"I Like To Impress Myself": Jeffertitti Moon On Becoming 'Non Genre' As A Musician

Jeffertitti Moon is a prolific musician who previously released music under the band name Jeffertitti's Nile and most recently has teamed up with Nomad Eel Records to bring The Entire Universe to vinyl for the first time. He's also unleashed a massive digital album, Non Genre, which he hopes will come to double vinyl LP in 2021. 

Non Genre only further illustrates the principle of change that Jeffertitti embraces in his music, ranging extremely widely through "heavy" and "pretty" music, but challenging the audience to experience it all. Jeffertitti recently appeared as a guest on our Tower Instagram Live show, which you can still watch right here, but he also spoke with Tower's PULSE! about his musical history, his penchant for travel, and what keeps him moving creatively on both those inspiring and those less inspiring days we all encounter.

Hannah Means-Shannon: I want to ask you, now that you have some distance in time, about the turning point that making The Electric Hour must have been for you. It seems like that was a moment where you learned a lot about what you wanted to do in music. How does it seem to you now, looking back? 

Jeffertitti Moon: The Electric Hour was completed while I was in the band Father John Misty and I was working with a small label that was kind of hands-on. For that group, Jeffertitti’s Nile, of the few albums that I released, one was an all-tape album made in my home studio. It never touched a computer. It was super low-fi and I like it for what it is. With The Electric Hour, it was more of a hodge-podge recorded in different studios.

My buddy Josh from Father John Misty played drums on a lot of that. That album was kind of pieced together but it felt cohesive. It had a strange theme to me. It all fit together, and I really liked the packaging. But it’s definitely more aggressive, trippy sound, that was noisy and chaotic, and represented the height of that exploration for me. I actually wanted something kind of disgusting, rather than clean and nice. I wanted it to be distorted. I like going back and listening to earlier stuff to see how much I’ve grown, and hopefully learned.

HMS: It’s an achievement to have a body of work to look back on!

JM: I just don’t give up, I guess. Even if I’m sleeping in my van, I still won’t get a real job.

HMS: Do you think that album is the most commercial and cleaned up you may ever sound? Have you decided to move away from that?

JM: That’s an interesting question. I hope not because I’m into so many styles of music and would like to explore them. But the reason that I mentioned Father John Misty is because I was in this professional act and that album was so polished. I’m not opposed to it and I’d like to go further in many directions.

HMS: I know that you mentioned on our Tower Live Show that David Bowie’s tendency to change is something that you can relate to a lot. That, potentially, means that we could end up with you doing some very experimental stuff.

JM: My Jim Morrison album, yes!

HMS: Was touring that year, in 2014, very organized too? Was that the first time you’d spent that much time on the road?

JM: I’d done a lot of touring before, but it was mostly West Coast, driving up the coast or to Arizona, or flying to New York City and playing ten shows there. I actually used to be in a circus, which is a funny conversation piece, so I have toured a lot. I used to tour through Europe playing music with a traveling circus act.

HMS: That’s absolutely amazing.

JM: As far as a typical band experience, though, those years of 2012 through 2014, I was pretty much living on the road. It was precise and exhausting long-run touring.

HMS: What do you think spending that much time on the road has done to you or for you as a person?

JM: Even before I started touring, I did a lot of traveling in my early adulthood. I had a friend in England, and I flew out there with a backpack, and we went all around Europe. We went to Morocco and Africa. I definitely remember that feeling of coming home, and my best friend saying, “Let’s go out!” We went to some club on the Sunset Strip or something, and I remember thinking, “What the hell? This is what I did?”

I had had all these different experiences, sleeping on trains, and all the different foods I got to try. Channeling a home environment with close friends is really valuable to me, but I also think travel is so important. And playing live music definitely changes the way that I think about music. It’s such an exchange of energy. You can be making it in the studio and think, “Wow, that’s cool.”, but playing it in front of other people could make you think, “This isn’t cool.”, or “This is even cooler than I thought.”

HMS: I think with traveling, after doing that, at least you’re more aware of the choices you’re making in life.

Do you play music differently live than when you’re in a studio? Do you intentionally adapt that music toward performance?

JM: I think so, for sure. In my studio, there are so many different tools for me to explore. Most of the time when I’m playing in the studio, I know it’s going to wind up being recorded and fitting in as a puzzle piece. But when you’re playing live, you have to get the entire point across in that moment.

But if I have a group in the studio, it’s going to be a different experience than playing alone, too. I love them both for different reasons. My studio is my happy place, because I can do anything I want. I can choose not to show it to anybody if I want. But when you’re live, there’s something liberating about that.

HMS: Does that mean you’ve recorded a bunch of stuff that you’ve never shown anybody?

JM: Oh yes. There’s another Entire Universe album that was also recorded in New York. It’s a weird concept album that’s called Freedom & Weep. It just needs a final mix and master. I’ve been experimenting with recording for over a decade. Maybe two decades. There are a lot of little pieces that should be heard, but it’s just about how and when. And now that I’ve released Non Genre, I feel more content with that idea that I can release something that’s new to you, but old to me. I think they deserve to be heard by people whether they hate it or love it.

The story of Vincent Van Gogh is very inspiring to me because he was a failure in his lifetime. Everyone thought he was insane. They thought he was a joke. He kept going, creating tons of pieces, and now he’s revered as one of the most influential artists of all time. That keeps me going through moments of self-doubt and criticism. All the little things that get into artist’s minds are things I’ve learned to ignore over the years. Instead, I say, “You know what? This is what I made and I think I have to make it.”

Whether one kid forty years from now discovers my record, or whether it happens in my lifetime, that’s okay. The word “legacy” makes me sound like I think I’m important, but I want to do what I’m here to do. I’m passionate about music and other things and I want to show that while I’m here.

HMS: I think everyone, if they are honest, wants some kind of legacy. What they want is different, but I think it’s human to say you want some kind of legacy for yourself.

I wanted to ask you if you ever wake up and think, “I don’t want to make music. I don’t want to do anything.” And if you do, how do you cycle out of that? Do you have any strategies?

JM: I’ve definitely been there. Especially this year. Everyone is forced to break through that this year. Another thing I like to say all the time is, “It’s darkest before the dawn.” And it’s been true in my life. In some of the deepest depressions I’ve ever had, shortly afterwards, I’d have some kind of revelation, where everything is magical and I’ve learned something from this feeling. Those moments of self-pity or actual misfortune are like waves that also move away like a wave. I remember that this isn’t going to last forever.

For me, I like to go into the studio and just work, even if I think, “This is garbage.” Then, the second day, I do it again, and I think, “Not really good.” And then, the third day, I’m like, “Wow! I love this.” Sometimes the repetition is important for me.

HMS: It’s like turning an engine over. If you don’t ever turn that engine on, the battery loses its charge. That’s a great answer.

JM: Yep!

HMS: You seem very conversant with the digital age. You’re in there figuring it out, releasing a digital album that hopefully will come to vinyl at some point. But you also refer to “the streaming overlords” online. How do you navigate the pros and cons of digital?

JM: It’s such a conundrum. I feel like everyone is trying to figure it out at the same time, even the record labels. I feel like no one is making that much money off streams. These apps that stream make recommendations, but what and why? The way that I deal with it is that I just ignore it. [Laughs] I just make music. People ask, when they hear I’m putting out an album, “How are you putting it out?” But I just say, “I’m putting it out.” To have vinyl would be such a treat. The new record is so long that it’ll have to be a double LP. The digital age makes you wonder, do I need to create tons of records? Will they be listened to?

It’s nice working with small labels who can help you make small batches and put them out. Basically, it’s such a confusing thing that I focus on making music and figure out how to share it as a byproduct, as a necessity.  I want people to hear it so hopefully they will.

HMS: I can see how a musician could spend all their time worrying about it, so I can understand setting that aside.

JM: I just want to make the best music, and hopefully it’ll share itself.

HMS: Do you feel that it’s important how you present yourself, visually, to the world? Do you think about what clothes you’re going to put on every day?

JM: I spend a lot of time doing that. I’ve been on tour before where I brought a full suitcase, and I was rooming with Josh, the lead in Father John Misty. He’d just be wearing the same outfit every day, but every morning I’ve got my suitcase, and I’m asking, “How am I feeling today?”, and maybe changing a couple of times. But I’m also taking things from people like that. Lately, I tend to find an outfit and I’ll wear it for a week. Especially right now, I’m not putting on my Gucci high-heeled boots just to hang out around the house.

But I will wear my Gucci loafers! I like to impress myself.

HMS: I feel very sad for my boot collection right now, personally. It’s not getting much love.

JM: There’s a movie that Nick Cave made, called 20,000 Days on Earth. Every morning he wakes up at a certain time with his alarm, then he shaves, and he showers, and he puts on a suit. Then he goes downstairs and he writes music. His wife just knows that’s what he does. He doesn’t have to. He’s Nick Cave.

HMS: Wow!

JM: He dresses up just to go to work. That’s pretty inspiring. I’ll get dressed up just to go into my studio so while I’m in there I’ll feel a certain way just because of what I’m wearing.

HMS: It definitely has a psychological effect.

JM: You’re going to make different music whether you’re wearing sweatpants or a three-piece suit. Both of them are cool. I like to work in my sweatpants too. [Laughs]

HMS: Your single and video for “Embrace the Change” really hit me. What was it like recording this song, and why does it have so much weight for you?

JM: The recording process was interesting because I was finishing up a long record that I had just made. I thought, “Is there anything else I should put on here?” Then I went through my old voice memos. I think that one was started years ago. I had the rough idea of that where I was stream of consciousness. I found this old song idea and then, that say, I practiced and rearranged it. I just sat down and went through it a few times.

Normally, I record in my studio downstairs, but that one I did in my bedroom. I put up one microphone to get the vocals and guitar. I played through it four times. Around the third take, I thought, “This is the best one. I’m going to bring that downstairs.” Downstairs, I added another lead vocal on top of the other one, and a couple of harmonies. And it was, “This is it. It’s done.” It was a nice counterpoint to the record I made. A lot of it has five different drum machines going at once. Ridiculous stuff.

HMS: It is maximalist?

JM: It is very maximalist. So I thought this was a nice counterpoint. After I made the album, I was talking to some friends, and asked, “Should this be two albums? Is it the heavy album and the pretty album?” My manager said, “Yes, separate it.” A few friends agreed. But I love flipping a coin, and when it doesn’t go your way, that’s when you realize what you really want.

HMS: Yes, I know what you mean.

JM: That’s kind of what that was. I knew then that it was one album, but I only knew that through my adverse reaction to dividing it.

HMS: I actually was going to say that “Embrace the Change” is the song that proves your point that you are “Non Genre” as a musician. By putting it on the album you win your own argument.

JM: [Laughs] Cool!