'Night Shift' / VACATETHEROOM [Premiere]
VACATETHEROOM releases “Night Shift” - a rich and immersive landscape taken from his forthcoming EP Telecommunication, set to release via Lost Properties.
Local electronic music label Lost Properties writes “Being a first generation Australian with Hong Konger, German and Portuguese background, VACATETHEROOM’s sound comes from all corners of the globe”. Keenly, the multi-faceted producer and drummy of jazzy four-piece outfit Blue Belly finds inspiration from all sectors of music, creativity and life in general - it is this open mindedness and eagerness to absorb influence that shines in his beautiful second track “Night Shift”.
Listen to “Night Shift” below.
Chatting to Jonah (VACATETHEROOM) about his forthcoming EP reminded me of a phrase I first read in an RA article by Andy Beta on pop pioneer Haruomi Hosono called ‘sightseeing music’. Beta writes “For Hosono, the Japanese preoccupation with sightseeing serves as a metaphor for electronic musicians producing works in several genres, much like a tourist visiting different cultures”.
Like Hosono, Jonah exudes an enormous sense of curiosity and a heartfelt love for all genres - especially the characteristics pertaining to them. For example, the tendencies towards syncopation and improvisation in jazz. Jonah manages to find inspiration via myriad genres of music, creating the hybrid and interesting sound he presents for us in “Night Shift”. During our call he went on to draw a parallel between filmmaking and music to describe his affinity for dipping his toes in different genre baskets:
“If you’re interested in making film, it’s unlikely that you’re interested in it only because of one certain genre, it’s more likely you’re interested in how films are created … so you have your eyes on various techniques across lots of different kinds of film and genre”.
Jonah goes on to say that while understanding these features in genres is important, “it is when you start breaking the rules that it starts to get interesting”. Clearly these ideas derive from an enthusiastic and passionate mind, also fuelled by his experience as a student - now graduate - of the Interactive Composition course at VCA. He hinted that Telecommunication is only a prelude for bigger things to come:
“it is time to start thinking about these projects as so much more than just music … I have so many amazing tools at my fingertips, it would seem rude not to use them”.
His creative talents extend to fashion, film, photography, TouchDesigner (a programming language) as well as digital visual design. The aim of this exploration, in post-lockdown Naarm, is noticing how music interacts with other mediums, and he plans to put on events which create a profound and immersive sensuous experience.
Telecommunication was born in a repurposed shipping-container-turned-Airbnb in Fremantle. When lockdown restrictions were finally lifted, Jonah seized his opportunity to escape to WA, disconnect from social media, and make music in a stress-free environment. Jonah says Telecommunication was created on the basis of how everything had moved online and speaks to our increased reliance on technology. As the lockdowns continue to roll on, and in lieu of an in-person festival experience, Jonah has gone to great lengths to build a multi-tiered soundscape for our imaginations to play in, he says:
“These tracks were born out of the need to escape, and to create my own environment. Each an experiment, a kind of transportation into alternate worlds. I hope that people can connect with this project in that way, or their own”.
In a similar vein, Jonah aspires to create a futuristic sound in his work while using traditional production methods. The older techniques re-contextualise the utilisation of newer technologies to form a bridging point between past and present, creating a sound that is ultimately unique. Curiously, (and perhaps as a result of hearing Jonah talk about this) I admit I find it difficult to locate “Night Shift” in any particular time period. It could be the musical score for a battle of antiquity, or it could just as easily reside in a science fiction flick—it invokes imagery of both.
“Night Shift” impresses upon me the feeling that something is stirring deep below. A blunt kick is introduced, imaginably banging against the ceiling struggling to break free. Then in one awesome moment the song bursts forth like cavalry charge, ruthlessly galloping into the night. One can imagine a mythic Norse battle—riders on horseback, ravens’ wings beating against the navy sky, whips cracking, and charged thunderclouds crackling overhead. In equal measure—skyscrapers, electricity, data being collected, and code being written. Undeniably there is a surging sense of movement, perhaps a Tron-style speedway race?
The beauty of this track is that I think it would go over equally well at Hopkins Creek as it would at say, Splendour in the Grass. There is something for everyone in Jonah’s music. He is well on the way to a diverse and enduring career.
This EP is cause for great excitement.
Stay up to date with VACATETHEROOM on Soundcloud and Instagram.
& Lost Properties on Bandcamp, Soundcloud and Instagram.
Words by Jack Long
Photo Credits: Daniel Joshua & Jonah Orbach
Artwork: Jericho Marcel
Thank you for reading this article. Before you leave the page, we’d like you to take a moment to read this statement. We are asking our readers to take action and stand with the BIPOC community who fight and endure the oppression and injustice of racial inequality.
Here in ‘Australia’, Indigenous people are the most incarcerated population on Earth. Countless lives have been murdered by white police, white government policies and this country’s white history, institutionalised colonialism and ongoing racial oppression. Racial injustice continues today under the phoney, self-congratulatory politics of ‘Reconciliation’ and the notion that colonialism is something that must be denied and forgotten, an uncomfortable artefact of the past.
Feeling guilty is not enough. We must take action, pay the rent, educate ourselves and acknowledge that empathy and sorrow for past actions is insufficient if this does nothing to prevent our current reality from extending into the future.
Please consider making donations to the following organisations (the list is so small and the work to be done is so large, do your research to find more grassroots, Indigenous-lead community organisations):
Indigenous Social Justice Association - fighting to stop Indigenous deaths in custody
Firesticks Alliance - who campaign for Indigenous land management, cultural burning and looking after Country