I have been a fan of St. Lucia since this last New Years Eve. A friend played it and I was floored to find out St. Lucia, in all its advanced awesomeness, was a man New York based, but South African born-and-raised. So here is what you need to know: Jean-Philip grew up in the Drakensberg Boys Choir, then spent three years studying music in Liverpool, now he resides in Brooklyn where he is penning St. Lucia’s debut album. Neon Gold will release the album later this year. Formerly a singles-only label that launched releases Passion Pit, Ellie Goulding, The Naked & Famous and helped launch the careers of countless others.
I caught up with Grobler tonight and he graciously interviewed for Man of the Cloth. Here’s what went down:
WHAT IS ST. LUCIA IN YOUR OWN WORDS?
There are so many ways that I’ve thought about this, but to me, when I’m making the music, it’s about the feeling the music evokes. That feeling, to me, is the meeting point between happy and sad, melancholy and ecstasy.
YOUR TOP 3 ALBUMS OF ALL TIME?
1. Radiohead ‘OK Computer’
2. Fleetwood Mac ‘Tusk’
3. Mew ‘And The Glass Handed Kites’
YOUR MAIN MUSICAL INFLUENCES?
I’m influenced by a lot of different music across the board, but the music that really deeply affects me is the music that has some kind of intent that is deeper than just making a pop record or making something weird. It’s music where the creator was trying to transcend the boundaries of their genre or perceived confines as an artist. For example, I feel that Kanye West really did it with his album Yeezus. That quality or result normally brings along a sense of conflict with it, and so it’s that conflict that you can hear in the music that really gets me. That being said, I also love a really well written and produced pop song, and the new Empire of the Sun album is full of them.
BRIEFLY EXPLAIN THE PROCESS OF PUTTING TOGETHER A TRACK
It’s pretty much train of thought all the way through the entire process, from music to lyrics to production. I really try not to think too much about what I’m doing for as long as humanly possible, but then there is always an editing process that comes at the end that’s very important, and in many ways that’s the most difficult part because you’re switching brain hemispheres from being a hoarder to basically having to sift through this pile of stuff.
WHAT HAS NEW YORK DONE FOR YOUR MUSIC?
I feel like it has really opened my mind to a lot of different possibilities. I’ve really found myself here, and in a strange way it helped me to rediscover my roots by being detached from them. I realized that I’d had a somewhat unique life journey, and that in order to make my mark on this music world I needed to let all of those influences flow out of me unedited. And so, I let go. And New York helped me do that, but in the beginning the music scene really scared me to death because of its’ perceived ‘coolness’ and ‘jadedness’. But you just need to blaze through all of that and not give a shit.
YOUR MUSIC IS CERTAINLY A FAR CRY FROM ANYTHING LOCAL AT THE MOMENT. IN FACT, IT IS SO RELEVANT TO INTERNATIONAL MUSIC THAT YOU HAVE A CLEAR SHOT AT WORLD-WIDE COMMERCIAL SUCCESS AND THAT HAS YET TO HAPPEN LOCALLY IN A MODERN SENSE. WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’RE DOING DIFFERENTLY?
God, I really don’t know. I’m just doing my thing. I think in a way I described it in the above answer. I just let go and let all of what is me just flow out without being self-conscious of the results. Actually, saying I wasn’t self-conscious is kind of a lie because it definitely wasn’t easy doing that. You know, in the beginning you imagine that people are going to judge you for doing that. And I just couldn’t help it that what was coming out of me was this joyful, happy (yet still melancholic) music, and in a lot of circles that’s not considered ‘cool’. But, that’s who I am and I have to live with that and fight for that. I have to fight to be taken seriously even though I’m a happy person who makes happy music. Sorry, I deviated a bit from the question there. But, I really don’t know if I’m doing anything differently, I just know what I’m doing, and I’m trying to be as true to myself as possible and trying my best not to care about outside opinions.
WHAT DOES THE NEXT YEAR LOOK LIKE FOR ST. LUCIA?
If all goes well and to plan it’s probably going to be insanely busy with a lot of time on the road. I’m really, really hoping that at some point in the near future we’ll be getting a call to come back to SA to do a tour. I would love nothing more.
IMAGE 1 COURTESY OF SHERVIN LAINEZ, IMAGE 2 JAIME FERNANDEZ AND IMAGE 3 VINH NGUYEN