Boy Dude
As this column has attested to time & time again, truly some of the best worlds created by brilliant audio arrangement are those that more often than not through the result of humble home studio setups. The types of rigs where idiosyncratic approaches override the conventional (or what some audio snobs might say even compromising components of the practical), where entities of the experimental & unusual are often formed. Enter Jordan Chini, otherwise referred to as Boy Dude presents a first listen to the just released r&b tape Cassette For You from Hobo Camp Records that revives your favorite 70s style productions. Where the rudimentary standards of hedonistic streamlined 1970s steez is fed through the rustic Tascam Portastudio 4-track reels; a fully immersing & elusive mansion of moods that takes its grand shape right before your very ears. The son of Motown Records legend Robert Chini, Jordan’s own discovery of his father’s storied classics inspired an album that aspires to contribute to that canon of notoriety through the new economies & outlets of artistic expression.
The realms of ancient radio reels are revived through smart, economic cassette considerations by manner of condensing production into utilitarian channels. This sounds frugal & maybe to the maximalist set even mundane but the genius of the portastudio portal of possibilities is the electric funk fantasia found from the force that is Boy Dude. Cassette for You is that vague clock radio cadence that you hear ringing down the hall that will warp your imagination to re-imagined & re-engineered pop constructs. The journey sails along the salton seas with “Funk On The Line”, with sentiments that zap with synths of grace dalliances on “Cyber Boogie” that provides inverted arrangements of musical breakdowns. Mystical & romantic touches are entertained on “Cosmic Lines” that aligns astrological connective souls, to the ecstatic cascading glow of “Rainbow Waterfall” that conjures up the presentation of a keyboard glowing jam that arises from sort of alternate 70s decade dimension.
The galaxies of home-recording revelry roll with that free-floating feel on “Mercury Satellite”, that turns into the super suit & tie tailored party bopper “More Than Love” that has a rhythm choreography that shakes an arrangement straight out of vintage Motown to the sophisti-pop indulgences of the LA auteur. And that very same ambitious allusion rocks further on “Money Weighs a Ton” that imagines some sort of tycoon of ambiguous big-industry strutting their gains & accolades across the dance-floor, as the big boisterous synth bleeps dive into the deep end pools of “Liquid Love” that beckon the presence of a loved one amid a canopy poolside patio of amorous expressions & photo opps for fashion periodicals. All the 80s adult contemporary conductors are exalted on the closer that rocks with that more glamorous than life itself delivery that offers an out of body experience that offers the view of a spinning globe by way of Boy Dude’s own brilliantly threaded magic carpet ride. Read our interview with Jordan Chini of Boy Dude after the following debut listen:
Tell me about how your father, Robert Chini’s Motown compositions informed your own experimental aesthetic inspirations & processes.
A few years ago I discovered a collection of songs my father had been writing on for Rodney Gordy and Lyn Malsby, they were all pitching tracks to Motown artists through the Los Angeles head quarters. One track in fact was on hold with Quincy Jones for Michael Jacksons Off the Wall album.
Upon discovery, I noticed the songs held such a timeless vibe, and the recordings that they were pitching had such warmth, and it just hit me, that this musical feeling needs to remain living. Around this time I was really finding a new instrumental love and digging into synthesizers, which was complimentary with this feeling I was picking up on off these old recordings. To give you an idea of what my fathers tracks sounded like, they had a very Stevie Wonder, Michael Jackson meets Steely Dan marriage thing going on. This all took some part in the intention with Cassette For You.
Give us the story about you took on the name Boy Dude.
The name Boy Dude came from a VHS tape my father would always take out at family gatherings upon request. It was a video of him in the mid 80s, a mocumentary project he was working on in a college video class, comedically acting out to be a cocky know-it-all Rockstar named “Boy Dude,” being interviewed by a fellow class mate named Cow Town Suzie Brown. I thought it would be a fun idea to take the name “Boy Dude” and put it to use, I mean, why not?
Interested in hearing about your approach to ratifying aspects of your songwriting with throwback & future facets of funk, rhythm & blues.
I take songwriting and producing with a spiritual approach. I try not to pigeon hole to one sound or genre. Its literally a matter of surrounding myself with my music equipment and seeing what can happen when playing around in the studio. My horizons are broad when it comes to music, I feel that as a producer and composer, they should be… Recently, I have been inspired mostly by 70s & 80s funk, electro and synth based music.
From a Tascam Portastudio 4 track, what did you learn & take away from recording Cassette For You?
I’ve always had a love for using tape machines and analog equipment. To me, it translates music to the human brain with a warmer and cozier sound. Tape can sometimes create natural “imperfections,” which is kind of what we are as humans, right? I just feel like it’s a relatable way to listen to music. I wanted “Cassette For You” to translate that way.
Fellow contemporary artists that have your ear right now?
To name a couple, recently I’ve been digging the recent works of Mndsgn, and some of the artists he’s working with like Joyce Wrice.
2018 meditations & prayers?
Now that the record is complete, its definitely time to get out and play some shows, and do a tour or two in 2018. I also plan on writing some new material in the new year, I’m just waiting on that tick of inspiration…
Boy Dude’s Cassette For You is available now via Hobo Camp Records.
