DIY LONG BEACH LABEL
JOEL JASPER
MUSIC
BIO
Dream-pop soaked in a Long Beach sunset.
Joel Jasper has been writing music and playing shows in various projects since a teenager. In high school, he teamed up with drummer Zach Mabry to form the gum-drop math-rock band Forest of Tongue. They released the Bacon & Eggs EP and the album Body Pains (self recorded and mixed by Joel). Joel also recorded a less-math-more-pop project dubbed Gorgeous and released the Gold EP. Soon after, Joel started working on a new set of solo songs with a new sound. With a beat machine and a loop pedal, he created his own beats and bass lines and began writing the dreamy pop songs that would become the Summer-Body 7” released on Porch Party Records in September 2013. In 2014, Joel followed up his 7" with 2 digital releases- Winter-Body and Home-Body.
In the summer of 2014, Forest of Tongue began practicing together again, and ended up writing a new album. In August 2015, Porch Party Records released their cassette Fancy Itch:
"sounds a lot like Deerhoof and the Muppets band ate marzipan intestines soaked in PCP, and an hour later reduced themselves to a pile of blood, splinters of resonant wood, and polyester fur." -Tiny Mix Tapes
While playing shows with Forest of Tongue and several other projects, Joel kept writing songs of his own. In Spring 2017, Joel will release his appropriately titled fourth 3-song EP titled Spring-Body.
Joel also performs/tours with Dustin Lovelis, Nico Yaryan and Rufrano.
PRESS
LA RECORD - Music Video Premiere for "Summer-Body" // "Long Beach musician, falsetto wrangler and all-round raconteur Joel Jasper has turned into something of an lo-fi sci-fi televisual artiste lately—check out some previous work here, ideally with your BRIGHTNESS set to eye-burning max. And now to celebrate both the onset of summer and the democratization of cinematic technique once confined to only the most lavish 1980s TV studios, he went back to his 2013 single “Summer-Body” (Porch Party’s very first release!) and brought it up-to-the-minute with this intensely solarized tour of a typical summer day in Long Beach. (Yes, of course it includes underwear dancing.) It’s a lovely laid-back song that reminds us of Kurt Vile back in the “Freeway” days, and you can get a copy of the “Summer-Body” 7″ here. Bonus: click here to connect with Joel (and co-conspirator J.P. Bendzinski) in the most intimate and lasting way possible."
LINKS
MERCH
7" - Summer-Body (3 songs) - $5
VIDEOS