Recently the artist formerly known as Jerome Potter applied a bit of search engine optimisation to his own name and rebranded as Jerome LOL. As the name suggests, the producer is very internet. (One of his videos with former duo LOL Boys is set entirely within the Mac operating system.) But, despite his online credentials, Jerome is a firm believer in the potency of human interaction and real spaces. He cites collaboration, Los Angeles and nature as big influences. In fact, he tells me that he is temporarily without internet in his apartment during our interview. I touch base with him over the phone, before he heads out to Australia to perform his solo show live.
Do you enjoy performing live?
Yeah, definitely. I’ve just been DJing for quite some time so it’s always been a passion of mine to find stuff to play. So in the beginning of next year I’ll be like developing more of a live show, like playing more instruments. But I love to DJ it’s a fun way to kind of build the vibe for a night.
Do you have like a go-to move for putting on a good show?
People wanna dance but people also, I’ve noticed, like see the DJ actually having a good time. So I think if you’re playing music that you enjoy it kind of reflects well on the whole experience.
It seems like performances are becoming are bigger part of being a DJ these days. Like the Skrillex school of performance, where you have to wild out in your set for it to be a real show.
Yeah, I think more and more visually – having light shows, having cool videos playing to coincide with the hooks in the music.
You’ve got a solo EP through [tastemaking label] Friends of Friends coming up?
Yeah, I’ve just been finishing the EP, so it should be out sometime in the fall. I’ve been working on it for quite some time and it’s been a process but I’m really happy with what’s come of it.
Can you give any teasers about what’s in there?
There’s like a feature with a female vocalist. I’ve actually done some vocals myself that have been heavily processed and kind of bizarre. It’s definitely more of personal. It’s like emotional here and there but still has dancey rhythms.
Are there any other projects on the horizon – musical or otherwise?
I’m working with Samo Sound Boy right now – we run [label] Body High together. We’re back in the studio working on DJ Dodger Stadium stuff. Which was like the first release we released together on Body High – it’s our collaborative project. We’re working on a big project right now. I mean we’re at the studio every day in our little office. Some beats for rappers and stuff. So we’re kind of all working on little things right there.
LOL Boys was a long distance creative relationship. Have you found it’s been different being in the same space while you’re working with people?
Oh definitely. Working with Markus in LOL Boys was definitely a unique creative experience I’d say as far as any medium is concerned, whether it’s music or any form of artwork. So it was cool. It was definitely a really fun project, but it’s also very difficult to do long distance like that. So now working with people in the studio it’s very direct.
Did you find that there were any advantages to working remotely?
That’s an interesting question. I think there definitely are advantages to it because each person can kind of work without having the other person in their ear right away. It’s sort of – okay I’ll work on this all night long and then send, instead of each time you add something to a song or take something away. You can have a conversation at the end of like to 15 to 30 to like 100 changes. It’s not step-by-step it’s like a big conversation every time you talk.
So, in a way, things can move quicker. It’s just a completely different approach I think. And I think it’s something people are starting to do more.
Speaking of collaborations – watching the video you and Markus did for Changes, it’s got like everyone from the internet. Are there plans for any collaborations in the future with likeminded people?
Yeah – well, that video was just kind of going off on that idea but I do like have a plan for doing like a music video for the next EP that will hopefully – I’ve gotta get it set up – be a collaboration with a lot of creative people. Hopefully a lot of visual artists.
You know Sus Boy who does the visuals for WEDIDIT, right?
Yeah, yeah. He’s one of my best friends. We actually did some work for Skrillex for the Holiday Treats website.
We did the whole design together and then had one of our friends do all the coding. It was a really fun process. I’m pretty sure we’ll be collaborating more together in the future; we might be collaborating on the EP cover for the Friends of Friends release but not sure on the terms.
Skrillex and Mishka have just done this collaboration for another site. Were you involved in that?
Sus BoY did that one. I didn’t have time for that one. I was out of town working on some other stuff at the time. It’s cool – we’re super lucky to have that nice little community of friends, visual artists and musicians that’s really developed over the last three years.
Where do you go when you want visual inspiration?
I think the city of Los Angeles is pretty big inspiration visually. You’re kind amongst chaos but also it’s very spread out and peaceful. There is nature within the city and it’s that dichotomy that goes back and forth. It still has that plastic/neon like you see the eighties, in some areas a lot of neon lights and stuff. So many different styles but there’s still some form that underlying feeling in Los Angeles that I love.
And also lately I’ve been going camping a lot and that’s been super inspirational just to go back to basics and just be inspired by this natural beauty. That’s kind of the opposite of what I just said but, I kind of contradict myself a lot I guess. [Laughs.]
Could you imagine living somewhere else? Somewhere else out of the US?
I’ve got family in France and that would be cool. I don’t ever expressly feel like I need to be tied down to any one place and I’m definitely open to moving. We’re lucky in this day and age with aeroplanes – I know that I can move to a different country, and there’s no point staying in Los Angeles for the rest of my life. Right now I feel very comfortable here.
I guess that’s the beauty of what we were saying before, that it’s possible to do a long distance creative relationship where you’re not bound by any one city necessarily.
Right. That’s true as far as like ‘Oh, it doesn’t matter where you live,’ because you can just use the internet to collaborate. But your real life surroundings are instantly more influential than what’s around you on the internet.
Do think that Generation Y is getting nostalgic at a younger age than other generations?
I’ve really thought about that. There’s so many people that are just like nostalgic for this time. I really think it’s not a nostalgic thing – it’s more like a preservation thing. We see how the internet moves so, so, so fast and it wasn’t that long ago that it was 2000 and Web 1.0, YouTube was like 2005 probably… now it’s only 2013.
It’s not even that long ago that no one could load a video. Shit just moves so fast. There are people that are just like internet archaeologists, and they preserve all these GIFS and this whole visual style that exists on the internet. Not everything has to be these nice polished websites that are like Facebook. There was a time when it was web pages rather it was websites and people won’t remember that, you know.
It might be pointless – I don’t know. Some of us grew up with that and remember it and it like felt comfortable and it was like a cool. And it will be gone if it’s not preserved in any sort of way because it’s not an actual physical object. A building that was built in 1995 is obviously going to be there in 2013, whereas a website that was built in 1995 has been deleted. It just shows how everything is just completely temporary when it’s digital.
What’s been the most challenging genre for you to like experiment with?
I think the most challenging is just to find your own voice. I think it’s really, really easy to emulate others, and if you try to recreate a specific sound it’s not going to be as good as the person you’re emulating. I think the most challenging is – and I think that goes for nearly every producer – to produce things that are original to you and not to follow some sort of trend.
How would you describe your music to your grandmother?
That’s a good question. She’d be like “Are you in a band?” And I’d be like “Well, no. It’s music with synthesisers and computers. It’s like pop music that’s informed by dance music, essentially.” That’s what I would tell her but then she still might not know what that means. [Laughs.]
Jerome LOL is playing The Liberty Social in Melbourne on Friday August 16 and CIRCÓ in Perth on Saturday August 17.
More Jerome LOL