As the year draws to a close, it is difficult to imagine a time without socially-distanced pub trips and forced virtual quizzing (please, no more). Jany Green, however, is here to instill some positivity power in the face of short-term setbacks.
Having grown up accustomed to Alaskaâs dark and cold clime, it wasnât until the beatmaker decided to break away from the negative influences surrounding him and make the move to LA that the Jany Green moniker was born. Inspired by the cityâs eternal sunshine and laid-back lifestyle, the project took form as a means of expressing his own transition and quickly became an outlet to inspire joy and positivity amongst others.
The project also marked a sonic shift for the LA newcomer as he found the confidence to move beyond the hip-hop and rap he had grown up playing. From the psychedelic rock-inflections on âLittleâ to the twinkling indie-pop melodies on âSuffocateâ, Jany Greenâs ambition knows no bounds as, in a year doused with loss and despair, he has managed to craft a melting pot of sounds sewed together by his ceaseless energy.
Following the release of infectious new single âMoveâ, NME jumped on Zoom with Jany Green to talk all things OutKast, eternal optimism and life-defining board games.
How did your move to LA inspire this project?
âThere was a lot of negative stuff going on back in Alaska that I didnât want to be around. The music I was making just didnât make sense to me and I wasnât enjoying myself. The turning point was when I got to LA and figured out that there is more to life than what Iâd been doing. I was in a much more positive mental space and wanted to express that in my music.â
The story behind the Jany Green alias is pretty personal, isnât it?
âYeah, my parents played a board game to help them decide what to call me. My dad won so he got to choose the first name and my mum got the middle name. She picked Janal, so I decided to take that and make it Jany, and then Green is her maiden name. I never really had a relationship with my father, so Iâm very attached to my mother and have always felt more like a Green.â
Did your mum introduce you to any influential sounds growing up?
âDefinitely! She listened to a bit of everything, but OutKast was something big in our family that we would have on to all the time. I love it so much and really try to express that feeling I had from OutKast CDâs in my own music. Thereâll always be the artists I grew up listening to, but Iâm being inspired by new sounds every day. Dominic Fike is a huge inspiration to me. He played a big part in my decision to reinvent myself and feel OK with the music that Iâm making. He gave me the confidence to just do it and not care what anyone thinks.â
You certainly donât seem afraid to try something new…
âAbsolutely! My background in music is mainly hip-hop and rap, but Iâve always dabbled in indie and rock just to try something different. I never really had a producer to execute that before, but luckily, I met Ralph Castelli and we just connected. He comes from an indie background but also loves OutKast, so we just meshed out sounds and came up with this stuff.â
Did you ever feel a pressure to sound a certain way or was it fairly easy to move away from your hip-hop roots?
âI did for sure. Itâs not that I didnât try to before, but it just never made sense. I always felt pressured into doing something different because thatâs what I felt like I should be doing or what people wanted to hear from me. Coming out here and changing that felt like something I needed to do. Iâm happy and having fun; I think things are working out because Iâm not afraid to do it anymore.â
There’s endless positivity in the music â why is that so important to you?
âIt just comes naturally to me. 2020 has been super difficult so I just thought it would be awesome to make someone smile and know that there is always a light at the end of the tunnel.â
Your new single âMoveâ does exactly that. How did it all come together?
âMe and my producer were in a room drinking some beers and listening to music. I remember him playing a beat and I just felt like I had to get up and move. He kept adding bits of sound while I was dancing around, and it all came together. It was just good energy the whole time.”
Jany Green’s new single ‘Move’ is out now
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