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Music

Down the Rabbit Hole on a Skype Chat with TOKiMONSTA

Talking music, video games and collaborations with the legendary LA producer.
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Jennifer Lee aka TOKiMONSTA is known for creating vast textural soundscapes, a fact made clear in her track "Realla Feat. Anderson-Paak". She is the master of combining live instruments, percussion, digital manipulation and vinyl. and is causing a stir in the abyssal deep-sea environment of the online underground. She makes Mortal Kombat-meets-Moonlight Sonata, with her ethereal, sweeping synths and maximalist RnB tinged tracks.

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I recently had the chance to speak with the L.A beatsmith for a twenty minute skype chat; little did I realize I'd get sucked down the rabbit hole and unravel some truths about her music; creative label 'Young Art Records' and what it means to be a producer.Follow the "White Rabbit" and Check out her responses below.

Jennifer Lee aka TOKiMONSTA is known for creating vast textural soundscapes, a fact made clear in her track "Realla Feat. Anderson-Paak". She is the master of combining live instruments, percussion, digital manipulation and vinyl. and is causing a stir in the abyssal deep-sea environment of the online underground. She makes Mortal Kombat-meets-Moonlight Sonata, with her ethereal, sweeping synths and maximalist RnB tinged tracks.

I recently had the chance to speak with the L.A beatsmith for a twenty minute skype chat; little did I realize I'd get sucked down the rabbit hole and unravel some truths about her music; creative label 'Young Art Records' and what it means to be a producer.Follow the "White Rabbit" and Check out her responses below.

THUMP: Hi Jennifer, I'm all set and good to go, ready when you are.

TOKiMONSTA: Cool. I'm ready to go too.

Your music has been tagged officially as a "psychedelic, glitch and avant-rap. How would you describe your genre of music?
Ahh, this one's always a tricky one for me, I don't really know. I mean.. I generally try to avoid categorizing my music because I don't want to risk boxing myself in. I suppose, generally, it'd be hip hop and electronic... kinda?

Perhaps it is indescribable? I feel it's hauntingly melodic with flashes of classical fury!
Thanks! That sounds way cooler than what I would have said. Let's roll with that.

You recently worked with YACHT for "Where Does This Disco" - Who would you like to collaborate with next? Any Australian artists: Flume, What So Not, Chet Faker. Maybe even a Ta-ku drop?
Oooh, so many great artists to choose from. Ta-ku and I have been attempting to work on music for ages. Hopefully, we'll get it together eventually. Flume, What So Not, and Chet Faker are all lovely musicians and I'd work with any of them. Especially Nick (Chet Faker), we were hanging out in Coachella recently with Bonobo. Pretty strong squad.

HWLS recently did a remix of your extremely successful track "Realla feat Anderson Paak" and you did a mix of "Tinashe / Schoolboy Q's 2 On", who is next on your remix / collaboration hit list?
I've been working so hard on my side projects and remixes for friends, that I haven't been able to think about remixing any radio songs. I did just hear this rad song by Tink, called "Million." Definitely would consider messing with that. Sort of a "meta remix" as the beat she's on samples Aaliyah's "One in a Million."

Nice! Random one here, but what was your job prior to music?
I used to work in video games—on the publishing side. I really liked it. It's fairly cool in that now everything has come full circle and I can contribute to games from the music side. It's such a great industry. No pretentiousness—just games! I'm actually going into Activision tomorrow to play the new Call of Duty 'Black ops III'. I don't get much time to play these days with touring, I'm pretty behind on games to be honest. Especially all the AAA titles out now. If I had my way, I'd just lose my life in a black hole of 3D renders, and never look back.

Coming from a classical background, was it a rebellious decision to pursue a career as a DJ? or was it progressive?
Progressive, but by means of being rebellious. My mom wasn't happy when I decided to pursue music full time, but she gave me a chance to try it out, and I give many thanks to her for that. You should always just go for something if you love it. I can't imagine the life of regret I would have lived if I didn't give music a chance.

When is the release date of your follow up to Desiderium?
I don't know yet, it is yet to be determined though it'll be in the fall--so there's only a year gap. However, I'll have Gavin Turek's EP and Anderson Paak's EP out before then on my label Young Art. Both of which, will be produced all by me; in a way, I'll have 3 projects out by the end of this year.

Who do you look towards for inspiration / motivation?I don't think I look to any one specific human being; or really anything specific. It sounds cliche, but I think that inspiration comes from everywhere.

What are you working on in the studio at the moment?

I have been working on producing Gavin Turek, who has been featured on many of my solo productions. Now, it's come full circle and I am producing her record for her, which will be the first artist to come out on my label 'Young Art', also I'm actively still working on stuff for myself and working on a project with Anderson Paak.

Has this interview inspired you to the point where might hear some Call of Duty samples on your next album? If they let me, perhaps? Not sure how to clear that kind of sample. Tell me more about your creative label 'Young Art'?
I created Young Art as a means to raise up other artists. It's not a money grabbing venture, but a way to give shine to people I believe in. I want to try and give the lesser known artists a stronger voice.

Where does the iconic bunny face come from? I can't really see you as Rabbit monster?
Oh, when I was younger I had a round-cherub face and buck teeth. Definitely on par with some form of rabbit/rodent.

You'll be here around June, what could we expect from your live shows?
My live show is a mixture of my music, my new music, music I love, and music the audience and I love—all this stripped into various parts and orchestrated live.

I listened to "Nope" last month on Soundcloud and can't seem to shake it off, what is the secret to your haunting sound?
I'm a fairly cheerful person and all of that, but I have always felt a little off or uncomfortable. I think that sort of incompleteness is apparent in a lot of my music.

Regarding your future release, is this a good tonal reference?
Hmm, nope that was a one off—not sure if my whole record will sound like that, but you will hear that sort of galactic aggressiveness on Anderson Paak's record.

Well that's all from us Jennifer, It's been real, and you've been a trooper, funny how 20 minutes can turn into 2 hours! any last words?
I'm hungry!

Catch the blistering return of the Los Angeles native, when she lands on our shores for a full club tour this June. Kicking off her club tour in Canberra the series of dates take her throughout the country débuting her all new live show. The tour also includes a special performance for The Operatives 11th Birthday.

TOKiMONSTA tours in June, details here:
Wednesday June 3rd, Canberra, La De Da
|Thursday June 4th, Adelaide, Rocket Bar
Friday June 5th, Wellington, San Fran Bathhouse
Saturday June 6th, Melbourne, Revolt Artspace
Sunday June 7th, Sydney, Oxford Arts Factory
Friday June 12th, Auckland, Galatos
Saturday June 13th, Perth, Gilkinsons
Sunday June 14th, Brisbane, The Flying Cock

THUMP: Hi Jennifer, I'm all set and good to go, ready when you are.

TOKiMONSTA: Cool. I'm ready to go too.

Your music has been tagged officially as a "psychedelic, glitch and avant-rap. How would you describe your genre of music?
Ahh, this one's always a tricky one for me, I don't really know. I mean.. I generally try to avoid categorizing my music because I don't want to risk boxing myself in. I suppose, generally, it'd be hip hop and electronic… kinda?

Perhaps it is indescribable? I feel it's hauntingly melodic with flashes of classical fury!
Thanks! That sounds way cooler than what I would have said. Let's roll with that.

You recently worked with YACHT for "Where Does This Disco" - Who would you like to collaborate with next? Any Australian artists: Flume, What So Not, Chet Faker. Maybe even a Ta-ku drop?
Oooh, so many great artists to choose from. Ta-ku and I have been attempting to work on music for ages. Hopefully, we'll get it together eventually. Flume, What So Not, and Chet Faker are all lovely musicians and I'd work with any of them. Especially Nick (Chet Faker), we were hanging out in Coachella recently with Bonobo. Pretty strong squad.

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HWLS recently did a remix of your extremely successful track "Realla feat Anderson Paak" and you did a mix of "Tinashe / Schoolboy Q's 2 On", who is next on your remix / collaboration hit list?
I've been working so hard on my side projects and remixes for friends, that I haven't been able to think about remixing any radio songs. I did just hear this rad song by Tink, called "Million." Definitely would consider messing with that. Sort of a "meta remix" as the beat she's on samples Aaliyah's "One in a Million."

Nice! Random one here, but what was your job prior to music?
I used to work in video games—on the publishing side. I really liked it. It's fairly cool in that now everything has come full circle and I can contribute to games from the music side. It's such a great industry. No pretentiousness—just games! I'm actually going into Activision tomorrow to play the new Call of Duty 'Black ops III'. I don't get much time to play these days with touring, I'm pretty behind on games to be honest. Especially all the AAA titles out now. If I had my way, I'd just lose my life in a black hole of 3D renders, and never look back.

Coming from a classical background, was it a rebellious decision to pursue a career as a DJ? or was it progressive?
Progressive, but by means of being rebellious. My mom wasn't happy when I decided to pursue music full time, but she gave me a chance to try it out, and I give many thanks to her for that. You should always just go for something if you love it. I can't imagine the life of regret I would have lived if I didn't give music a chance.

Advertisement

When is the release date of your follow up to Desiderium?
I don't know yet, it is yet to be determined though it'll be in the fall--so there's only a year gap. However, I'll have Gavin Turek's EP and Anderson Paak's EP out before then on my label Young Art. Both of which, will be produced all by me; in a way, I'll have 3 projects out by the end of this year.

Who do you look towards for inspiration / motivation?I don't think I look to any one specific human being; or really anything specific. It sounds cliche, but I think that inspiration comes from everywhere.

What are you working on in the studio at the moment?

I have been working on producing Gavin Turek, who has been featured on many of my solo productions. Now, it's come full circle and I am producing her record for her, which will be the first artist to come out on my label 'Young Art', also I'm actively still working on stuff for myself and working on a project with Anderson Paak.

Has this interview inspired you to the point where might hear some Call of Duty samples on your next album? If they let me, perhaps? Not sure how to clear that kind of sample. Tell me more about your creative label 'Young Art'?
I created Young Art as a means to raise up other artists. It's not a money grabbing venture, but a way to give shine to people I believe in. I want to try and give the lesser known artists a stronger voice.

Where does the iconic bunny face come from? I can't really see you as Rabbit monster?
Oh, when I was younger I had a round-cherub face and buck teeth. Definitely on par with some form of rabbit/rodent.

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You'll be here around June, what could we expect from your live shows?
My live show is a mixture of my music, my new music, music I love, and music the audience and I love—all this stripped into various parts and orchestrated live.

I listened to "Nope" last month on Soundcloud and can't seem to shake it off, what is the secret to your haunting sound?
I'm a fairly cheerful person and all of that, but I have always felt a little off or uncomfortable. I think that sort of incompleteness is apparent in a lot of my music.

Jennifer Lee aka TOKiMONSTA is known for creating vast textural soundscapes, a fact made clear in her track "Realla Feat. Anderson-Paak". She is the master of combining live instruments, percussion, digital manipulation and vinyl. and is causing a stir in the abyssal deep-sea environment of the online underground. She makes Mortal Kombat-meets-Moonlight Sonata, with her ethereal, sweeping synths and maximalist RnB tinged tracks.

I recently had the chance to speak with the L.A beatsmith for a twenty minute skype chat; little did I realize I'd get sucked down the rabbit hole and unravel some truths about her music; creative label 'Young Art Records' and what it means to be a producer.Follow the "White Rabbit" and Check out her responses below.

THUMP: Hi Jennifer, I'm all set and good to go, ready when you are.

TOKiMONSTA: Cool. I'm ready to go too.

Your music has been tagged officially as a "psychedelic, glitch and avant-rap. How would you describe your genre of music?
Ahh, this one's always a tricky one for me, I don't really know. I mean.. I generally try to avoid categorizing my music because I don't want to risk boxing myself in. I suppose, generally, it'd be hip hop and electronic... kinda?

Perhaps it is indescribable? I feel it's hauntingly melodic with flashes of classical fury!
Thanks! That sounds way cooler than what I would have said. Let's roll with that.

You recently worked with YACHT for "Where Does This Disco" - Who would you like to collaborate with next? Any Australian artists: Flume, What So Not, Chet Faker. Maybe even a Ta-ku drop?
Oooh, so many great artists to choose from. Ta-ku and I have been attempting to work on music for ages. Hopefully, we'll get it together eventually. Flume, What So Not, and Chet Faker are all lovely musicians and I'd work with any of them. Especially Nick (Chet Faker), we were hanging out in Coachella recently with Bonobo. Pretty strong squad.

HWLS recently did a remix of your extremely successful track "Realla feat Anderson Paak" and you did a mix of "Tinashe / Schoolboy Q's 2 On", who is next on your remix / collaboration hit list?
I've been working so hard on my side projects and remixes for friends, that I haven't been able to think about remixing any radio songs. I did just hear this rad song by Tink, called "Million." Definitely would consider messing with that. Sort of a "meta remix" as the beat she's on samples Aaliyah's "One in a Million."

Nice! Random one here, but what was your job prior to music?
I used to work in video games—on the publishing side. I really liked it. It's fairly cool in that now everything has come full circle and I can contribute to games from the music side. It's such a great industry. No pretentiousness—just games! I'm actually going into Activision tomorrow to play the new Call of Duty 'Black ops III'. I don't get much time to play these days with touring, I'm pretty behind on games to be honest. Especially all the AAA titles out now. If I had my way, I'd just lose my life in a black hole of 3D renders, and never look back.

Coming from a classical background, was it a rebellious decision to pursue a career as a DJ? or was it progressive?
Progressive, but by means of being rebellious. My mom wasn't happy when I decided to pursue music full time, but she gave me a chance to try it out, and I give many thanks to her for that. You should always just go for something if you love it. I can't imagine the life of regret I would have lived if I didn't give music a chance.

When is the release date of your follow up to Desiderium?
I don't know yet, it is yet to be determined though it'll be in the fall--so there's only a year gap. However, I'll have Gavin Turek's EP and Anderson Paak's EP out before then on my label Young Art. Both of which, will be produced all by me; in a way, I'll have 3 projects out by the end of this year.

Who do you look towards for inspiration / motivation?I don't think I look to any one specific human being; or really anything specific. It sounds cliche, but I think that inspiration comes from everywhere.

What are you working on in the studio at the moment?

I have been working on producing Gavin Turek, who has been featured on many of my solo productions. Now, it's come full circle and I am producing her record for her, which will be the first artist to come out on my label 'Young Art', also I'm actively still working on stuff for myself and working on a project with Anderson Paak.

Has this interview inspired you to the point where might hear some Call of Duty samples on your next album? If they let me, perhaps? Not sure how to clear that kind of sample. Tell me more about your creative label 'Young Art'?
I created Young Art as a means to raise up other artists. It's not a money grabbing venture, but a way to give shine to people I believe in. I want to try and give the lesser known artists a stronger voice.

Where does the iconic bunny face come from? I can't really see you as Rabbit monster?
Oh, when I was younger I had a round-cherub face and buck teeth. Definitely on par with some form of rabbit/rodent.

You'll be here around June, what could we expect from your live shows?
My live show is a mixture of my music, my new music, music I love, and music the audience and I love—all this stripped into various parts and orchestrated live.

I listened to "Nope" last month on Soundcloud and can't seem to shake it off, what is the secret to your haunting sound?
I'm a fairly cheerful person and all of that, but I have always felt a little off or uncomfortable. I think that sort of incompleteness is apparent in a lot of my music.

Regarding your future release, is this a good tonal reference?
Hmm, nope that was a one off—not sure if my whole record will sound like that, but you will hear that sort of galactic aggressiveness on Anderson Paak's record.

Well that's all from us Jennifer, It's been real, and you've been a trooper, funny how 20 minutes can turn into 2 hours! any last words?
I'm hungry!

Catch the blistering return of the Los Angeles native, when she lands on our shores for a full club tour this June. Kicking off her club tour in Canberra the series of dates take her throughout the country débuting her all new live show. The tour also includes a special performance for The Operatives 11th Birthday.

TOKiMONSTA tours in June, details here:
Wednesday June 3rd, Canberra, La De Da
|Thursday June 4th, Adelaide, Rocket Bar
Friday June 5th, Wellington, San Fran Bathhouse
Saturday June 6th, Melbourne, Revolt Artspace
Sunday June 7th, Sydney, Oxford Arts Factory
Friday June 12th, Auckland, Galatos
Saturday June 13th, Perth, Gilkinsons
Sunday June 14th, Brisbane, The Flying Cock

Regarding your future release, is this a good tonal reference?
Hmm, nope that was a one off—not sure if my whole record will sound like that, but you will hear that sort of galactic aggressiveness on Anderson Paak's record.

Well that's all from us Jennifer, It's been real, and you've been a trooper, funny how 20 minutes can turn into 2 hours! any last words?
I'm hungry!

Catch the blistering return of the Los Angeles native, when she lands on our shores for a full club tour this June. Kicking off her club tour in Canberra the series of dates take her throughout the country débuting her all new live show. The tour also includes a special performance for The Operatives 11th Birthday.

TOKiMONSTA tours in June, details here:
Wednesday June 3rd, Canberra, La De Da
|Thursday June 4th, Adelaide, Rocket Bar
Friday June 5th, Wellington, San Fran Bathhouse
Saturday June 6th, Melbourne, Revolt Artspace
Sunday June 7th, Sydney, Oxford Arts Factory
Friday June 12th, Auckland, Galatos
Saturday June 13th, Perth, Gilkinsons
Sunday June 14th, Brisbane, The Flying Cock

Tagged:LATourbeatsDesideriumThump
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