YUME

The Japanese word yume means "dream; dreamy; dreams" as in both the dreams one has when asleep and the dreams and aspirations one has when awake. With that in mind, seventeen year old Jesse's internet pseudonym couldn't suit him more. A born and raised New Yorker now living in Jersey, Jesse has been making music for nearly three years. Beautiful, emotional, romantic, his ethereal experiments with bittersweet pop melodies pull you into dreamy and sensual soundscapes that would have you believe you were living in a Studio Ghibli production. I try hard not to categorize music as there are so many overlaps especially between ethereal wave, shoegazing and dream pop but Jesse's sound seems to fit perfectly somewhere inbetween the sub-genres. And with cover art that often consists of blurry pastel imagery, and videos on Youtube that overlay pretty fireworks onto even prettier girls, it's hard not to become obsessed with this young musician's magical work. 

How would you describe the music you're making at the moment?

The sound of hazy, distant memories, foggy dreams and experiences.

Can you tell us about your influences and inspirations.

My childhood has always been a big part of my influences, I have a lot of fond memories of growing up and I've always loved music that made me think of that period of time. I think it really adds a challenge to making music in a way too, trying to find that sound or melody that matches an exact feeling and or memory is just really fun (and frustrating at times).

Aside from that lately I've been really inspired by Will Wiesenfeld (Baths/Geotic)'s music, and others like Shlohmo, Boards of Canada, Holy Other, Burial, Gigi Masin, Balam Acab, & M83 to name a few the list is just endless.

When you're not making music, what are you doing?

Not much to be honest, I've been real lazy these past 3 years. I've been trying to find other things to do lately to stay productive, especially since I'm nearing "adulthood". I started a fashion/music/culture blog last week (Weather Underground) and I've been getting into photography, writing, design and a few other things...

What are your hopes for the future?

I'm hoping to just get as far with music as I can. I've been starting work on some side projects, one of which is an ambient/experimental/shoegaze kinda thing I've been looking forward to kick starting this winter. I've also been thinking of starting up some kind of collective really soon, but I don't know. I'm just bouncing around ideas right now.

As far as my work with Yume goes, I have some interesting things coming soon. I'd also love to be able to find a job soon haha

And finally, what's the best thing about our generation?

I think the best thing about our generation is that we grew up with a lot of inspiring art, whether it be movies, music or video games, we just grew up in a time period of innovation and I think it really reflects on our craft. It's really cool to listen to a song and hear that it samples something from a movie I watched when I was like 5 or a video game I grew up playing, or to hear that someone was inspired by something I was inspired by as a kid is just cool. Everything feels really familiar. 

And there's so much talent out there, from all over the world, guys like XXYYXX, Taquwami, Hollow Pigeons, Beat Culture, Ruddyp. Just so many creative people and it's really cool to be among them.

There There (from the Dreamt Of U EP)

Check out his soundcloud!