VMAN Premiere: JAWNY Talks His New Video for “Anything You Want”
While his latest track becomes accompanied by a music video, JAWNY spoke with VMAN about how it was filmed, where his sound comes from, and what’s coming next with his music.
Occasionally known as Johnny Utah, JAWNY is a songwriter and multi-instrumentalist based in Los Angeles. His sound teeters between R&B, funk, and soul with lyrics that are sometimes emotional and sometimes humorous. His latest track “Anything You Want”, released earlier this year via Interscope Records, fully embodies the push and pull between emotive and funny within the words JAWNY sings.
On Thursday JAWNY dropped a music video for the song, which was filmed remotely in LA with the help of director Ariel Fish and friends from around the country, who were asked to feature the strange things laying around their homes as characters. What resulted was a talking pile of dirty socks, a stuffed toy bunny who also doubled as a ‘camgirl’, and an animated fruit salad.
“We were going to shoot a video and then we had the lockdown, so we switched up to an animated video… and then that didn’t work out. Finally, Ariel sent this crazy idea through and we chatted about it for a minute and came up with this video,” JAWNY said. “A quarantine love story… You can find love anywhere, anytime man.”
To shoot the video, JAWNY and Fish had to abide by social distancing orders, a notion that has been testing everyone’s creative capabilities for the past couple of months. But of the collaboration, JAWNY said, “Ariel was just a sick creative partner. She had really sick ideas and was also super collaborative with me. I felt comfortable with her and I think her and her team killed it.”
“We actually didn’t go into many locations. We shot mainly in my house and in a garage, and socially distanced the entire time. It was a weird fucking day. Cool, but weird for sure,” he said.
JAWNY, also a self-taught producer, emerged when he gained a cult-like following from a viral video series posted on Twitter in 2017. Then his following grew upon the release of 2018’s self-titled debut EP under the name Johnny Utah, and further with 2019’s music video for “Honeypie” which garnered 8 million views on YouTube.
In “Anything You Want”, JAWNY seemingly fused together funk, soul, and R&B genres, and pushed the boundaries on his frequent title as a bedroom-pop artist. “I’m definitely influenced by a lot of music. The music that we have released this past year has been cool, but I’m really excited about the stuff that is about to come out,” said JAWNY. “[I] spent a lot of time with my upcoming project and I think people are really going to understand what type of artist I am when that shit comes out.”
“I have been playing instruments since I was mad young, but my brother and I used to make beats for that Soundcloud rap era in the late 2010s. From there it just sort of evolved naturally,” JAWNY said about his genesis in making music.
“Mac Miller, Tyler, the Creator, Kid Cudi, The Gorillaz, Raider Klvn… I’m sure they play into the way my music comes out, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where they influence it,” elaborating on who his major influences are. “I was definitely influenced by the way Mac and Tyler approached their production, kind of off-kilter melodies and mixing techniques and big ass drums.”
Of his music set to come out later this year, JAWNY talked about how excited he was with an optimism that is refreshing to hear during a time of complete confusion and uncertainty. The two words he used to describe what he’s been working on were “sick” and “eclectic,” and in terms of when it’s due to drop, “We will be releasing more and more information about it shortly, but it’s coming sooner than you think,” he said.
“We also had a bunch of festivals and tour stuff lined up, but all that is on hold for now,” said JAWNY, alluding to the cancellation of live shows and concerts because of the pandemic.
But the songwriter and musician isn’t letting that keep him down. “The rest of the year will be spent making more music and more cool shit for my fans that have been there with me from the jump and the ones that continue to support me. I would be nothing without them and am thankful for them every day.”
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