COVERCHORD CULTURE

JONNY NASH × nonnative
Point Of Entry Special Interview

A collaborative T-shirt featuring the beautiful album artwork
Plus we gain insight into his creative process through a curated playlist

7月22日 (土)発売

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Jonny Nash, widely regarded as one of the most distinctive musical voices on the ambient and new-age scene, has unveiled his latest solo album, Point Of Entry. Nash’s musical journey began in the early 2000s during his time in Japan, and since then, he has established himself as a key player in the genre, collaborating with the likes of Suzanne Kraft, Gigi Masin, and Young Marco.

Point Of Entry marks his sixth solo album, offering a captivating fusion of acoustic and ambient music, resulting in an exploration of his "personal folk style."

To commemorate the album's release, exclusive T-shirts featuring the album artwork have been created in collaboration with nonnative and will be available exclusively at COVERCHORD alongside his EP and limited edition cassette tape.

We had the opportunity to speak with Nash and gain some insight into his personal background and the creative process behind this album. Nash also shared a curated playlist that comprises tracks that influenced him during the album's production.

Point Of Entry, and the exclusive T-shirts are available on Friday 21st July.

COVERCHORD AUDIO
Selected by
Jonny Nash

Jonny Nash
Interview

- Please tell us about your background and the experiences that led you to become a musician.

Well, I've been making music and experimenting with recording music for over twenty years, since I was a student at university in London.
But in terms of making music my profession, it was a slow and gradual move! For quite some time I was working on music on evenings and weekends, whilst working in London in the fashion industry.
Things slowly started to grow since I began running my label in 2014. First I cut down to part-time and then was able to ditch other work a few years after that.
In terms of roots, I am kind of an indie-guitar kid who got into electronic music and club culture and then went full circle back to guitar music, haha.

- What is the concept of this album, and how was the process of making it?

“Point of Entry” was conceived with two ideas in mind.
The first one was connected to space and environment - I have a small cottage outside the city in Holland where I have been spending quite a lot of time in recent years. I wanted to make a record that would be a perfect album to play in that environment, with songs that were inspired by time spent in nature.
The second idea was connected to how I wanted to record the songs. I wanted to not overthink things, but just record and play freely every day, and see what came out.
In that sense, it was a pretty spontaneous album. The album itself was recorded over the course of 6 months in Amsterdam, in a small studio I set up in my house. I was able to really focus there and get into a daily rhythm of working.

- Who, where, and what are the people, places, and things that influence and inspire you?

I feel that I used to take influence from the wide variety of music that I listen to and was also connected to a network of record diggers, DJs, and producers, where all of us were kind of feeding off each other and pushing ideas forwards.
Interestingly in recent years, (perhaps due to covid and also people moving away from Amsterdam), I’ve relied more on my internal world and imagination than external influences when creating.
Broadly speaking though, cities and nightlife revolving around music play much less of a role in inspiring me than they used to.
I’m spending a lot more time in nature, walking, and cycling, and it is often when doing these things that ideas pop up!

- How did your collaboration with Gigi Masin begin? Do you have any plans for your next collaborative project?

I met Gigi about eight years ago when he was in Amsterdam to have a meeting with Tako who runs Music From Memory.
At that time, MFM were planning to release a retrospective of his work, “Talk To The Sea”.
Tako invited me to come and hang out because I was a fan of Gigi’s music. Since then I have had the pleasure to make two albums with him as Gaussian Curve and also release an album as a duo, called “Postcards From Nowhere”.
Last year we did some shows as Gaussian Curve and it was really fun, so I hope we will get a chance to record new music this year!

- Your album artwork always feels very considered, please tell us about it.

Artwork is of course really important, especially when you have a physical vinyl release.
The majority of the labels’ artwork is designed by Michael Willis, who lives in Melbourne. For this record, however, the cover and all the artwork associated with the album was made by my partner Denise.
I wanted something handmade and human, to reflect the music on the record. It is a warm and positive record, with a sense of space, so the artwork needed to reflect that.
Denise knows the landscape of the area which inspired the record really well and we were able to develop the art whilst I was still working on the record. That was a really nice process.

- How did the collaboration with nonnative come about?

Well, as I mentioned, in my previous life I worked in fashion. I got to know the team at nonnative about 15 years ago!
I have been following the brand since then and really respect what they do, so it has been a real pleasure to collaborate with nonnative on this project.

- Can you tell us about any future plans and activities?

I'm actually planning on getting right back into the studio to make another album! And then tour a bit during 2024. Hope to get to Japan then, as it has been a long time since I last visited!

Jonny Nash
Born and raised in Scotland, Nash moved to Japan in the early 2000s and immersed himself in the experimental music scene as a member of the Discossession collective, where he honed his skills as a DJ and developed a deep knowledge of diverse and obscure genres.
Inevitably, Nash's own musical creations emerged, first loosely associated with the cosmic-disco scene of the mid-2010s, and later towards ambient and new age territory through collaborations with Kyle Martin in the Land of Light project. He relocated to Amsterdam in 2016, coinciding with the launch of his label, Melody As Truth, and went on to cement his contemplative, spacious, and melodic ambient music through collaborations with his studio partner Suzanne Kraft.
The formation of Gaussian Curve with Gigi Masin and Young Marco further solidified his reputation as a distinctive voice in ambient music, performing live shows and working on a variety of audio-visual projects including with Japanese artist Yoshirotten, and an appearance at the Venice Biennale alongside Xavier Veihlan. With a prolific output and a penchant for collaboration, Nash continues to explore new directions, blending acoustic and ambient elements to create his own unique folk style.

Instagram_@melodyastruth