VIDEO: “Nightshift in Blue” (Dir. by Ross Harris & Joel Fox)
Jonti premieres his new music video “Nightshift In Blue” on VICE from his acclaimed debut, Twirligig, on Stones Throw Records. It’s set in sunny Los Angeles, featuring Jonti as Hojo Jojo with Natalia Iswara as Luscious Dee. Directed by Ross Harris and Joel Fox of Yo Gabba Gabba.
“I met Jonti almost 7 years ago at a nightclub in Sydney. He sidled up to me at a Basics gig and gave me a CDR with almost no details on it. I pulled it out of a bag months later, listened without much expectation, and was struck by some kind of musical and production genius.” – Gotye
“Imagine if Panda Bear attempted to make Madlib albums for São Paulo planetariums.. (Jonti) is a pop? deconstructionist — merging celestial falsettos, dusted sampledelics, and melted-tape nostalgia.” – Spin
“Jonti’s beats, alternately headbobbingly hip-hop or lush, fuzzy, and cut with robotic blips and beeps, captured the attention of some fans of the indie band playing on the other side of the wall.” – LA Weekly
Bio:
Jonti may not be a familiar name just yet but that’s no reflection of his resume. Multi-instrumentalist, arranger, producer, and vocalist, Jonti, began assembling music after his departure from South Africa to Australia in 1999. Spending countless hours studying records like they were books, processing each song, this became Jonti’s music school, testing his theories on a 4-track recorder.
If you love music, eventually you meet others who do too. In the past year, through different projects, Jonti has recorded with Mark Ronson, Santigold, Sean Lennon and the Dap-Kings, as well as producer John Agnello (Sonic Youth, Dinosaur Jr., Kurt Vile). Ironically, for Jonti’s solo album, he decided to purposely go the opposite route, doing everything himself, start to finish.
Sometimes it feels like you’re not even moving and then one day it’s done and the madness is like a fading dream. That fading dream left behind two albums, Twirligig and it’s brother album TokoRats.
Twirligig draws inspiration from many of Jonti’s favorite artists, Madlib, Stereolab, Free Design and The Beach Boys. But Twirligig’s main inspiration came from cartoonist/ filmmaker Norman Mclaren. Jonti explains, “His films are complex, but they’re still fun. You can feel his enthusiasm for techniques and experimentation. I try make simple pop songs with that same mentality.”
Although Jonti describes his music as simple, label head Peanut Butter Wolf sees it as anything but that. “I understand the pop references because his music is so catchy, but the arrangements blew me away. I couldn’t figure out how the hell he did what he did. That he did it all on his own at such an early age kinda scared me. I knew right away I needed to add him to the roster.” You will soon understand why Stones Throw is proud to present it’s first Australian signing Jonti as a new member of the family.
Tour Dates
06/14 Portland, OR Crown Room #$
06/15 Seattle, WA Vermillion #$
06/16 Vancouver, BC The Waldorf Hotel #$
06/19 San Francisco, CA Public Works *$
06/20 San Jose, CA The Pagoda at Fairmont Hotel *$
06/21 Fresno, CA Fulton 55 *$
06/22 Los Angeles, CA The Echo %$
06/23 San Diego, CA Kava Lounge %$
$ = w/ Sonnymoon
# = w/ Knxwledge
* = w/ Devon Who, B.Lewis
% = w/ Mndsgn
Jonti
Twirligig
(Stones Throw)
Street Date: Out now!
Track List:
1. Hornets Nest
2. Nightshift In Blue
3. Nodlews Way Home
4. Spooky Sport
5. Koi Moons Daughter
6. Firework Spraying Moon
7. Cyclic Love feat. Otayo Dubb
8. Batmilk
9. Twirligig
10. Begone Slumber
11. Frightened Mice (Dots)
12. Snickers Hiss
13. Solar Smoking Dogs (Lucia)
14. Pássaros
Jonti
Sine & Moon (The Album)
(Stones Throw)
Street Date: Out now!
Track List:
01. Saturday Night Songs
02. Red On Green
03. Confused Birds
04. Nagoya Train Station 3AM
05. Nightshift in Blue (Alt. Version)
06. Koi Moon’s Daughter Pt II
07. By This Shore
08. Flesh Of Morning
09. Lost Machines
10. Young Wildebeest
11. Nagoya Interlude
12. Moon Goddess
13. Sugar High
14. Lovers Stone (Alt. Passaros)
15. Vendas Newly Won Dream (Bonus Track)