Finding Your Light: sabukaru meets Verses GT and Xavier Tera
Teaming up together as Verses GT, the superstar duo of Nosaj Thing and Jacques Greene come together blending their origins of electronic and house, respectively, into an atmospheric and moody record that showcases their mutual love for deep textures. Self-titled, the record illuminates the light found in the dark.
© Xavier Tera & Terence Teh
Directed by Xavier Tera as well as written by him and Terence Teh, “Your Light” finds new life on the streets of Tokyo. Following an older brother grieving his younger brother’s death, it takes a dual-perspective—shifting between a first-hand account and the perspective of the main character’s camera. Looking through multiple lenses, the theme of light (光) acts as a medium to speak on ideas of death, brotherly love, and the duty to protect. Xavier says “I truly believe [light] burns forever. I think that is the beauty of life. It is what you create now will stay forever in one way or another. Life and death are one, not two things. It is said that we might actually be the first generation to live forever. Some say through genetics, some say through an avatar that speaks and thinks like you, but one thing is certain, we are all forever.”
The world Verses GT sculpts is not something to gloss over. Aiming to slow the tempo—where your breath shifts from life-preserving and shallow to a controlled practice that takes in the crisp air—in order to combat the festering anxiety of the spectacle, Verses GT finds a new way to bend light. Taking you along the journey as sounds swirl around from ear to ear, it transports you to a new perspective. A new light. Your light.
sabukaru spoke with Nosaj Thing, Jacques Greene, and director Xavier Tera to dive deeper into the story behind the construction of the music video for “Your Light,” the approach each of these artists take in their craft, and the magic behind Nosaj Thing and Jacques Greene’s new self-titled album.
© Xavier Tera & Terence Teh
Qs for Nosaj Thing:
Sabukaru: From Pink Siifu to Jamie xx, you’ve collaborated with a plethora of artists from vastly different sonic backgrounds. You’ve spoken before that these come naturally, steeped in mutual appreciation for one’s art and feelings of trust. Do you embrace the feeling of creating something that would suit your collaborator? If not, how do you combat the subconscious urge to write within their language?
Nosaj Thing: Growing up in LA, I was lucky to be around so many different genres and spaces. Just being there, soaking it all in, helped me pick up on the little nuances and learn how to adapt to different environments. I’ve always been curious about where things come from and I think it’s important to really observe and listen before putting an idea out there.
Sabukaru: Looking back to when you started from producing in your bedroom to your first album release in Drift, what part of you from back then still plays a major part in the way you approach music today? What parts of you are you relieved have become remnants of the past?
Nosaj Thing: When I was recording Drift, I was working on this old computer that could only handle like 8–10 tracks. At first it felt like a limitation, but it actually taught me how to make the most out of less. I still carry that with me, always trying to strip away anything that doesn’t really serve the song.
Sabukaru: Coming together for Verses GT, what drew you towards Jacques Greene and the idea of a collaboration?
Nosaj Thing: JG and I have been friends for a long time, and over the years he’d come by and we’d just jam on ideas. The collaboration really happened naturally, just from spending more time together and having these conversations about music, film, art, and life in general. Little by little, the sound started to take shape, and before we knew it, we had enough material for an album.
Sabukaru: “The duality of the visceral anti-spectacle that inspires the audience to decidedly pause, look out, and take a slow breath in.” This quote about the Verses GT album harkens back to your 2015 interview with Vice in which you highlight the importance of time. Despite all the pain and suffering, with time, you’ll make it to the other side. Now a veteran in the industry, what are you glad you gave time to figure itself out? How does this album deal with these conceptions of time?
Nosaj Thing: These days I’ve been practicing just being present. Everyone carries pain and struggles, and I notice I get anxious if I spend too much time thinking about the future. The one thing we really can control is the present moment. For me, meditating every day is a way to go deeper into my real ideas and intentions — and to keep trusting my intuition.
Sabukaru: Ending on “Vision + Television,” it plays with static as a foundational part of the soundscape. Something that would not initially be thought of as “music,” how do you find the music in the nonobvious?
Nosaj Thing: Some of my favorite pieces are the ones that break away from traditional structures. When we were writing Vision + Television, we were really in that space. In the present moment. The idea came immediately, and I just got lost in the chords and the texture of the sound. We kept it on loop for a while, and it just felt good. For me, that was enough.
© Xavier Tera & Terence Teh
Qs for Jacques Greene
Sabukaru: Your artistic journey started with House. Developing an entirely new sound by pushing it to new bounds with Future House, you helped change the framework. Yet, you can’t be boxed into one sound. From more ambient textures to Detroit Techno, your influences are multi-faceted. What about the classics of Detroit Techno like the Belleville Three and Jeff Mills made you fall in love with the genre, and what spurred you to push the envelope?
Jacques Greene: Early Detroit techno works by those founding fathers and the immediate next wave of Carl Craig, Kenny Larkin etc. have had a profound influence on me. Specifically the notion that music made with machines not only doesn’t have to feel cold and impersonal, but that there is real opportunity to keep the soul and human core of music alive through it.
Sabukaru: Coming together for Verses GT, what drew you towards Nosaj Thing and the idea of a collaboration?
Jacques Greene: Nosaj and I met quite a long time ago through similar music circles, and from the first time we crossed paths, felt like there was a bit of a kindred spirit. Though we can be so different in temperament, we both gravitate towards textures and mood in our music and a desire to draw out feelings from the listener. It felt super exciting to see exactly where that Venn diagram existed between both of our approaches. There was also the sense that through all the noise of modern life, we both just had similar ideas on the things we value, how we choose to spend our time and our priorities in life.
Sabukaru: A lot of your flips fall into RnB. Whether it’s your take on Frank Ocean’s “White Ferrari” or Ciara’s “Body Party,” you find a way to weave the emotion of these tracks into a light and airy house track that makes you float. What kind of approach do you take when tackling these tracks?
Jacques Greene: To me that is just my version and take on a current that has been ongoing through dance music from the moment the pioneers of house music began looping disco records. From Masters At Work and MK chopping vocals in the 90s to today, there is a tradition of bringing in the sounds of pop, soul and beyond into dance music. To me it feels natural to have those reference points feel a bit more contemporary to myself. Finding what makes a song tick at its core and slipping it into my context, while trying to remain reverential to the source material is always a really rewarding experience.
Sabukaru: With tracks like “Intention” playing with panning as the synths swirl around your ears, your recent discography falls within a dreamy haze supported by a foundation of syncopated drums like your EP “Fantasy.” When building an atmosphere, what do you look for sonically?
Jacques Greene: A lot of material the past few years has started as ambient sketches, so they feel firmly anchored in a sense of space and mood before the rhythms ever enter the picture. When making “Intention,” Nosaj and I knew we were trying to make a hazy deep house record, but the most important part of the track to us was this feeling of being in a sweaty, foggy haze. So we set out to make these woozy, disorienting yet kind of warm pads and ambience that brought you to that feeling of just weaving in and out of consciousness on a late night dance floor.
Whether for that song or many others like it, that’s always the goal. To picture a specific time and place in your head and work backwards from that on what would add or take away from that feeling.
Sabukaru: From something that started as pure passion that existed in your bedroom to evolving to playing on the biggest stages, your musical journey has taken you on a heroic path. You’ve commented before that it has been difficult to navigate the transition with music shifting from solely an outlet to additional context with the stress of it being your job. Whether it’s crafting your own sounds or spinning tracks, what kind of style brings you back to that pure joy.
Jacques Greene: It can really come from any direction. Even this collaborative project with Nosaj started with us making music together with no genre aim at all. One day we’d meet up and make a couple rap beats, maybe a loopy techno record. Ultimately it’s about finding ways to trigger your brain into feeling good. Reaching that place in your mind where you aren’t thinking about tours and labels and audiences. Just turning on some machines or sitting at a keyboard and following intuition on something that just straight up feels good.
In those moments it becomes pure escape, and beautifully threads a needle between work and self-care.
© Xavier Tera & Terence Teh
Qs for Xavier Tera:
Sabukaru: Approaching the Tokyo landscape, what about this city’s environment brings Verses GT’s soundscapes to life?
Xavier Tera: There's something intrinsically nostalgic in Tokyo, that comes from both the architecture and the way people communicate (or don't, shall I say) between each other but also how they communicate with the landscape. Sometimes it feels like a simulation of a near past or future.The way the light cuts through the building during the day, slicing across faces, sometimes creates this hyper real feeling. And I believe Verses GT, in this album, has that singularity, this feeling that we once knew but reliving again, in a new way.
Sabukaru: The first of a three-part series, the main character curiously wanders around Tokyo’s streets in which we see a first account of his grieving process as well as trail him through your perspective. How will we see this character develop?
Xavier Tera: The three part series is really three distinct stories, points of views and styles, but all with this common theme of communication and identity. So we will not see this character again in the next few videos coming up!
Sabukaru: Following the theme of 光 (light), you investigate it through the lens of death, brotherly love, and the duty to protect. Does the light in us die when we are gone, or does it burn forever?
Xavier Tera: I truly believe it burns forever. I think that is the beauty of life. It is what you create now will stay forever in one way or another. Life and death are one, not two things. It is said that we might actually be the first generation to live forever. Some say through genetics, some say through an avatar that speaks and thinks like you, but one thing is certain, we are all forever.
Sabukaru: In previous interviews, you’ve spoken about how you can’t separate people from their stories. Working with Verses GT, what does your process look like in order to truly understand Nosaj Thing and Jacques Greene? What struck you about them when you first got to know each other that made you want to capture them?
Xavier Tera: This project started through friendship first. Terence Teh, who's basically our, Phil [Jacques Greene], Jason [Nosaj Thing] and I’s, confidant, is the creative director of this audio/visual band and thought it was the perfect timing for all to collaborate together. I've known Phil and Terence for many years and got closer to Jason in the past year. So I had already a good idea of who I was dealing with, but that's even scarier, because I love them so much as friends and artists. I was actually more stressed out about creating something truly special with them than any other artists I've worked with before. But this was really a collaborative effort on all fronts and we were all trusting each other so much. Not to get cheesy but, we are all so different we are almost like a perfect puzzle. All our different perspectives and energy together became one. So it was never "what made me want to capture them" but more "when". I think that we can't separate people from their stories because our spirit is much bigger than anything we do - so naturally we all bring an energy on the table that makes a great image or film. Photography and film is a meeting between people and if one person doesn't feel like being photographed or filmed on the day, you can feel it in the result. But for me in the end, everyone is interesting to capture, everyone has a little something that makes them unique. The boys were great sports the whole way through, I know it's not easy to be in front of the camera. I hate it!
Sabukaru: Working on your first feature film, how has that informed the way you approach your other work?
Xavier Tera: I believe it's more the other way around. I've always approached my work in a very narrative way, so the feature film was the true goal and essential next step, a kid's dream. I'm starting principal photography mid November and can't wait to share more with everyone.
Interview & Words by Josh Moore
