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Bad news yesterday:
"After trying several times, Jonti was unable to apply successfully for a Chinese visa, so unfortunately his China tour in June has been forced to be cancelled. The organizer 'Hit It', Jonti himself and his record label Stones Throw Records feel very sorry about this and we hope you can understand the situation and keep supporting us".
Jonti is a multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer and vocalist, hailing from Australia, who hit the big time when his tracks pricked the ears of Stones Throw Records' head honcho Peanut Butter Wolf. Jonti began writing music following his move from South Africa, where he grew up, to Australia, initially testing his ideas out on a 4-track recorder.
A solo artist in true DIY tradition, Jonti records and plays all the elements of his music himself, though he has also recorded with names such as Mark Ronson, Santigold, Sean Lennon and the Dap-Kings, as well as producing music for John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile). His first project for Stones Throw was to put together a podcast composed of entirely original material, that was later to be released as a full-length album, 'Sine & Moon'.
His latest album, Twirligig, draws inspiration from artists such as Madlib, Stereolab, Free Design and The Beach Boys. Fusing folk song structures, electronic elements and beats/rhymes from time to time, Jonti's music is refreshingly varied and pleasant to listen to.
"I learned to play instruments before sampling, so live instrumentation is always in there. It's usually only the percussion that's sampled. The stuff that I'm releasing now was really influenced by Madlibs first YNQ album, 'Angles
without Edges', where it's all these instruments over sampled drums".
Jonti is lauded by those in the know for his skill at arrangement, bringing together often quite eclectic sounds and influences, yet being able to compose what essentially amount to pop songs at their most bare. For his live show he makes use of "a whole bunch of technology - samplers, midi controllers, a modular synth, as well as a ukelele and vocals".
Speaking about being part of the Stones Throw family, Jonti says: "It's amazing; there's always plenty of exciting stuff coming up on Stones Throw. Vex Ruffin, for example, has put out a few great EPs, but I have this collection of music of his
that he hasn't put out, and its so awesome!".
So bad news, but hopefully Jonti will make it here soon. Props to the guys at Hit It too for trying to pull shows like this off - Rob Swift's tribute to Roc Raida show earlier this year was dope!
WORDS: S247
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