Today Underground Underdogs brings you another long overdue conversation with one of the most talented underground producers. Jay Vee has one of the most impressive catalogs in the underground. In addition to working with artists such as Bones, MISOGI, and shinigami, Jay Vee recently produced four songs on nothing,nowhere.’s most recent album, Reaper, including the major single “Hopes Up.” Jay Vee took some time away from preparing for the nothing,nowhere. tour to answer some questions on a wide array of subjects – from his earlier days making beats for kids at school to going on tour next month.
UU: You’ve been producing for a relatively long time. What influenced you to pursue making music and becoming a producer?
Jay Vee: I guess I have, even though it really feels like I’m just beginning still. I just was weirdly into music and rap instrumentals specifically when I was younger and I remember when I heard kids in my school were making their own music I would skip my classes to go watch them make beats. Then I saw kids in my school rapping and wanted to make beats for them. Once I heard vocals on a beat that I made it was a wrap.
I remember reading a CuriousCat reply to a question that was something to the effect of “Why did you start using SoundCloud?” and you replied that you needed a place to upload a song you had made to your friends in high school. Is that song still on SoundCloud?
Yeah, I just wanted to show those kids the beats I made at lunch *laughs*. It was just a meme back then, the whole “check out my SoundCloud bro” thing. If it weren’t for that joke I probably wouldn’t have heard about SoundCloud and uploaded my beats elsewhere… and therefore missed out on a lot of shit.
Producers often list their influences as Greaf, doves, Drip-133, and similar producers. Who influences Jay Vee’s music?
Yeah man, TeamSesh was a huge influence on me early on, especially because I made friends with Drew the Architect, Cat Soup, Curtis Heron, and Drip pretty early on, I met them through Jimmy V. They all gave me a lot of good advice and were some of my first friends on the internet. Besides them I get influenced by bands like Real Friends, American Football, Tiny Moving Parts, Movements… For rap it’s all the classic Chief Keef, Travis Scott, Young Thug, Lil Uzi stuff. Artists like Frank Ocean, Shlohmo, Spooky Black, and Bones have always been big inspirations to me as well. Jeez that’s a long list lol, I think listening to a lot of different shit is really important.
Since you’ve started working with nothing,nowhere. you’ve produced multiple songs for him, including the major single “Hopes Up” (which features Chris Carrabba of Dashboard Confessional) from his most recent album. You can also be seen in each other’s Instagrams having fun, too. How did you to end up working together so often? Is it safe to say you’re good friends?
Joe is one of my best friends. A real brother to me. Working with him is just like, we’re hanging out, and crazy songs will just happen. Definitely doesn’t ever feel like “work”. We collabed when we were both just starting out on SoundCloud and things went really naturally, then we got the opportunity to meet up in person and work and then “Hopes Up” and the rest happened.
Now you’re going on tour with him. Can you give us a sneak peek or idea of what you have in store for the shows or is that a secret?
I’ll be playing music while people walk in, the mood of my set will just depend on the mood of the crowd from night to night, but if people are trying to have fun and turn up soon as they walk in I’ll be beyond ready. Same for if they are just ready to cry. I got some memes lined up don’t worry.
You seem to be very interactive with your fans, whether it’s live streaming videos on Instagram with friends or tweeting out “First 10 people to like this tweet will get sent an unreleased beat”. Is fan interaction important to you?
Yeah, super important. I’m not a Hollywood kind of guy who will ignore people just because I get a placement with a big artist or a lot of plays or some shit. As long as I can manage answering all my DMs I will, because I’m just some kid with a laptop who likes music. For people to go out of their way to listen to me, and even reach out to me, that shit will always mean a lot to me. Also I’m just a friendly guy and I think it’s fun making new friends and having fun with anyone who is supporting. I’m trying to meet as many cool people on tour that I can.
Not too long ago you tweeted that a year ago you were in a different place; laying in bed all day depressed. What has changed between then and now?
I stopped smoking weed and eating garbage. That was literally all it took for me to realize I’m not a piece of shit, which led to having the confidence to cut off all the toxic people in my life.
How did you end up becoming xvx? (Vegan Straightedge)
I became intuitive that smoking weed whenever I had to think about something for longer than 10 minutes to deal with my emotions was unhealthy, then around the same time I had my first trip to live with Joe (nothing,nowhere.) for two weeks. I never met anyone who was vegan until then, and I still ate like shit around him, but when I went home I was really confused why anyone would ever be vegan. So, I watched “What The Health”, “Cowspiracy”, and “Black Fish” on Netflix and went vegan the next morning. A switch just went off in my head that treating my body correctly and treating all living beings with equal respect wasn’t too much to ask for, and I gave it a shot. I haven’t gone back and I never plan on ever going back. Shit makes me feel good, and to see kids who follow me on twitter and instagram putting xvx in their bios is fucking sick.
Are you a member of NATURE BOYS XVX?
No, but Mr. Boochie is.
I want to thank you for taking the time to answer questions. I can’t wait to see you and the others on tour – kicking in less than a month! Are there any closing remarks or shout outs you’d like to give?
Sure, dude. Shout out to my beautiful girlfriend whomst’d’ve’ly’yaint’nt’ed’ies’s’y’es beautiful and awesome.
You can catch Jay Vee on the nothing,nowhere. tour launching this March. In the meantime, delve into his extensive discography here.
photos by @99foxbeach