Today we’d like to introduce you to Jack Trueax.
Jack, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
I’ve been a musician my whole life, taking piano lessons from a very young age and receiving an electric bass guitar as a gift for my 13th birthday. I’ve always been interested in musical collaboration, I enjoy playing in large bands, and as a DJ, i love playing back-to-back sets with others. Supporting and contributing to the final sound of a full production has always interested me; I love sharing the stage with other musicians and working as a team. As a bassist, rhythmic and driving music has always sparked my creative process. When I was younger I was drawn to industrial, metal, punk, and hardcore, and I started experimenting with producing electronic music on a computer while in high school. In 2004, I spent time in Chengdu, China writing and producing house music, teaching conversational English at the University of Sichuan, and practicing the bass guitar until my fingers bled.
From 2006-2010 attended the College of Santa Fe, in New Mexico which had an absolutely incredible team of teachers in its music program, several of them absolutely changed my life, Oliver Prezant, David Dunn, Steve Paxton, Paul Brown, and Jeremy Bleich, to name the most influential ones. There as a bassist, I joined a twenty four piece folk rock orchestra called “The Apple Miner Colony,” released two albums with them, and went on two national tours. Upon graduating with a music degree and returning to Denver, I formed a five piece post-rock band called “The Bipedal Approach,” which has two full-length albums and a third currently in production. Since college I have been a professional DJ, I love to scratch and play all formats of music. In collaboration with William Mathewson from WMD synthesizers, I’ve been hosting an “open DJ decks” event at the Broadway Roxy that is about to have its four year anniversary on September 17th. As a lead singer, I’ve written a full-length album for a party-pop band called “Talk Perfect,” which is currently still in production. I also released an album with a live electronic duo called “Time Scale.” Currently, I am the production manager for the band “Kiltro” and have been touring with them since 2021.
My true passion is “Travel Kit,” an ever evolving collaborative electronic project. Since 2020, I have released an EP and several singles, compiling found sounds from all over the world with luscious synthesizers and driving sequenced rhythms and basslines. This year, I had the honor of playing Meow Wolf in Santa Fe, the Underground Music Showcase, and Blucifer’s First Rodeo festival here in Denver. I currently have an album called “Anywhere” about to be fully released on September 17th In conjunction with our Open Decks 4th anniversary, with another full length album soon on the way.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
I often find myself as a decision maker and a driving force in whatever project I’m currently focused on. Learning to adapt and persist when facing adversity has only led me to write and produce increasingly better music. I’ve fought for every single opportunity that has come my way, I’ve always been the one to go out on a limb, and I am never afraid to get my hands dirty or show up when times are tough. In our current timeline, making art and producing music has now become an incredibly anti-establishment endeavor. In the age of generative AI and with the rise of an ever more pervasive government, the only thing that I want to do is make music and art with my own voice. At this point, nothing can stop me.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
Throughout my career, I have always focused on writing songs that are unapologetically my own. My ultimate goal is to write things for myself, not for anyone else or any specific context. Music has always been my driving force, and it’s the only thing I could ever envision myself doing, even from a very young age. I often write for my own therapy and constantly revisit old projects and lyrics with new perspectives that bring me further clarity and joy. I love to experiment with analog synthesizers, live instruments within electronic arrangements, strange found-sound samples, tape looping, outboard effects chains, and field recordings. In my current process, I also find myself using the computer less and less, focusing more on creating and arranging on an array of midi clocked sequencers and synths. I have also found a deep passion for turntablism in my pursuit to push the limits of sampling and sound manipulation even further. During my DJ sets, I am known for blending deep funky basslines, heavy driving Chicago/Detroit-inspired house beats, and live scratching. I am the most proud of a song I recently wrote, which is the title track of my upcoming full length album, “Anywhere,” being released with my electronic project “Travel Kit.”
In terms of your work and the industry, what are some of the changes you are expecting to see over the next five to ten years?
I am incredibly excited for music to get weirder and weirder as generative AI creation tools are increasingly pushed upon us by the establishment. I have so much hope for what’s to come. In underground scenes, musicality and virtuosity are already beginning to stand out more than they have in the last couple of decades. These days, I find myself far less impressed by the end product of an artistic endeavor and so much more inspired by its creative process. The live execution of these new beautiful human techniques will absolutely push genres to new levels, and I am confident it will finally break us out of this formulaic writing cycle that the mainstream has been trapped in for generations. With music production tools becoming even more widespread and easily accessible, standing out in a sea of homogeneous familiarity will become the new end goal, and separating the new art from the regurgitation of past musical trends will become the standard. I truly hope that everyone gets a chance to become a DJ or a musician, our society would be so much better off if we all knew how to beat-match, or play a funky bassline. Creating something from nothing is truly the greatest feeling that exists anywhere in the world, and something that every human being should have the right to experience.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.travel-kit-music.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/travel_kit_music/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/travelkitmusic/
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/travel-kit
- Other: https://www.instagram.com/snackerjax/
Image Credits
Devin Ramirez, William Parkhill, Julian Brier, and Brandon Soder
