Photography by: Skye Oleson-Cormack
This past week I spent a few days interviewing GHIBLI over direct messages. I learned a little about their philosophy, musical background, and the future of MANICURE RECORDS.
Are you Jasmine as well?
Ya, there was a time where I was doing 90% of everything on Manicure.
Oh my god, I am your biggest fan like 3 times over.
Stop. I made the jasmine project when I was starting to question my gender identity and it was like a way for me to make sense of being nonbinary through art, exploring stereotypical “feminine” personas while reworking other people’s words. It’s kind of redundant now but I still like doing blends so that’s why I still work under that name.
I’ve encountered a few people who confronted the idea of transitioning first through an online avatar. Technology is pretty cool in that way, I reckon.
Yeah it’s hella lit for that reason. It’s nice that people can externalize their identity but people can become unstuck, tokenize their own identity, and turn into absolute monsters.
Do you think an artist’s work can be separate from them? Can you value Woody Allen’s(or countless other’s) work, can you support him, knowing all the allegations brought against him?
Not really, but it’s super complicated. I think that people create art from who they are, and that if the person is really shitty then no matter how good their art is, it will still be reflected in that person. However, there’s certain things that people can unlearn in order to grow and improve themselves. It’s fucked up but people’s relevance can also transcend their shitty beliefs (in the case of björk and her n-word usage that lots of people have seemed to not remember), but in my opinion if you are open and ok with the a problematic artist then more power to you I guess. It is the same as liking someone and not their art I guess.
I’m not one to police but I still will judge the shit out of people.
In that case, who is the worst nxc artist?
I found a bunch of sc bots that make better nightcore than most of what I follow on soundcloud.
Well ok, what’s your musical background?
I took piano lessons when I was a kid tween and was in choir for 5 years when I was a teenager. I’ve studied classical music on and off for the past 7 years.
Oh what’s a good classical song I should bang?
Is the club important?
Conceptually yes, in execution no. There are very few club nights where I’ve ever felt safe or comfortable. Although, gathering friends and like minded people to enjoy music on a good system where everyone can be on whatever substances they want without judgement is so important.
Do you live in a very urban area? Have you experienced hate speech / violence in the club?
Thanks to my privilege of looking like a Big and Tall Dude, I’ve never been physically assaulted or things along those lines but I definitely have had stupid people say dumb shit or remark on my weight, gender, or clothes. I’ve tried to dismantle those people’s fucked up thoughts but there’s only so much I want to do in regards to trying to help other people not be garbage when I’m trying to turn up. I rarely go out because I have anxiety about expressing myself even though I read as a Man and am 6’3”.
I’m at a hunting store now, just walking around and making fun of everyone who is legitimately shopping in here.
So you enjoy people watching!! What are your favorite places?
I love watching people dance, I also watch lots of youtube makeup tutorials and form deep imaginary relationships and create fake opinions on them. (re: the hunting store) I just saw a baby walking around with a toy grunting like a thug and I started laughing uncontrollably and we had to leave.
What are your thoughts on Rupaul’s show/popularity and is there a divide between cross-dressers and people who were assigned to the wrong gender?
So like obviously drag race is a Game Show first and foremost, so any kind of structured critique is gonna make the show collapse into itself because it is vaguely based in reality and editing helps create things from literally nothing, so it is important to remember that whenever talking about it – I love Rupaul’s Drag Race though and it’s one of the main reasons why I started to explore drag myself, but being a Gay program about a bunch of mostly Cis Gay dudes dressing as Women it’s obviously gonna come along with a whole host of problems, most of which have been discussed by people much smarter than myself. For me, i don’t think it’s even right to try to draw a proverbial line in the sand between cross dressers and people who were assigned an incorrect gender at birth, it all boils down to the individual who is participating in this kind of culture. For myself, Drag Race opened a doorway into ways of experimenting with my own gender and appearance that is really inherent to me being a non-binary person, and it’s a really fun tv show that has a lot of fucking problems with it. I give it the benefit of the doubt that it’ll continue to refine and get Better in a more ‘aware’ sense. On top of that, I love that drag queens are getting more acceptance in mainstream culture too – even though that comes along with a full suite of its own problems as well. TL;DR Ya it’s messy but I like it.
This next one might be a bit cheesy and/or vague – where do you think nxc is going?
Well since the start I’ve been hoping people would use nightcore as a way to start their own journeys into production but wayyyy too many people are happy putting out nightcore slapping their name on it and calling it a day. Yes, nightcore is fun I love dj’ing a pop song and speeding it up and yes some people happen to be good at figuring out a new tempo for australian c-level pop stars and back catalog of Spinnin Records, but if sc bots are better than nxc producers at it and nxc people have no desire to get better then maybe they should think about doing other things?
If it makes you feel any better nxc inspired me to to learn to DJ and maybe dip my feet into production.
Good! You and like moistbreezy are the only nxc people I really care about.
OMG. Stop. Breezy is a phenom.
Ya, I appreciate the care they put into their tracks.
Is Manicure putting anything out in 2k16? What’s the direction of the label?
Personally – I’m trying to cultivate better artistic working conditions for myself, working with kyle on new songs and edits, and helping get Sarah to a level where she feels comfortable continuing to release her own productions. I have no idea what will happen in 2k16 but I hope that this lit ass tokenization of trans and queer issues continues and we can score some sick marketing money and advertising dollars.
Let’s delve into some “existential” question, what are your personal philosophies in regard to life, politics, ecology, that sort of thing.
I think the world is completely fucked and I’m not sure how good it can get before our environment collapses around us. So just like practicing mindfulness with the people around you, your own thought process, and the environment is really important. I guess I would file it under ‘Daoism’ but I’m probably biased because I’m a Chinese lit/lang major.
Ok, so do you think there is a large difference between the materials that make up a human (i.e. minerals that form the bones, carbon, o2, h2o etc) and an actual human? Why do people consider themselves to be apart from nature rather than a part of nature? (this might be kind of one-sided because I feel like I know how you’ll answer – so feel free to pass)
I’m curious to know what you think my answer will be, if you don’t mind.
Just that the idea of human uniqueness has been a harmful part of philosophy for centuries now, lol.
Ya, pretty much. This is such a sus response but like somewhere in the evolutionary line someone goofed and we ended up with self-consciousness. I think this self-consciousness is low-key a curse that we have to pay for all the advancements and progress we’ve made as a species that distinguishes us from all of our other animal contemporaries. So we’ve built up a wall between us and nature, which leads to people fetishizing and othering cultures that we perceive as more exotic or primal or savage because it’s more in tune with nature and us as westerners exist as like a lumbering tank of Progress that bulldozes forward. Other animals probably don’t have these kinds of problems but like I’m not them so idk 🙂
what is the effect of internet celebrità? what has it done for you in the real world, how have you been able to leverage your clout for actual benefits?
It’s made me way more anxious and self conscious. I have low self esteem but I try not to draw from like soundcloud or tumblr notes or tw favs to fill a damaged void in my life. Instead, I try to help anyone who thinks to reach out to me, even the straight white cis dudes who I personally don’t have time for – I will still try to connect them to someone who does care. The label and myself continuously get snubbed for stuff even though we’re at the same level as a bunch of other much more well known Soundcloud collectives, but again it is not something I can change in other people, so I just have to continue getting better so that people can’t ignore me or my friends anymore.
Lastly, can you curate a short lil youtube playlist for us 😀
