Domi & JD Beck are in town for their Montreal Jazz Fest concert July 6th at Club Soda. I spoke with the pianist & the drummer about all kinds of things including playing serious – or not – jazz, how they met, their work with Anderson Paak on the Blue Note imprint label Apeshit Inc, what they’ll be playing, what they like and don’t like about the music biz, their favorite driving & cooking music, other instruments they’d secretly like to play, and more.
Claude Thibault : Jazz can sometimes be a bit academic but your way of doing things is probably getting some people interested in
jazz that otherwise might not…was there a plan behind all this or you guys just do your thing and that’s what happened ?
Domi JD Beck : We just wrote and played what we wanted, not caring about anything else. Then, we realized that some people liked our stuff, and so we kept going !
Claude Thibault : I read you guys met at music trade show in 2018 and went off to play at Erykah Badu’s bday party and that was
it…really ? How was the party ?
Domi JD Beck : We met at NAMM in January of 2018. A month later, JD was playing a set for Erykah’s birthday party, and Domi flew to Dallas for that. She stayed for about a week. We played non-stop and even did a gig together!
Claude Thibault : How would you describe your music ? do you call it jazz ?
Domi JD Beck : We don’t wanna describe our music or box it in any way. We do what we do and we definitely have fun reading all the social media debates arguing into which genre or style we should be categorized! It’s very entertaining.
Claude Thibault : Connecting with Anderson Paak and working on a recording on his new label – how R U doing with the pressure of
recording your music ?
Domi JD Beck : We never dealt with pressure from the Andy or the label. The only pressure we really dealt with was fans always
commenting and messaging us « release the album or I will come to your house and murder your family », but that motivated us to work as much as possible and stay on track.
Claude Thibault : I’m guessing we’ll be hearing music from that at the Montreal Jazz Fest ?
Domi JD Beck : Who knows what we’ll play… maybe some George Michael covers!
Claude Thibault : What DO YOU LIKE the best about music right now ?
Domi JD Beck : Everybody can do it! We can learn anything online. You just need a laptop and a DAW!
Claude Thibault : What DON’T YOU LIKE about music right now ?
Domi JD Beck : The laziness and monotony in the songwriting and artists’ egos getting bigger. Most music isn’t about music anymore. It’s just used as a tool for money and selling bullshit.
Claude Thibault : What’s your favorite driving music ?
Domi JD Beck : We don’t drive but we always steal the AUX in friends’ cars haha !! We play stuff like Frank Zappa, George Duke, Brad Mehldau, Joni Mitchell…
Claude Thibault : What’s your favorite cooking music ?
Domi JD Beck : We don’t really listen to different styles of music depending on what we’re doing. Our playlists jump from Pat Metheny to the Beach Boys to Bela Bartok to Toto !!!
Claude Thibault – for Domi : What other instrument would you secretly like to play ?
Domi : I would love to be crazy on drums. But I guess I don’t need to anymore, since I have JD!!
Claude Thibault – for JD Beck : What other instrument would you secretly like to play ?
JD Beck : I’d secretly like to be really good at guitar!
Claude Thibault : Something else you’d like to add for our readers about your Montreal
Jazz Fest July 6th concert ?
Domi JD Beck : Come and say hi!
They’ll be releasing their debut album Not Tight July 29th.
Domi & JD Beck
Festival International de jazz de Montréal 2022
Wednesday July 6th 9pm
Club Soda
1225 St-Laurent
montrealjazzfest.com
