IDM producer Nosaj Thing tells Tang Wei how being robbed of most of his music might actually set him free
In April, a few weeks before his latest album Fated dropped, Jason Chung lost US$20,000 worth of gear and material in a robbery. It incapacitated him. But rather than wallow in misery, the producer better known as Nosaj Thing saw the misfortune as a sign that he needed to evolve his skittering IDM sounds. Perhaps it was destined.
We catch up with Chung to find out more.
All that stolen gear! How did it affect you?
It’s been difficult. I’m just keeping positive and creating new things and working on a new direction – it’s kind of liberating, actually. I feel like I am going to make better material.
That’s a pretty chill way of looking at things. Your albums, too, have gotten more mellow.
There is just so much going on. We’re getting bombed with media, so when I travel I try to disconnect. I don’t listen to a lot of music these days, and that clears my head.
For this record, I didn’t really overwork myself – I wanted to keep it understated and natural. I’m going to change my approach again. My sound has already changed for my new stuff. I lost all my presets and programming, so I’m starting over.
Is music like therapy for you?
Yeah that’s exactly it. That’s what I like to do when I listen to music. It’s more of an escape and I don’t want to think about anything for a bit.
How did you decide on the title of Fated?
A lot of coincidences and weird things happened to me at the time. The idea of fate calms my nerves, and I think it’s a pretty strong word.
Like magic? That album cover, where you’re holding two utensils that seem to stick together by themselves, maybe?
That happened during New Year’s in 2014. I DJ-ed at this hotel in Hollywood. After the show, we went to a diner and my friend had this film camera. I picked up the utensils and they stuck together. My friends tried it, but it didn’t work, so it’s kind of a question mark. Usually I would never put my photo on the cover.
You grew up with G-funk and now work with lots of rappers. How is that like?
When I first started working on beats, that’s all I wanted to do. In 2006, I put out a record on my own, an EP called Views/Octopus.
A couple of years later, this rapper Kid Cudi contacted me saying he wanted to use one of the beats for his mixtape. It’s something I want to keep doing. I enjoy it the most as I learn a lot from it.
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