Jesse Weber-Owens is a Louisville-based artist with a wealth of music to share. His most recent offering, released under the moniker of Durotan, is titled Luminous West, and was just released this week. It is a full-length instrumental album that takes the listener on a multi-genre ride through mind of Durotan. If you are familiar with Weber-Owens' folk outfit Joe Piano, Durotan displays an entirely different side of the same artist. I spoke to the one-man-band about the new release, and he shared how his thoughts influence the creations he makes in his studio, The Space Basement.
Luminous West is a lush blend of multiple genres. It flows from hip-hop and electronic to fully experimental at times. Where do you find the inspiration for your sounds?
I write a lot of music in my head while I'm not writing or recording, and usually can take all kinds of different ideas I've had since my previous recording session and throw them into a song all at once. Or, sometimes I just start experimenting with different instruments and sounds on the spot with no real goal and improvise, which has been how some of my favorite tracks have been written. I also love sampling with vinyl, straight from the turntable.
I've been open with WFPK before about my struggle with schizophrenia, which seems to be a constant source of musical inspiration. I literally hallucinate music playing most of the time, which along with the artists I listen to throughout my day gives me a lot of reason to feel inspired. I follow my thoughts.
When it comes to instrumental music, it is always interesting to hear the source of the song titles. How did you name the songs, particularly the title track Luminous West?
Usually song titles come pretty immediately and randomly when I'm done writing or recording something instrumental. While the title to Luminous West may have been decided in a second, it was a track where I dug deeper in my writing than I had before. To explain, a part of my illness that I deal with, is a phenomenon of time. I feel it bending around me, things like music slowing and speeding up, time stopping, hours passing in what's truly minutes.
The track Luminous West was my first attempt of capturing that phenomenon in my own music, in a way that everybody can experience for themselves. It's a bit of a simulation you could say. It felt so deep to create something so easy to feel and understand for yourself, about a part of something that's frankly impossible to understand.
Does your recording and production process include any other artists or technicians, or is Durotan a one-man-band?
Durotan is a one man operation based in my studio, the Space Basement, although I do work regularly on my releases with local producer and player Jean-Christopher Gorce, who masters the Durotan tracks. Besides mastering, the entire Durotan project is solo. I have featured some artists on my instrumentals in the past, but have released just one of those tracks. I started playing guitar when I was 9, which I consider to be my specialty, but I play a lot of other things regularly including cello, bass, banjo, mandolin, keys, and the list goes on. Actually, I consider Durotan to be my secondary project, next to my folk outfit Joe Piano, where I feel I shine best as a songwriter and artist.
Durotan is a young, but already prolific project. Can listeners expect more soon?
Yes, they can! While I'm sitting on hundreds of finished Durotan tracks, I dont think I'll ever release nearly as much music as I write and record. It's the same with Joe Piano songs. My repertoire is just growing so big. I can have multiple releases planned and finished, but I take them one at a time. My next album will be part two of my debut Joe Piano EP, Wavering Dream. That will be followed by Durotan's next record, and Joe Piano's debut full-length is down the road. There will be plenty of fun singles to be released along the way. Sometimes I think, "Heck, I may just unhinge myself and release something every day!" While I sure have the tunes, I do not have the energy to keep that up!
We're still living in a lot of uncertainty, but do you have musical plans in the works for the coming year?
One big plan this year is to move my studio to my new home, where I will have a majorly bigger space to build a whole new studio to base my music. It's a huge opportunity for me as a producer, and the start of a different chapter in my musical career. This year I'm basically just trying to keep up my momentum I've got going with the songwriting and recording, and release as much as makes sense.
I'm hoping this is a year of sobriety and stability for me. I've got a lot of things recently in my psychosis that have become a lot more real and harder to ignore, which just makes me more obsessed with music, and I've got a lot of music to make! I've got a good thing going here with music, and I just always want to see what I make next. Always taking small steps.
Stream Durotan's new album Luminous West on Spotify below.
