© Nelitza Wargo-Rodriguez
BlackJeans is a New York City-based artist creating genre-blurring music that fuses dance-pop, electronic production, punk energy, and cabaret. His new EP END OF THE WORLD (Part 1) is the first chapter of a four-part series, inviting listeners into a wild, immersive world where theatricality, celebration, and unapologetic self-expression take center stage. We caught up with BlackJeans to discuss the making of the EP, embracing clownery, community, collaborating with Adam Thein, and why the party goes on even at the end of the world.
The B-Side Hour: Your new EP END OF THE WORLD (Part 1) revolves around one question: 'If the world is ending, why not throw a party?' Beyond the chaos and celebration, what drew you to explore the end of the world as a creative starting point?
BlackJeans: Oh well it really feels that the world is always ending these days, yea? And while I believe it is valid to run around screaming in terror, I also think it's a beautiful thing that can motivate us to act NOW. We should celebrate, and feel everything, and experience as much as possible, and make things, and share those things, and hold the people we love, and make new friends, and live while we have the chance, yea? Tomorrow might come but it also might not so we should enjoy it all together while we can.
The B-Side Hour: The EP is a collision of dance-pop, electronic production, punk energy, cabaret, clowning, and underground nightlife. How did those different worlds come together as you built the project?
BlackJeans: I'm not really much of a person with a plan. I'm quite all over the place and easily distracted and I love so many things, and I hate touching sandpaper. So, this first EP was really just me playing around with a bunch of ideas after evenings out in the city, then coming back to my little lair and capturing some melodies and basslines at 3 in the morning. It was really just whatever I happened to feel inspired by at the time. Fortunately, my producer Adam was game to follow any weird song idea or skeleton I brought over to him. We were cracking up and dancing the whole time and following the fun of it all. Very little thought, very unserious, very much like licking a red hot boot, ya know?
"Community is everything, it's healing, and it's family, and I will always rally with all of those who have grown up feeling a little too off kilter or unaccepted by the normies."
The B-Side Hour: END OF THE WORLD runs for just under 13 minutes, yet it feels like stepping into an immersive world. How do you approach creating that kind of experience within such a short runtime?
BlackJeans: ADHD mostly, throwing a lot of paint at the wall and letting as much stay as possible without making TOO much of a mess. But also messes are fun. The songs are very short, very here for a good time but not a long time, and a lot of production packed into those few minutes.
The B-Side Hour: You co-produced the EP with Adam Thein. How did that collaboration help shape the creative identity of END OF THE WORLD?
BlackJeans: Father Legs aka Adam's production is really all over this thing. He is so multifaceted in the type of music he produces, so good at finding a way to make so much fit in small spaces while also not making things sound crowded. He's a true master with counter rhythm, KNOWS his synths, and is really such a brilliant mind with this stuff. What I appreciate most is his willingness to explore. No matter how weird or strange or unhinged I was, he was always down to ride that wave. He has a way of cracking up with you and getting the ship to the finish line.
The B-Side Hour: You've described clownery as more than an aesthetic, almost as a philosophy. What keeps drawing you back to those figures as a way of expressing yourself?
BlackJeans: I love when people can laugh at themselves. I love when people realize it's ridiculous to even be here in the first place. Clowns have always been the ones to fall on their face one minute, and then show you something about yourself the next. We all customize our avatars and play a role. I just love how far a Jester can push it. I think most people are clowns in some way or another though.
"Tomorrow might come but it also might not so we should enjoy it all together while we can."
The B-Side Hour: Your music is an invitation for 'fellow freaks, clowns, misfits, queer folks and late bloomers' to embrace who they are. How has building that sense of community become part of your vision as an artist?
BlackJeans: Yea WOWWWW, a lot of sick fucks have really been showing up recently! Everyone is so beautiful, and inspiring, talented, and welcoming. They inspire me to embrace who I am. It feels like a mutual exchange really. Community is everything, it's healing, and it's family, and I will always rally with all of those who have grown up feeling a little too off-kilter or unaccepted by the normies. I hope I can do justice to all the new friends who've joined this circus, who would've thought?
The B-Side Hour: The END OF THE WORLD project exists both as recorded music and as an immersive live experience. What does each medium allow you to express, and how do they influence one another?
BlackJeans: Oh! I think they go hand in hand for me. The music is the ball, something to be played or passed back and forth. The live shows/parties are the field for us to play the game together. I LIVE for the party, to be able to be present with people in the flesh and celebrate together feels like my main mission always. The music feels like a vehicle to give us a reason to meet up and escape for a while. I need both!
The B-Side Hour: Throughout the EP, celebration almost feels like an act of defiance. What made you want to respond to the idea of the end of the world with euphoria rather than catastrophe?
BlackJeans: Haha, I actually think both reactions to the world ending are valid by the way. But for me it's always been clear that the world is ending one way or another and that feels like a reason to live while you can. The world ending could be a lot of things, losing a loved one, losing your childhood, falling out with a friend, being fired, graduating, war, the actual earth falling out of orbit, facing your own mortality, etc. The only thing we really get to choose is how we respond. I believe in light of those things, we get to find joy.
"Clowns have always been the ones to fall on their face one minute, and then show you something about yourself the next."
The B-Side Hour: END OF THE WORLD is planned as a four-part EP series. What has been the biggest challenge of building a project that unfolds across multiple releases rather than telling the whole story at once?
BlackJeans: Being the only one who knows how it actually ends! I may not be much of a planner, but I know where this is headed.
The B-Side Hour: With Part 1 now out in the world, where does the story go from here?
BlackJeans: Oh my goodness, the party JUST started. And we're going to push it harder. Has to go harder, because without the party what do we have? We're in it together now.
Purchase or stream END OF THE WORLD (Part 1)