Gift n Curse Principle: An Upcoming Album by Jnn Aprl

March 8, 2024

 

Jnn Aprl is a record producer and multifaceted creator. She has lived in Chicago and Detroit and is currently based in Seoul. Gift n Curse Principle is the new album from Jnn, set to release March 15th, 2024 on Rene Koala Label.

Over the past seven years, Jnn Aprl embarked on a transformative creative journey, transitioning from a decade of studying fine art to immersing herself in music. Factors including personal experiences and a foot injury influenced this shift. Her decision to delve into the world of music, including relocating to Detroit, led to profound realizations about creativity itself.

She discovered that creativity is a distinct entity and that the path to unlocking it involves following one’s instincts and intuitions. This revelation reminded her of how literature and psychology explore the facets of human nature through different languages, ultimately delivering universal truths. In her pursuit of music, Jnn Aprl deliberately refused to learn the basics and avoided copying the work of others, viewing this as a form of discipline. Drawing from her background in fine arts, she recognized the importance of unlearning and stripping away acquired skills to create something uniquely her own. This process revealed two distinct types of creatives in her eyes: skilled artists and creators. She was eager to explore an entirely new medium and creative process.

She made the bold decision to immerse herself in music by picking up vinyl and a drum machine, resulting in a chaotic but liberating experience. This newfound passion consumed her to the point where she sacrificed other aspects of her life, including family, friends, financial stability, and even her own well-being. While this phase had its dark moments, it was a crucial part of her creative journey. At her lowest point, she returned to Seoul, her childhood home, and it was there that she completed a significant artistic proj- ect. This marked a turning point in her life as an artist, emphasizing the idea that human consciousness contains all the necessary elements for creativity, and language is a tool for exploring these inner gems. Trusting the universe beyond fear became a fundamental lesson from her journey.

Gift n Curse Principle is a testament to the power of intuition and creativity, as well as the challenges and sacrifices that often accompany a deep dive into artistic exploration.

 

-Rene Koala

 

 

runner magazine presents a conversation with Jnn Aprl about her approach to the album Gift n Curse Principle:

 

runner: First of all, is this your first album since you moved back to Seoul from Detroit?

Jnn: Yes, it’s my first album period. In the past, I did one EP with four tracks a couple of years ago, and that was a good failure. I think this one is better.

r: Oh, we covered that EP with runner back then right?

J: Yeah, actually what you covered was the music video and the single from that EP called OVA and that single continued on to this album that I just released.

r: Ah okay, so the song OVA from the EP inspired this new album Gift And Curse Principle. Why did you give the album that name?

J: I don’t really know. I just one day had started thinking about that concept. The single OVA from the EP gave me a sort of mission to make a full album but then the idea for the name came with the track called Gift and Curse Principle. At the time, I started thinking about how fucked up I am, but I know I’m talented. I have always admired artists who are troubled. I just became obsessed with thinking about being a troubled artist and by the time I finished the album, I feel like I got past that concept. The album helped me resolve my feelings about the gift and curse of being an artist. I made peace with it and with myself in general.

r: It reminds me of something I read in your artist statement about refusing to learn the basics and avoiding copying works of others as a way to establish your own form of discipline. You mention a focus on unlearning and stripping away acquired skills to create something uniquely your own.

 

 

 

J: Yeah, right. So that was really hard. The principles that I was working with there caused me to keep getting lost.

r: Yeah, because you chose to not be guided by these preconceived notions of how to do something.

J: Yes, I think that basically anyone who learns a skill starts from copying, but I went the opposite way. It was just freaking hard because the learning curve was really rocky for me. And while I was working, if I noticed that the music was starting to sound like something I already knew, I would avoid going in that direction. I was constantly sort of cursing my own path.

r: It’s interesting because you were probably producing the music and then later you listened to it and realized things about it and pulled out references that you didn’t intentionally include. Like you were learning from the music you produced only afterwards.

J: Yes, yes pretty much.

r: So when you listened to the music afterwards, did you identify references that you were unconsciously using? I noticed there’s definitely references to jazz or to house music. But also, there are some weird things it reminded me of, like this one video game I played when I was little called Tasmanian Devil Escapes from Mars. When I was listening to your album, there were a couple of songs that were so similar to that vibe. To me, that is super cool because not only are you touching on these more traditional genres of music, but also other areas of life that we encounter music that impact our view of the world.

J: Oh, that’s super interesting. Yeah, I’ve been really curious about people’s reviews and stuff. Like, everyone tells me different things and it becomes really exciting, like it’s creative because everyone hears different things.

r: Yeah, I think, again, when working with the process of unlearning, processing and understanding the work becomes a collective experience as opposed to the maker defining what it is in the end.

J: Yes, and it’s really funny because with jazz, I have pretended I don’t know it for a long time. I don’t know why. That was my attitude towards it. I was a mean person towards jazz. It’s not like I hated it, I just wanted to reject its emergence when it shows up in sound in a way. But after this album, now I am actually starting to learn jazz. I actually decided to learn key after this. But what I was saying is, I try not to embody those elements, like for example jazz, or Moodymann or Theo Parrish or other people who influence me. The only producer I didn’t reject was J Dilla for some reason, but people who heard my music would tell me I sound like Theo. With my track OVA, I recently found on the internet that single is somehow associated with Moodymann and weirdly, Carl Craig. I guess the algorithm connects OVA with these producers. Even when I reject so hard, it comes out somehow.

r: So, who designed the cover art for this new album?

J: I did. My friend Ji Young photographed me for it, but then I layed out the design after.

 

 

 

r: And Rene Koala, is that the distributor of the album?

J: I actually made that label. I don’t know if you have seen my Koala imagery that I was developing while in Detroit. Well, I have been working on building a brand around it. When you see those images, there is always an element of BDSM in them. I’ve been thinking about this concept for a long time, the idea of freedom as it relates to bondage. People who practice bondage do it to feel freedom. I became really into that conceptually ever since I found out about it and so it has become a visual element in the Rene Koala logo.

r: So, your label Rene Koala pressed and put out the album.

J: Yes. I made the label because I want to release music using different alias but also different artist’s music too. This is the first catalog on the Rene Koala. The label’s online presence is minimal at the moment, but I made an Instagram account. I am still just starting it up so I am figuring out how I will promote it. I hope this new album spreads out well and then people will gain awareness of the label name. After that, I can start to work with other artists and be more present online.

r: Who is the distributor for this new album Gift + Curse Principle?

J: I am working with RUBADUB out of Glasgow for that. They released the pre-sale at the moment, but that has only 1 minute clip for each song. It is on their website and is available for pre-sale now until the official release on March 15th.

 

For the Rene Koala Bandcamp: https://renekoala.bandcamp.com/track/coveredincathair

Click here to RSVP for the online listening party on March 13 at 9pm EST: https://renekoala.bandcamp.com/live/gift-n-curse-principle-listening-party

To access the full album on or after March 15th, click here: https://renekoala.bandcamp.com/album/gift-n-curse-principle

 

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