L'Avenue - 'Business Talk' | An Interview
"Re-imagining the perfect 80's aesthetic" encapsulates beautifully what L'Avenue have been massively successful in achieving to date.
A Retrowave project by Jesse Reuben Wilson, his vision for the aesthetic and the music he creates is without equal which to the onlooker is incredible considering he's relatively new to the Synth scene when compared to his talented contemporaries.
There's no denying his production prowess and the undoubted flair for composition which has delighted both critics and fans alike. From his seminal EP 'Cherry Crush' and its breakout single of the same name to the recent Album 'Into the Night' released in October this year which spawned one of my favourite tracks of 2020 'Feel time Fade', a literal matinee for your mind set to music. Indeed it's this ability to create gorgeous retro soundscapes that blend perfectly with his Social Media projects which together form the complete L'Avenue experience.
Jesse is no stranger to the music biz being a drummer, guitarist, keyboardist, music producer and writing an arranging tracks for others for quite some time before his most recent alias came to prominence. It all amounts to a man who knows what he's doing and what he wants to achieve and shows no signs of slowing down.
Forged where absolutely delighted he took time out to tell us a little about his life and career to date..take a look!
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Congratulations on all your success so far especially with the new album ‘Into the Night’ which has received such warm praise on the scene. How do you feel the whole launch has gone for you?
Thanks so much. The feedback has blown me away, such amazing response from so many people. I've really been quite touched. It is extremely rewarding when you have spent a considerable chunk of time on a project and worked hard to make it the best it can be and its met with such positivity. Super happy!
Who where your musical inspirations growing up? Have they changed a little as time wore on?
I had the pleasure of living through the 80's in my younger years and so had a first-hand experience of so much of the amazing music from that time. Massive influences on me have been artists / groups Gary Numan, Japan, Mr Mister, Prince, Simple Minds, Scritti Politti and so many more. I think the 80's was such an amazing time stylistically, musically, visually... and the movies were just so ground-breaking.
You also had the whole Hip-Hop movement coming in from New York as well as the electro / graffing scene. I was out every Saturday breaking and popping for pocket money. So wish I'd kept some of those Nikes from back then!
In your entire discography what track are you most proud and why?
Blimey, that's a tough one. Off the top of my head I would probably have to go with "Dance" off the new album. When producing this nostalgic music I always am trying to re-experience certain feelings and the emotional tone of the time and "Dance" (for me anyway) somehow just captures that intangible 80s aesthetic and is sort of the closest thing to my best experiences of the culture of that time.
Are there any Artists that on the scene currently that you wouldn’t mind collaborating with?
Too many to list but high on my wishlist would be David Schuler from The Bad Dreamers, I just love his Don Henleyesque voice and his lyrics are just so visual and connecting. Princess Nina and I have something cooking, would be amazing to do something with Ollie - such a great writer and I've a cunning plan on following up on that request from both Duett and Jordan F. I also have another couple of other major people in mind and amazingly have made the connections to do something with them but I'm keeping schtum on those for now – don't want to jinx it.
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Can you tell us anything about your current and future projects?
Yeah, I'm now finishing up tracks for follow up to "Cherry Crush" this will be another 6 track EP. This is going to be on a lighter, more summer type vibe and then I'll be finishing tracks a more darker vibe EP for the Autumn next year AND ... at the same time I've been working on a load of tracks for the next full-length album as well which will move into vocal territory for the project. Also working on some great remixes, so tons on and having a ball with it all.
We all obviously would love to see you gig at some point soon and I understand you’d been on the bill for Outland’s next big event, will you still be doing that? Have you any other gigs in mind for 2021 pandemic permitted of course!?
Yes, the plan for the Outland gig is still on (we'll have to see if it gets shifted again). I would love to do more but at this stage even organising Christmas seems problematic LOL so we'll have to see. I'm not making any firms plans at this point for more live work, just concentrating on the next releases and artwork to make sure there as good as they can be.
What is the best advice you’ve ever been given?
Never, ever give up.
What is the creative process for L’Avenue like?
Random (laughs). Mostly I'll just get the urge to get in the studio. I don't necessarily always have a plan and I prefer it that way, its more creative. It's my favourite pastime to just get a feeling or a vibe and start playing around with chords, just noodling around, flicking through patches until you stumble across something that just feels great or has some aesthetic about it. Sometimes a chord progression or a beat. As soon as I've got a thread on something I'll start fleshing it out from there. Then comes the hard part of finishing it off. That's the disciplined part, taking it through a finished product.
I'm also a perfectionist which is a blessing and a curse. A curse because I can't let anything go until its 'perfect' but then that's the blessing as it feels 100% complete and its as good as it could possibly be.
What has been your most cherished memory of your L’Avenue career?
Meeting and recording a podcast with Nik Kershaw and Ricky Wilde. Nik was one of my idols in the 80's and his music still sets a bar for me now. He's also such a humble guy and funny as hell. Ricky is also one of the nicest people you could ever meet and a god of 80's hit records! To be able to sit and chat with those musical titans about music et al was an experience I'll never forget.
In respects to the brilliant new Album ‘Into the Night’ how long did it take for you to pull the Album together? In a way it’s a tad darker than the fantastic Cherry Crush EP, where you nervous on how it would be received?
The album was probably about two years overall. I could have put it out sooner but I really wanted to make sure I delivered the best that I could and every 't' was crossed, every 'i' dotted (back to that blessing and curse business).
A common theme in artist's lives is "not feeling 100% happy about the final result, always having something unfinished or could be better". I was determined not to feel that way about this album and I don't. Everything is as good as it could be which is a really great feeling. It feels done, complete and is for everyone else's enjoyment now. Funnily enough a lot of the album material predates Cherry Crush and so some of the darker / deeper strokes were already in place. With Cherry Crush that was probably more of a snapshot of the overall range of L'Avenue vibes. The LP sort of expands on that.
What’s your favourite 80’s film?
Bladerunner. Period. I will watch this any time, any place. That aesthetic that Ridley Scott created is so rich and together with Vangelis' score - it's just a work of art. It's one of those movies that doesn't feel like a movie but an experience that you actually had – that's perfect film making right there. If I can even get to an inch of that in my music for someone I've succeeded.
If you couldn’t make the brilliant music you do now what would you be doing?
Traffic warden. No seriously I'd probably be making movies somehow ...
A Message for your fans?
"You complete me". 😉;-)😉
Feel free to support L'Avenue in ways you can:
https://www.facebook.com/lavenuemusic/
https://twitter.com/lavenuemusic
https://www.instagram.com/lavenuemusic/
https://soundcloud.com/lavenue