South African-born musician and producer Esjay Jones has partnered with American singer Miss Velvet on a three-song, 14-minute cinematic short called Triptych, filmed in the Mojave Desert
Triptych features complexity, a combination of visions and a massive investment in every sense. It must be massively satisfying creatively and artistically, but what are the challenges to marketing it? It’s not fully a film and not a traditional single release, either.
Miss Velvet When we were wrapping the project, just signed to The Orchard via Sony, there was thinking about trying to break us with a single, but we wanted to give viewers a new way to experience a concept record, which we love. It was really hard to get it going, but there were always exciting moments, like adding new laurels to posters as the film was accepted to different festivals.
Esjay Jones There’s the challenge of short attention spans, so we split the film up into three singles, but with Miss Velvet as the overarching presence. The sonic choices were intentional and purposeful, as they go hand in hand with the visuals.
When talking about co-writing songs, you’ve been quoted elsewhere as saying, “We started to almost live together.” That kind of scenario is so much better for creating and understanding the journey in a song or album, rather than simply trying to do the best you can on a deadline. What’s the process, though? What do you defer to each other on? And is it a case of writing for a character or persona – Miss Velvet – rather than a person?
Esjay Jones I’m really into immersive songwriting. Living in that house, the Traveler album was the first interpretation of this kind of idea. I moved in with Miss Velvet, her husband and her then one daughter – she found out she was pregnant again while we were writing. We’ve had three years of being ‘lifelong musical partner’ to each other. For me, it’s about taking her vision and making it work.
Miss Velvet I’ve been purposeful in my life, which was part of moving out to the area where we live in Los Angeles, having the experiences we have there and even getting and understanding the phrasing for that ‘Laurel Canyon vibe’; that California sound that so many people love.
And living together, I got to know the layers of how Esjay works. She’s a multifaceted instrumentalist who hears the guitars, the strings and all the layers. As a performer, I’m not limited to genres, so it’s great to be working with someone I know is able to score this in the way that I hear it.
The most recent single from the project, Hallelujah, was the conclusion of the Triptych journey. It has a gospel feel in the title and the backing vocals, and the effect of the song on the listener is positive, as much because of the mood or tone as any stated message in the lyrics. There are loads of comments on the video: messages like, “Why isn’t this a huge hit?” – which is an excellent question, by the way.
Miss Velvet The song had only been out for three weeks in the US when that comment about it being a hit was made. We felt like, “Come on! Give us a chance!” But beyond that, rock in the US sits in its own space. Part of this project is trying to bring rock into the pop space and to encourage female singers to sing the way we used to! And if that happens through fashion or film, both of which are part of Triptych, maybe we can help redefine what a hit is.
Where did introducing the song to a South African audience fit in? What were your hopes?
Esjay Jones We knew that South Africa is quite a different market for rock music, but we also knew that it’s a very fervent market, and we hope we have planted the seeds in that space with Hallelujah. It feels like many listeners have been scared of guitars for years, but now their time is coming around again! For this project, there is not one sample and not one moment of Auto-Tune.
Text | Bruce Dennill
Photography | Chris Quinn
For more information, go to officialmissvelvet.com.
