Jaguar Jonze – Deena Lynch
If you have not heard the name Jaguar Jonze you are in for a surprise. Jaguar Jonze is Deena Lynch. She is a multi-talented artist working in both visual media and music. She comes from a unique background of being born in Japan to a Taiwanese mother and Australian father. She has grown up immersed in new cultures. That upbringing is reflected in her recent single “Beijing Baby”
It was recently announced that Jonze had signed to Nettwerk Music Group and will be releasing an EP. She’s also an illustrator under the name Spectator Jonze
DL: Beijing Baby definitely tested me and nearly broke my character. They always talk about 2nd singles being a painful curse and Beijing Baby definitely lived up to that curse. I think I recorded it from scratch about 6 times and faced a lot of obstacles with it but am so glad I pushed through as I put every bit of my soul into it.
FEMMUSIC: Can you describe your songwriting technique?
DL: There’s never a set songwriting technique I use. I think that’s the beauty of it is that I get to play and create in many different ways. I usually tend to come in with a loose concept and work from there – sometimes melody first, sometimes lyrics first, sometimes both exactly at the same time.
FEMMUSIC: You work with visual art. How much visualization goes into making your music?
DL: A lot. I really am a visual person so sometimes I’ll write a song and go on a day dreaming bender of what the music video will look like, the artwork, the outfits etc. I think my favourite part of ‘music’ is that it really isn’t just music at all.
FEMMUSIC: Tell me about Dusky Jonze. I was at the website and am intrigued.
DL: Dusky Jonze is a project I just started in March this year where I wanted to shoot male photographers and flip the lens back onto them to push the conversations on toxic masculinity and what femininity means to them. It soon quickly evolved into a project of masculinity, femininity, taboos and insecurities around the body for everyone who’s been game to be push those envelopes.
FEMMUSIC: Last year you presented at the Australian Music Festival a program titled “The Musicians Guide to Surviving the Rock Star Lifestyle.” I was unable to attend. What do you think are the biggest dangers to the rock star lifestyle? What are the best survival skills?
DL: It is definitely so easy to over look self care – mentally and physically. Even just eating right and sleeping enough can easily become difficult. I think prioritising your body’s basic needs and listening to it is honestly the best survival skill.
FEMMUSIC: Congratulations! I see you signed to Nettwerk Music Group. What made you decide to sign with them?
DL: I can’t do anything without passion and so I’m super sensitive about bringing people in. Nettwerk, from the first day of my debut single release, have been so passionate about who I am as an artist and what I do and pushed so eagerly that I knew it was the right decision.
FEMMUSIC: You’re doing an EP with Nettwerk. What can you tell me about it?
DL: It’s actually a body of work I’ve been sitting on for years and slowly been refining as I was discovering my soundscape and artistry. I can’t wait to let them have a place in the world.
FEMMUSIC: What song (not your own) has had the biggest influence on you and why?
DL: “Roads” by Portishead
It is honestly such a beautiful piece of music that I’ve come back to for many years and brings about whatever emotion is fitting for that moment in my life… grief, gratitude, compassion, sadness, happiness, contentedness, nostalgia, reflection haha.
FEMMUSIC: What challenges, if any, have you faced as a woman in the music industry? And how did you overcome them?
DL: That’s a hard one to answer because it’s still such a delicate environment to be able to be vocal about it as much as I am an advocate for mental health, injustices and taboos. I’ve had a tough year with exactly this that I’m still coming to terms with personally and intimately so I’ll leave my answers with sexism, underestimation, misuse of power and being taken advantage of. I still am overcoming them but having a strong, trusted and healthy support network has been absolute key.
FEMMUSIC: Whom would you most like to collaborate with, or tour with? Why?
DL: Alex Turner, he just knows who he is as an artist so well and I’d love to know what making music with him is like.
FEMMUSIC: What one thing would you like to change about the music industry?
DL: Talking about the truth. Everyone likes to hide their struggles and push the glitz and glamour to the forefront when it’s a thin veil over what is actually happening. I feel like we could support one another in this difficult creative endeavour better by being upfront with honesty and openness.
