INTERVIEW: TOKiMONSTA releases new album 'Oasis Nocturno': "I just try to lead with my best foot forward and be the most honest, sincere person I can be"
American producer TOKiMONSTA (real name Jennifer Lee) has been making her beguiling, atmospheric electronica-R&B-rap music since 2010 after she taught herself how to make beats in her bedroom while a college student. Today, she releases her brilliant sixth studio album Oasis Nocturno, a collection that encompasses deep house, contemporary R&B, alternative rap and laid back trance with a mood for everything from losing yourself on a nightclub dancefloor to floating away in a blissed out state of calm. TOKiMONSTA’s story is one of remarkable achievements and survival, battling a potentially fatal brain disease several years ago to bounce back and become the first ever Asian-American female producer to have been nominated for a Grammy Award in the best dance/electronic album category for her Lune Rogue album at the 2019 ceremony. We recently spoke with TOKiMONSTA to chat more about Oasis Nocturno.
Massive congratulations on Oasis Nocturno which is your sixth full-length album. I've been listening to it for days and it is absolutely incredible!
Thank you!
Happy release day, how are things in your world?
There's a lot of anticipation in the air. It's anticipation of all the anxiety, you know. A little bit of joy and excitement but all bundled together. I'm just so full of this energy and it's hard to really describe because you know, the album is turned in, I can't change it anymore. I’m so incredibly proud of it but at the same time, you never know what impact your music will have on other people or if it will have any impact on people, if it will resonate with anyone. My world is actually pretty mellow at the moment. It's going to start ramping up very soon, but I'm trying to soak up as much of this chill time as I can before I'm off to tour for who knows how long.
Your cat, Misha, has quite an impressive fanbase. Is it chill time just between you and the cat for a couple of weeks?
Yeah, pretty much. She's basically sitting next to me completely passed out. It's really cute. So, I’m sitting on my sofa and she is too. She gets to nap.
You're based in LA and the whole album feels like a warm and welcoming night drive with an eclectic collection of individuals in the car with you. Experiences, smiles, all warm in this kind of safe darkness that you don't often get when people are thinking about at night with strangers. What was your initial desire or inspiration for this album?
It's weird to talk about the arrangement for the track listing of the songs overall because obviously each song has been made over the course of the last year and a half and at different moments with different feelings in mind. When you take like a night drive, it's kind of almost exactly what I was going for, in terms of everyone being allowed an interpretation. What you’re feeling is what I hope you would feel because it's meant to be a journey and starts off a little bit brighter and it gets a little more deeper towards the end. This livelier first half almost like evening like, you're going out with your friends or you're out at night soaking up that kind of night time vibe and then it gets deeper towards the evening when it's sleepier and more meditative. I'm a night owl no matter how hard I try so I'm really well acquainted with the introspection that comes with being awake at night and how meditative and how peaceful it can be.
I'm a huge fan of the songs towards the end of the album. There are some beautiful features like ‘Higher Hopes’ with Rosehardt, it's the absolute bomb. It's got that beautiful contrasted mix of raw 60s style melody, punctuated by these strings. Can I ask you the story behind the track?
Rosehardt is an amazing, amazing young artist. He's doing Broadway musicals right now. I heard his music on Spotify and I was just like ‘wow this guy is so talented’. So I met him through a friend and he's super lovely and we’re talking about music and what he wants for himself and how he records and he's just a wonderful person. For me and a lot of my collaborations the music sounds better if me and the other artist like each other. When you're with someone that you like to be around the music just reflects that so much. But with this song, it's a bit different. So, Rosehardt has a song called High Hopes and I love the song. It's so amazing. I decided that I wanted to remix it. When I got all the parts for it I realised that I wanted to do something more than a remix. I didn't use any of his production and I made a completely different song. I used all his vocals to pitch them. So, if you listen to the song on my album and listen to the original version they don't sound the same because I've changed a lot of his melodies. Out of all the songs on the album, he's actually the only one I didn't work with in person for this particular track but it still feels really personal.
Oh, it feels so personal. It's absolutely beautiful. What is the driving creative force behind you as TOKiMONSTA when you walk into the studio to create your music?
I just try to lead with my best foot forward and be the most honest, sincere person I can be. You know? Make music that means a lot to me. Try to be the best version of myself for everyone else because whether or not I want to be a role model, it is a position I’ve been put in with the exposure that I have now and it’s my responsibility to be an honourable person in that way and really show others that you can be a woman, you can be a person of colour and make really good music that can stand by itself regardless of my own identity.
Do you enjoy being like 100% engaged in the production for your music, or do you think there is a downside to having that much control?
Yeah. There's definitely a downside. There's a downside to everything, you know. Very few things in life are good. Even if you like eating ice cream, you can't eat a lot of ice cream. It can be a gigantic burden but there's so much wonderful ownership of all this creativity that comes from this project. I can go out in the world and tell everyone, ‘Hey, I made this entire body of work. Just me.’
So, what is up next for TOKiMONSTA?
Oh, so many things. More music. I'm so excited to work on even more music. Completely new ideas to move forward and challenge myself once again creatively.
Oasis Nocturno is out now across all platforms.
To keep up with all things TOKiMONSTA you can follow her on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
