine you have a heavy hand in creative directing your own visuals?

JL: I do. I mean, I care about that stuff. Yeah, I'm working on a movie score right now for a friend, and that's interesting too, because, like, been surprised at how much I feel the urge to give him notes about the movie that are unrelated to the music, which he seems to appreciate. But like, yeah, I’m not a massive cinephile or whatever, but I was surprised how opinionated I was about tiny details of the editing.

EL: I think there’s just so much synergy between visuals and sounds. So, classical and orchestral music is at the core of what you create. Why is it important for you to have this at the forefront of the music you make, rather than as an underlining foundation?

JL: I can be a pretty literal-minded person. I don't try to be out, like, in front being like, this is my classical inspired show. I mean, I don't even think I mentioned the word. There's a lot of emphasis on, like, branding and image that sometimes has nothing to do with what's happening in music. But, I mean, I studied music, like music is the thing I’m good at.

EL: I think everything you’re doing today feels true to what you’ve been doing all along.

JL: Yeah, thank you. I mean, I've been all over the place, it's really been a long process to figure it out. The show that you saw, half of those songs are unreleased. I'm just, like, really focused on the future and the unreleased. We're still finishing it.

EL: Speaking of what’s to come, set in the desert, the video for your latest single ‘When Morning Comes’ has a post-apocalyptic energy. Can you give us an inside look at the creative process behind the marriage of this song’s sounds and visuals?

JL: Yeah, well, I've been kind of doing this apocalyptic shit since my first album, which is like two albums ago and then I did this kind of highly conceptual roll out for my second album. I really went in on this idea of just, like, the news feed that you'd be experiencing if you were in there, you know, just like people just posting normal memes and dumb ass shit, but like, the world's actually falling apart as it happens. And then for this one, it was like, what would be next? It's like, oh, it's all over, and we're just kind of starting over. And then, yeah, I kind of ended up being a bit of a coincidence, but just coming up with that aesthetic, and like, I've been a fan of like, Mad Max Fury Road for a long time, my favourite movies of all time, so I really like the aesthetic of that. So I wanted to do that, and I put it together with the song, and it kind of became this thing of just, like, rebuilding or whatever. And I feel like in my life, I'm also doing that a little bit, just music wise, and just trying to, like, think of this as the beginning of something. So yeah, it kind of is. A lot of things came together in a way that I didn't really anticipate. But now I think I'm gonna probably drop the apocalyptic shit, mostly for this roll out, and I'll kind of consider that when it comes, thinking that was the reset button, and then we'll kind of see where it goes from here.

EL: How much does ‘When Morning Comes’ set the scene for the rest of what we can expect from your upcoming album?

JL: I think it's less orchestral than a lot of stuff I’ve done in the past. I think I've become maybe more comfortable with being a bit more subtle with it, in terms of, like, if you listen to the actual song, it's like, there's a little bit of cello hanging out at the end. There's like, sort of one line playing on the piano, but it's not as front and center as it was before. I think that's kind of more how the project is. It's throughout that, but messing with other texts, a lot more piano. I don't know why, I never really thought to do more of that. I think because a lot of the artists I look up to don't play piano, so I didn't really think to, like imitate the sound that has that in it. But I've just been playing a lot of piano. In the show, I play piano almost every song, which I didn't used to do, but it's like, I guess I’m good at piano. So I just wanted to show more of that. I think also the lyrics, I'm worried less about it all making perfect sense. I’m just trying to be less intensely literal about everything. I guess that's hard for me. I'm a very literal person, you know, like, I read the news and shit, you know, I'm surrounded by people who just, like, live in like, fucking clouds, and a lot of my favourite artists are that way. I gotta remind myself that I don't have to be too direct sometimes.

But yeah, I think that aspect, and the vocal stuff, like the all the layers of vocals in that song, I tied together with the layering of my vocals that I do live in the show, with the looping buttons and shit. And then other songs… just, yeah, the things that I'm really good at are like vocal layers and piano. So it's maybe the most I've ever done those things on songs, and finding different ways to it. The whole album sounds like that. You'll definitely hear a lot of other people singing. That'll be the biggest difference. I think it'll feel like less solitary.

EL: And more collaborative?

JL: Yeah.

EL: We’re here at KOKO, a stop on your tour with 070 Shake. What does your routine look like when you’re touring?

JL: Oh man…I wish it was like…We're all in different places. I play with [070] Shake’s show too, and we have a guitar player named Josh, and he, like, works out every night before the show in the dressing room. He'll just be doing push ups and shit, and he'll, like, have one meal a day. That's like, a big ass meal right after that, I think. And it's like, yeah, whatever that is, is the exact opposite of what I was gonna do.

EL: What will it look like after tonight, when you get a break for a bit?

JL: I'm probably gonna sleep like 13 hours on Thursday, yeah, and then I'm gonna finish this fucking album, so that'll be good.

EL: Do you like to write while you’re touring, or do you find that each thing needs its moment?

JL: I wish I could do more of it. I hoped I would. I did a lot of the film score on the tour. Not a lot, but I was doing the second pass through editing all that stuff. Like, I'm pretty good. If someone's like, yo, I need those stems for this shit or whatever, I'll send it to him. But, yeah, it's hard for me to get inspired when I only have an hour.

EL: Are there differences in how you approach making music for yourself vs somebody else?

JL: I'm trying to narrow that gap. I'm trying to really show up as myself for other people, and increasingly not go into rooms where I'm not basically there to just do what I do. I think because I've been impacted by so many different things and around so many different types of music that I've been like, you know, my sound is really eclectic, and it's hard to sometimes think about people just like, well, “be yourself”. And it's like, well, myself has, like, been in so many different situations, and I've been around a lot of things, and I can do a lot of things. So it's hard sometimes…I think it might be a little bit quicker to get somewhere if I was really just like this is the only thing I will do, and this is how I do it. I just am all over the place, but I'm trying to not think about it as, like, you know, create a thing, but just sort of shed aspects of myself that are not my favourite to do, or that I'm not the best at. And just make sure that whenever I show up, it's because I'm there to do something I want to do.

 EL: Outside of music and the artists and composers you look up to, where do you find inspiration, for your music or just as an artistic being?

JL: I mentioned Mad Max. My friends movie that I’m working on, that’s been inspiring to make. I guess film. Film is the most direct successor to opera and shit like that. If you think about what I like about classical music, it’s this all-encompassing art form. Symphonies are this fully maximalist experience. What feels like that today? Cirque du Soleil feels like a successor to me in the way that it’s non-verbal like a symphony would be. Just sound and light and whatever. Film is like opera, all the art forms come together. We’ve got set design, costume design, music, storytelling, acting, and you put them all together and that’s like opera. I like film, I like opera, I want to find a way to figure out how to keep that going. I get inspired by interior design…drinks…just the idea of mixing things together, creating a palette where we have like three things.

 EL: What is your favourite F Word?  

JL: Faith.