Bones Appétit, Jasper Bones
Photographed by Ambar Navarro
Photography & Interview: Ambar Navarro
On a phone call with Jasper Bones he begins by telling me, “If you hear me chewing it’s because I’m eating.” And yes, even while in his car enjoying a burger and fries, Bones, a 20-year-old solo Chicano musician, based in LA, is quickly taking the indie music scene by storm.
With just three songs available on Soundcloud including “soulkeeper” and “What’s Your Secret”, his 10-month-year-old spanglish hit “Oscuridad” has racked up a successful response which led Bones to become part of Mija Mgmt (a new label founded by Doris Muñoz) known for creating a space for Latinx artists with the likes of Inner Wave, Cuco, and Hunnah under its wing.
Bones often refers to his sound as “Chicano wavy soul” with influences from oldies to rock bands. Now, just a couple years out of high school, he spends his days playing guitar and prepping for upcoming tour across the country this fall.
Ambar Navarro: You just played two back to back shows in Los Angeles this past weekend, how was that?
Jasper Bones: Yep! Friday was at the Constellation Room and Saturday was in Chinatown. Friday we played with Indigo State, and Saturday was a public event for Chinatown Summer Nights hosted by KCRW. It was really cool.
AN: Are these your last local Los Angeles shows before you leave for tour?
JB: I have one more coming up this Saturday in San Jose, and then I leave again. I’m touring with this band called Miniature Tigers.
AN: How do you know them?
JB: It’s funny, I used to listen to them a couple years back. Actually back in middle school. They reached out to my manager and I [because] they really liked my stuff which is pretty crazy, how full circle that came around. And I was super down.
AN: Is it all [in the] U.S.?
JB: It’s all [in the] U.S. I’m really excited because it’s a lot of states that I’ve never been to before like New York and Chicago.
AN: I read one of your last interviews where you were excited to visit Texas and New Mexico and now you named two newer states to see!
JB: Yeah! I’m really excited to see New York for the first time [laughs].
AN: I think it’s cool that they’re a band you used to listen to in middle school. What else were you listening to in middle and high school?
JB: One of the first bands I really got into were The Black Keys. I really like Blues and they are pretty Blues-y. They were actually my first concert I went to. I went with my uncle. I like the Arctic Monkeys, too. I also listen to a lot of Oldies, even back then. I guess before I used to listen to more bands, and a lot were Coldplay influenced [laughs]. Also Green Day, it was a funky little era.
AN: Did you grow up going to a lot of shows?
JB: Actually no. It wasn’t [until] maybe early high school. I remember a lot of other people had been going to more concerts before I had. I never really looked into it because I thought it was going to be crazy expensive and I wasn’t super informed on the indie scene. Whenever I would think of concerts I used to think it was out of my league, so I didn’t even try.
AN: When did you graduate high school?
JB: Two years ago? 2016?
AN: [laughs].
JB: Ha, my sense of timing is so bad. It all just blends together after I left high school.
AN: When did you start playing live?
JB: It was the summer after 7th grade.
AN: What kind of shows were those?
JB: Well … I got into it basically because I went to public elementary school, and I was doing well there. So they put me into this program where one of the summers I’d go to private school campus in Pasadena along with other kids who also got invited, and they were giving us more challenging work to test our skills. It was like reverse summer school where they wanted to push us. That’s how I found out about that school, and my parents figured out how to get financial aid. I had to take an entrance exam. It was pretty nervewrecking, but it was cool. So that school had battle of the bands and I knew a group of kids who were starting a band and needed a guitarist and I was like, “Well I can play, I’m learning.” Those were kind of awkward days that I don’t really talk about [laughs].
AN: So were those like school concerts?
JB: Yeah well the first one was a battle of the bands and then from there we started playing a couple other shows in little venues. We did a battle of the bands at Club Nokia, and I got to play at House of Blues before they tore it down. All local stuff.
AN: And how has it been playing these past two years?
JB: Oh it’s been crazy. Especially this last tour which was in March. That was my first official tour experience being gone for that long and playing so consistently. I was a little nervous about going into it because I had never done it before. I thought, “What if this changes my perspective on music, what if I hate it, or what if I decide I don’t want to do it anymore.” I was worried it was either going to make or break me but nah, I loved it. Those shows were crazy. I think Texas probably had the best energy, but every show I played was so fun.
AN: Post high school, what was the growth you experienced playing shows?
JB: Size for sure. They’ve definitely been increasing by audience size. Right after high school we had trouble booking local shows. We couldn’t play The Smell which is a local venue with a lot of history [laughs]. We just didn’t have the right connections. A lot of people would say, “Yeah we’ll book you!” Then never write back [laughs]. But also I left that band and decided to become a solo artist. So this all happened after high school, and I didn’t really get super serious about all my stuff until a year or so ago. I then got to play on a show with Tyler the Creator, Brock Hampton, and Clairo, all other people that I listen to. I was like, “Woah that’s crazy.” We had a good lineup. I guess around that time it kinda hit me, like just a few months ago.
AN: What helped make that jump from not being able to play local to a big show?
JB: Well I started making cover song videos and posting them on Twitter. I just started getting friction online because people started retweeting my video, and at the time I didn’t even know how Twitter worked. My name started to spread and that’s when I started meeting people like Cuco and my manager Jaz. We were all just really down to get work done together.
AN: I think the whole Mija Mgmt team is very strong and you’re still one of the early artists on the roster.
JB: Kind of. I’m the fifth artist they’ve signed to represent. It was Cuco, August Eve, Welfare, Hunnah, myself, and the newest is Inner Wave.
AN: How has been recording the new EP?
JB: I’ve been working on releasing the EP before I leave for tour. That’s the plan at least, just so I don’t have to worry about it. I’m still recording actually. I’m probably going to be finished tomorrow. It’s still comprised of a lot of the songs I perform live, but also, because a lot of the songs are the ones I perform live, I can mess around with them more in the recording. It’s definitely still chill and what sort of blocked me from releasing this out in summer is I don’t know, I guess I just feel more chill and it feels better. It’s not so fast paced. The writing was slower. It’ll just be a lot more laid back.
AN: What are some of the sounds you record that you can’t play live?
JB: A lot of background synth sounds. I just add a bunch of vocals. And since it’s just me that plays, and not like five of me [laughs], I left some gaps. I am a lot closer to that sound though now because my band is a five piece and we have a keyboardist. I’m a lot happier with this lineup. Before it was a three piece with myself as singer guitarist, bass, and drums. Now we added a second guitarist and keyboardist, so it’s definitely a lot fuller.
AN: Is there a preference you have over performing live or recording in the studio?
JB: I obviously like both a lot otherwise I wouldn’t be doing it, but I definitely love playing live for sure. I’m more introverted so my passion on stage outweighs my fear of standing in front of people. It feels like I’m a different person when I perform.
AN: And you’ve added playing your guitar backwards on your back.
JB: Yeah it’s something I mess around with at home [laughs]. It was at a Boy Pablo show the first time I tried, but I was just really feeling it that night.
AN: Does it feel like an alter ego?
JB: Yeah honestly it does because off stage I’m really quiet and reserved. It’s cool to have that switch and not [be] in performance mode all the time. But I’m also not in quiet mode all the time. It’s nice to have performance time and then me time.
AN: What do you do in your free time?
JB: I honestly don’t do anything that interesting [laughs]. A lot of people don’t think I’m that fun. I sleep like so much [laughs] and yeah, I try to practice in my room pretty consistently. I honestly like driving, too. It really relaxes me, just like driving a while and being able to see LA and blast music is pretty fun. I do try to go out and go to shows often and try to support. Occasionally I’ll be hanging out with my girlfriend but also driving around LA and discovering new spots. I like thrifting a lot because that’s where I get most of my clothes.
AN: Like your furry coat?
JB: Yeah! I got that in San Francisco Haight-Ashbury. That coat is so cool! I recently got a PS4, too! I’ve been getting into playing Fortnite.
AN: What are you most proud of 2018 so far?
JB: I’d probably have to go back to tour, the first tour. I guess for me a whole tour like that and seeing that it was actually happening felt so unreal.
AN: I think it’s important to mention being Latino when it comes to travelling because I always grew up with my mom telling me if you’re travelling and someone asks where you’re from say Mexico because it’s so rare to have a lot of Mexican tourists visiting other countries. How do you feel holding a responsibility of sort of being a face of this new movement of young Latino musicians touring the U.S. that make Indie music that is for everyone? Do you feel this responsibility of representation or are you sort of just doing what you want to do?
JB: It started off with me trying to make music that I wanted to but also embracing my culture so I could include my own culture into my music. I feel like that’s something that is not super present in today's music. As I was reaching out to more people I had to assume the responsibility but the cool thing is I’m still learning so I don’t have all the answers to like cultural or political questions. I’m like, man I’m still in that same boat but I love learning. If I’m put in a positions where I’m representing something (partially representing a culture), it keeps me on my toes because now I’m forcing myself to learn more about my culture or how to represent something. It’s definitely an honor to represent something like that and seeing the presence in every genre of music, artform, or occupation. Just knowing that it’s more present and it’s something that doesn’t have to be oppressed. One of my big things is if I could reach out to every person of color and show if you want something or want to achieve something, of course there’s always going to be oppositions, but yeah anything is achievable. You just have to have a passion for it really. If there’s young kids out there who aren’t so sure about going after something because it has been oppressed you don’t let that get in your way.
AN: And it’s good that now I feel like there’s more of a community, too. How would you define success?
JB: That’s really tough. I think as long as you’re doing something that you love and you’re able to put effort towards it. If I could just make someone’s day. Sometimes I get a message that someone who listened to my song [was] put in a good mood. When someone voices how my my art has affected their daily life, that’s like a small success for me. So the more people I’m able to connect to, I feel pretty proud I made something someone can relate to or feel good to listen to. At the end of the day, of course I want to put out music other people enjoy, but I also have to consider myself. I pretty much make music that I would want to listen to and be proud of but also challenging myself. I think another thing for me is envisioning what I want to make and then actually getting it done. So the success for me happens when I get a song done. Then the rest is if other people can relate to it.