JESSEE EGAN is a New York-based electronic musician, sound designer, and visual artist. She released her first EP in 2011 on the Japanese ambient/techno label AY. In spring of 2015, she released her first full length album, Birth OF VENUS, under Blue Nile. Her latest alias, XGLARE, is an experimental project merging visual art and sound.
FIVE THINGS THAT DESCRIBE YOU BEST?
I think the prevailing characteristic that I really identify with is my introversion. I really enjoy being alone in a quiet space, especially while reading or drawing. Some people are surprised by that, especially since I'm not particularly shy. I like to be creative as much as I can. I don't often like to go out and socialise, but I make sure that I do so once in a while. I'm sensitive to loud noises, bright lights. I do, however, feel pretty comfortable in clubs/venues because they're dark and (hopefully) I like the music. I feel like I am a "dark person," but not in a melancholic way. I'm drawn to macabre themes and curiosities. I collect eerie objects, strange antiques, specimens, fossils and minerals. I'm also naturally inquisitive, and I enjoy researching and learning.
HOW WOULD YOU PERSONALLY DEFINE MUSIC?
I automatically think something like "the art of sound" or the configuration of tones/noises/sounds in efforts to embody emotion, expression etc. Maybe the way I make music speaks to how I personally define it. I find a lot of beauty in lone sounds. When I make music, I pick a handful of recorded bits that I'm inspired by and combine them. I'm not usually interested in approaching music in a kind of foundational way. I also get a lot of inspiration from examining images and objects. I make it work somehow and welcome dissonance.
HOW WAS BLUE NILE BORN?
I would say a good amount of the tracks from Birth of Venus were originally created a few years ago. My production skills weren't as refined back then, but I really liked the theme I was on and wanted to release the tracks. I really just drew from sounds that have stayed with me since my childhood. I got a lot of my inspiration from one of my favourite films, "The Neverending Story," as well as childhood picture books. I was interested in creating an imagined ambience, the kind of music that would accompany a dream about an ancient, esoteric culture.
WOULD YOU DEFINE YOURSELF AS A MULTIDISCIPLINARY ARTIST?
I've dabbled into various realms of visual art and continue to work in a variety of mediums. I graduated from Parsons School of Design in 2010 and originally majored in fashion design. I had some success with it, but I eventually figured out that fashion wasn't for me. I switched to Fine Arts my third year and felt more at ease. As a kid, I enjoyed drawing and became fascinated with hyperrealism. I'm attracted to visually evocative and highly intricate art, especially paintings by the Pre-Raphaelites and Victorian Neoclassicists. After I graduated, I had my first solo show and continued to exhibit in group shows, but focused primarily on making and recording sounds. Whenever I've neglected either art or music, I've felt incomplete and unfulfilled. I'm profoundly interested in natural sciences, especially phylogenetics, taxonomy, and evolutionary biology. At the moment, I'm working on a series of drawings that explore the genetic relationships of organisms by examining their origins and distinct morphological characteristics. I created XGLARE to make music and art simultaneously. I've recently delved into motion graphics to toy with movement. My recordings are mostly modular experiments that I've been combining together with other sounds and sequences. I see darkened forms, phosphene-like membranous entities. I see textures from organisms, a fly's eye, cnidarian translucence, chameleon skin.
CAN YOU TELL ME ABOUT ANY NEW, UPCOMING PROJECTS YOU ARE WORKING ON?
My main focus right now is finishing my XGLARE release for Blueberry Records. I'm also wrapping up a collaborative EP with another Brooklyn-based electronic musician. Our project, Vivia, should be released early this year. I've started a monthly event series Abstract Conditions with some other musicians who I adore and respect. It's focused on experimental electronic performance, genre misfits and unconventional sound/visuals. I'm also hoping to finish up some personal artwork this year.
FIVE OF YOUR MOST FAVOURITE/INSPIRING ARTISTS.
Aphex Twin, Burial, Biosphere, Bvdub, Andy Stott. Aphex has been with me since my late childhood. I remember the day I bought Selected Ambient Works 85-92. There was only one copy, and I remember being very attracted by the logo. Bvdub's music is intensely beautiful and his songs are made entirely out of raw emotion. It's a deeply unique and profound experience to listen to his music.
SUBMIT AN IMAGE YOU'VE RECENTLY CONNECTED WITH, AND EXPLAIN WHAT DREW YOU TO IT.
These are Chrysaora fuscescens, aka Pacific Sea Nettle which were photographed at the Georgia Aquarium. They are jellyfish (or, more appropriately, "jellies," because they're not fish) belonging to the phylum Cnidaria. I've always been fascinated by both cnidarians and ctenophores (comb jellies), most notably for their alien-like appearance and curious reputation as one of our most distant animal cousins. They've been a constant theme in my visual work, and my first XGLARE record will be dedicated to them.
© All images courtesy of the artist | JESSEE EGAN - XGLARE Soundcloud - Blue Nile Soundcloud