Jonathan Bates of Big Black Delta talks dark electronica and synesthesia

Interview by Parisa Eshrati

Before kicking off his tour with Gary Numan, I spoke with Jonathan Bates of Big Black Delta on how synesthesia plays a role in his song writing and stage production, his new music videos, and more.

Tonight you're kicking off the Splinter Tour with Gary Numan and Romain Remains. Tell us some of the things you’re looking forward to specifically on this tour; are you going to any locations you haven’t been to before?

I don’t think I’m going anywhere new that I haven’t been to. We haven’t played a show in four or five months. So, today is just like getting the rust and the cobwebs out, and then I get to hang out with my friends for a month so that’s cool.

How did you first get in touch with Gary Numan and set up this tour?

I'm friends with his management and we have some mutual friends as well. He manages a couple other acts like Dhani Harrison’s Thenewno2 and earlier last year he had asked if I would do a remix so it just went from there. Then I got a call asking if I’d like to do this tour and I was just like ‘Shit yeah, man!’

It's going to be an amazing tour. Just looking back, last year was a really busy year for you as well. You released a self-titled album in June and played some pretty huge shows like the Leeds Festival in the UK and SXSW. I know in another interview you’d mentioned how you’re a bit socially anxious when it comes to big crowds and don’t normally attend big events yourself. Tell us how you try and stay engaged with these bigger audiences and connect with them despite some anxieties.

You know I’ve thought about this. There’s a difference, even when you’re playing a show that nobody knows who you are and doesn’t give a shit, there’s a difference between that and just being…I dunno. I guess it’s because on stage I do have space and I can breathe and I can walk away at any point and leave. But if you’re stuck in a crowd that’s like 10,000 people, that just scares the shit out of me because you can’t go anywhere, you are in it, you what I mean? Whereas if you’re playing the show, not that anything weird or bad would happen but if it did, I can go out the back door.

Do you still prefer playing smaller venues or are you starting to enjoy bigger festivals as well?

You know, it’s apples and oranges. All that matters to me is that people dig what you’re doing. It doesn’t matter what size the room is or how many people are there. If I’m playing to four people but they obviously dig it then I’m having a good time and if there’s 4,000 people there and they dig then I’m having a good time. But, you know, every musician has felt that bomb or like playing a room that just doesn’t want to fucking hear you so that’s what you try to avoid.

Your live shows are known for being really aesthetically incredible and extravagant and I heard that you build your own lights as well. Tell us a little about your technical background with building stage lights and how that allows you to carry out your unique vision for your shows.

To be honest with you, I just felt it would be easier to do it. It’s easier spend a weekend learning how the stuff works and then do it, especially when you don’t have a budget, if you don’t have money...which most of us don’t. After my old band I didn’t know if I wanted to make music again. I made music and I recorded it but I wasn’t going to play live. Then people started liking it and I was like ‘Okay, if I’m going to play live how do I want this to look and how do I want it to feel?’ and just take it from there. It was about a week of studying light language (which is called DMX) and how it works in relation to conversion, MIDI and all that stuff. Ultimately it was just about trying to make everything easier. When you’re on the road usually if you don’t have your own lights you have to hire a lighting director that brings his own gear and that’s lots of money. It’s just a matter of economy.

Besides the technical background to your music you also have an interesting history in that you were a private counselor for independent artists at MI [Musicians Institute] in Hollywood. Are you still working there? If not, tell us about the transition to just focusing on the Big Black Delta project.

It just depends. When I’m in town and I’m not on tour and MI wants me to come in, I’ll go in there. I’m not a teacher. If anybody’s an independent artist it’s been me. I’m just doing all this shit. I’m just a buddy. People will ask ‘How did you do it?’ and I’ll just tell them how I did it and see if that helps. The thing is is that everybody’s journey is different. You can’t use what worked for you on somebody else. They can only just pick and choose like a buffet each element and apply it to their own path.

Your own writing process seems really unique in that you’re constantly writing and you experience synesthesia as well. Would you say that you let the synesthesia guide your writing process, is it caused by your music, or is it even just kind of a give and take experience?

It’s a give and take. It makes things easier, like if you gave me a painting and said ‘What does this sound like to you?’ that, to me, is easier than not having the visual reference. I do enjoy using the lights and the colors and the bursts and the shapes and these weird… even tastes that I get from certain sounds. And also, if I’m gonna be playing these songs 200 times a year I need them to physically match me, you know what I mean? They have to. If I don’t feel it, it would be obvious.

Absolutely. And would you say that’s what guides you into making your live shows and maybe the certain colors that you use for certain songs?

Yeah, like the lights that I have aren’t the craziest ones in the world but if I had more options and hopefully I will then yeah, it can get as intricate as producing music. It’s all the same thing. Making music or making lights or cooking...it’s all about what goes where.

You live out in L.A. and I always like to think that an environment plays a big part of one’s sound. How would you feel that L.A.’s environment whether it’s the physical nature or even the batshit crazy people are a possible influence in your own sound?

The thing about LA, to me is that it’s got this desperation. I don’t mean that in a bad way. All major cities like New York have it too where it’s just everybody is on top of each other. There’s too many fucking people, and I’m one of them. I’m not saying it’s a problem, it’s just the truth. Going ten miles across town it’s gonna take you two hours just because of congestion and stuff. It’s shown me how frenetic and crazy loud things can be and sometimes you use that as a reference, but more importantly it’s because it’s just a town of musicians so there’s a lot of dudes. You know, I’m like 34 and occasionally I’ll meet up another friend of mine in the middle of the day for coffee. Most other people on the planet are working at that time. So you’re surrounded by great musicians—it’s hopefully gonna make you better or else you just don’t give a shit.

That’s a really good point. Just something else I’d like to bring up is that a lot of your recent music videos are so visually stunning.. Do you have an artist design and execute your music videos or do you input your own visual ideas into them as well?

I usually work with a guy named Caspar Newbolt and he does all the graphic design, so that’s why all the posters match and all that. It was a conversation he and I have constantly: we’re trading paintings and even fonts and straight-up graphic design tips. He is the face of the music. The videos are different. At least, the “Huggin & Kissin” one I didn’t really have any input except the one thing I asked Adam [Osgood] was ‘I want you to involve my cat, Jake. Whatever you do, whatever you want.’ And then I didn’t speak to him for five months. I just let him go. He came up with Warren [Kommers] on those two videos and it was a lot of back and forth: ‘Hey let’s do this. Why don’t we do that? Why don’t you sit in the chair?’

It’s really funny that you mention the “Huggin & Kissin” video. I didn’t know that it was about your cat but when I first watched it I noticed there’s space cat attacking a squid...and you’re always tweeting pictures of cats so I thought it was really good fit.

Yeah in his video basically Jake is my guardian angel, so-to-speak, and he’s trying to free me from whatever trap I’m in. At least that’s the way I interpreted it. I never had that conversation with Adam actually.

Yeah, it fits really well. I know right now you’re working on another album, but tell us some other things to look forward to from you for the rest of the year.

The rest of the year...so far nothing’s been really planned as far as touring or anything after this tour. I’m just gonna hunker down and work on my record and you know, produce friends. That’s all I really have planned. What’s crazy about this, maybe it’s like this in very business, but the whirlwind and inertia, it chooses you. You’ve just got to do what you’d do anyway and if things happen, cool. If it doesn’t, at least you’re doing something you like.

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For more information on Big Black Delta:
www.bigblackdelta.com