Jaloes

So who’s Jaloes?

I am a telecommunication engineer, which is the daily job that brings me money, and a composer of contemporary classical music, which is the nightly activity that brings me pleasure. I live in Madrid, Spain, and I started writing songs in 2008. I have learnt the principles of music and I play the piano, but my ear training and composition has been principally self-taught.



What’s your method at the time of writing a song?

I don’t have a strict method for writing, but I like to use some elements from the minimalism and post-minimalist music, like layering of simple melodies, consonant harmony or the additive process. I write in front of a keyboard to play the melodies I build, and I use a sequencer with software instruments to edit and record on a laptop computer.



You ever wanted to make instrumental/classic/ambient music or you ever thought of doing something else?

Most of my music is contemporary classical, but some other is unclassifiable. I like many different styles and I won’t reject composing other kinds of music. I have been thinking of writing a traditional blues song for piano as an example.



What makes your music unique?

I’m not sure it’s unique, but I know it’s not the kind of music you can easily find anywhere. We all have lots of pop, rock and hip hop everywhere, but not this. My music may be a good choice for moments of relaxation, to make you feel happy or to make you cry.



What are your music influences?

Philip Glass, Steve Reich, Michael Nyman, Wim Mertens among many others.



So I got understand you are working on a new album, can you give us some insights? Is there any release date yet and how it has been the recording process?

I’m working on a solo piano album. My previous work was mostly based on multiple layers of repeated phrases, with some songs requiring several instruments and up to three pianos together at the same time. Now I wanted to make a set of pieces for just one player, starting with simpler, melodically oriented patterns and develop them. The album is titled “Solo Piano” and hopefully will be released in a few months.



Of all the songs you’ve recorded, what’s your favourite?

Personally I feel very happy with several solo piano songs from the next album, particularly one titled “The Path of the Inner Light”, but this song is not publicly available yet. From the available songs my favourite one is “Foggy”, where I combine guitar, bass and three piano tracks into a sequence of layers that create an intimate and evocative melodic texture.



Do you have any plans for the near future?

Release the “Solo Piano” album, write more music, write my blog (http://minimalism.jaloes.com/), continue learning and live happily.



What has been the greatest moment as a band?

Having a finished work in my hands after much time and effort. For me it is very pleasant and rewarding to create music and to find that people enjoy listening.



Personally, how you see the ambient and classic scene now in days? Do you think is growing?

There are incredible artists making awesome music in these styles, from pioneers of minimalism who are still on the top, to new musicians appearing every day with fresh contributions. Steve Reich and Philip Glass started to write music in the 1960s and they both keep on working hard today with new productions and live performances, making constant innovations and succeeding with young and old audiences. In Europe there are some very acclaimed and prolific artists who have reached great success and popularity for many years, like Wim Mertens, Ludovico Einaudi and Yann Tiersen.



Do you feel you are moving on the right direction?

Yes. I’m moving on the direction I want to go. I’m writing the music I want and I’m reaching more audiences each day. Many have told me they have found a lot of beauty in my music, and that makes me extremely happy. - Vents Magazine

Jaloes, a Spanish composer, totally scraps any misconceptions his profile photographs may induce. By modern standards that’s a fair comment. However – Bob Dylan once said that the truth was just “a plain picture”. He presents a Classical series of tracks that serves well as a score for those weary of the boom, boom, clash muzak of the modern age. A soothing balm if you will.



http://www.theindie.biz/jaloes

It’s an emotive sort of music meant for work environments to sooth tired minds, Sunday chess and intimate moments. The album “Weather’ paints pictures of Winter landscapes with its song titles as well as its tones. It’s meant for the parts of movies where the character experiences deep loss. Although only the track “Rainy” is currently available for free download, I was moved by the images and keys in the “Warming Oceans” video on Youtube. The piece is an undeniable favorite. As a cinematic tearjerker it serves its purpose to engage the listener in conversation as it moves one to rethink one’s behavior and possibly scramble to the nearest PayPal donate button for environmental causes.

Rainy has a nice sort of nokia-ringtone lilt to it on first listen. However,listening to Foggy and Stormy you will be forgiven for thinking that they’re the same track – although Stormy has considerably more rhythm than the other. In his defense , Jaloes does describe his own music as “melodic, rhythmic and repetitive”. That said it might sometimes be too strong a sedative at times.

As the work stands it prompts the following questions.

Could it be the door to Classical music for a new generation?
Could it benefit from some dubstep or house remixes, reworking the classic feel to allow entry to short attention spans?
Could the visual aspect of the work be driven as a much stronger element to the music via VJ-ing?
Could Jaloes make more of his music available with a visual aspect on Youtube as he’s donw with “Warming Oceans”?
With the challenges facing independent music and , oh dear – and even more so – Classical music… I hope that somewhere along the line we will hear Jaloes music on a World Wildlife Fund commercial or at a Theatre nearby where the music will be done the justice it deserves. - The Indie Blog

Rainy immediately made me think of Philip Glass, and what more do you need as far as an introduction? I hope you enjoy this driving and insistent piano piece. The more I listen to it, the more I love it.


Rainy was written by Jaloes (not to be confused with J. Lo—sorry, had to) a songwriter and composer from Madrid, Spain who uses keyboards and computers to create his minimalist pieces.



Luckily for us, Jaloes uploaded Rainy to the Sirenstories SoundCloud just in time for NaNoWriMo :) For those of you who live in a more sane world and have not heard of National Novel Writing Month, you can find out all about it here, and you can read how I got through my first NaNo here.

I always create a soundtracks for my various writing projects and I’ll definitely be adding Rainy to my NaNo playlist. Maybe when November is over, I’ll post a scene that I wrote while listening to Rainy. If you write a scene while listening to Jaloes‘ spare, energetic piano piece, I’d love to see it in the comments section of this post.

Jaloes uploaded another piece to the Sirenstories Soundcloud called Warming Oceans, a beautiful, gentle piece, full of emotion. When I was checking out his links I found the great photo montage he created to go along with the music. Given the oceanic theme of Sirenstories, I just had to post it. Enjoy!


Jaloes wrote Warming Oceans in 2010 as a protest against rising ocean temperatures that are influencing the climate around the world.

Please visit http://www.jaloes.com to learn more about this wonderful artist. - Mimi Cross, Sirenstories

Jaloes es realmente Javier López. Nació en Almería en 1967 y vive en Madrid donde trabaja como ingeniero de telecomunicación mientras estudia y aprende música y piano. Su música es instrumental minimalista, hecha con teclado y ordenador, con influencias de músicos como Wim Mertens, Philip Glass o Yann Tiersen.

En 2009 publicó su primer álbum, Weather, con temas originales hechos con acordes repetitivos de piano y patrones superpuestos de música electrónica. La canción Rainy de este álbum fue semifinalista en la categoría instrumental en el concurso UK Songwriting Contest 2009.

Actualmente prepara su próximo proyecto, un álbum de piano solo, que pronto estará listo para publicarse. La canción Warming Oceans es parte de este próximo álbum, y es una protesta contra el calentamiento global y su impacto en el planeta. - Javier Román, Nos gusta la música.

"Jaloes is a spanish composer of instrumental minimalist music. His songs, made with piano and computers, are described as relaxing, melodic, rhythmic and repetitive. Some of his musical influences come from the American minimalist music, La Monte Young, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Phlip Glass, and later musicians who made an approach to this style, like Wim Mertens, Michael Nyman, John Adams and Yann Tiersen."


1). How would you spend a million dollars if you had it?
First I would pay off the mortgage. Then I would buy some new gear and maybe a good grand piano, and finally I would take a long vacation with my family.

2). What was the craziest thing to happen in your life?
To start making music with my computer just for fun, and later on producing and releasing my debut album, “Weather”.

3). What kind of message is in your music? Why or for what reason do you write music?
I write music about the world, my life and everything around me. I find many inspiring things in nature. I would like to think that people find beauty in my music. I write for pleasure, my own and that of everyone else.

4). What would you do if the world was going to end in 3 hours?
Join my family and see the show.

5). If you were a professional sportsman, what sport would you play?
Alpine skiing, or maybe chess. - http://arenacast.randrworld.com/

Jaloes music is classified under New Age, and indeed does have a calming and peaceful mood. Don't expect glaring changes or upsetting rhythms here... just tranquil and tasteful piano music. - Indie-Music.com

Jaloes http://www.myspace.com/jaloes Simpering, subtle sounds in this delightful dozen tracks from a minimalist, ambient artist who originates from Almeira in Spain and is now based in the capital, Madrid. With repeated melodies and additions, using traditional instruments and his trusty computer, he creates soothing sounds to relax the cares of your day away. Never can there have been a more compelling way to experience the weather through headphones. His 2009 album ‘Weather’ provides the mainstay of the tracks on here. With names like ‘Rainy’, Sunny’, ‘Cloudy’, etc the music reflects the mood engendered by the weather type. On ‘Rainy’ you can certainly detect the influence of one of Jaloes’ key figures of inspiration, namely Phillip Glass. ‘Hazy’ also reflected Glass’s work as well as sounding like Kate Bush’s Sensual World album or the work of Belgian composer Wim Mertens. I liked the undulating experimentation of ‘Stormy’ though in keeping with my perverse nature I found it to be somewhat more comforting than its title might suggest. I also liked ‘Snowy’ which was, fittingly, more reflective and triggered memories of Sweden in the deep mid winter. ‘Song for Laura’ was the most stripped down of his work, had echoes of fellow sound-smith Hideki Takimoto (see edition 1). My choice of favourite track was a toss-up between ‘Warming Oceans’ the cultured piano notes of which relaxed me more than steaming water, bath salts and wine and reminded me of another Japanese artist Akira Kosimura (see edition 66) or the more orchestrated, serenity of ‘Foggy Strings Mix’. Regular readers who know of my love of strings may be surprised to hear that I went for ‘Warming Oceans’, but really, I could have gone either way. It isn’t music to dance to, though I felt ‘Song for Laura’ could be remixed into a disco/techno torch song with little difficulty by someone with (a lot) more musical ability than me. It is good, contemplative music and it is also this week’s top choice. - Paul Nixon

Q. How did the project come into existence?
A. I started writing my first songs at the end of 2008, with the help of JamStudio and mixing software and music production. Hence came the songs of my album Weather, which was released in March 2009 when I decided to self-produce and publish it through CD Baby.

Q.Who are the members of the band if any and please tell us about it?
A.. Just me. I play the piano, I mixed and mastered by computer, and produce music.

Q How would you describe your sound/genre?
A. contemporary classical music with minimalist roots. Is instrumental music, especially piano. Often be described as relaxing.

Q. Who is responsible for your songs or is it a combined effort and where do you find inspiration ?
A. compose all the tracks. Soil from a melody that comes to my head and I improvise on the piano, and am slowly making changes and fixes. My sources of inspiration are all around me, my family, the world, nature, etc

Q. What formal training or previous experience jaloes have?
A. I am an engineer in a telecommunications company, and I can dedicate time to my musical side, where I am primarily self-taught, yet

Q.. Where can people go to learn more about you and hear your music?also What advice would you give to others starting out?
A It is a difficult moment for the music industry, by changes taking place in traditional business models. I think we should promote the digital distribution, payment for streaming and Internet presence. My best advice is to enjoy what you do and do not expect great earnings
. http://www.jaloes.com/
http://www.youtube.com/user/jaloesmusic

Q. What is your main influence
A. The American minimalist music, La Monte Young, Steve Reich, Terry Riley, Philip Glass, and later musicians who have come to this style, like Wim Mertens, Michael Nyman, John Adams and Yann Tiersen.


Q. Where can people go to learn more about you and hear your music?
A. Do not touch live music, so I do not argue, at least for now.


Q. What has been your best, moments and can you talk about future projects
A I enjoy composing music, and my best moments are when I listen to my finished piece. My next project is a solo piano album with which I am very excited, and hopefully I can come to light this year.


Q. Where do you see yourselves or hope to be in about 5 years?
A.I prefer to live the present and not make grand plans for the future, but I would like to continue making music and have several albums released - AJ&dbs Professional Talent Developers & Management

http://www.myspace.com/jaloes - hails from Madrid and describes his activities as making instrumental minimalist music - cites his influences as Glass, Reich, Nyman and Riley - all of which become apparent on the sounds within - and has self released one full length to date - last years ‘weather’. Jaloes - for it is he to whom we refer crafts a most arresting and fragile melodic tapestry, most of the tracks available to view on his my space player are taken from the aforementioned ’weather’ full length - an album which gathers together a collection of thematic suites dedicated to each of natures varying personas so that titles range from ’foggy’, ’windy’, ’stormy’ - well I think you get the picture - with each impressed with a visually melodic mood to reflect its effect so that for say ‘snowy’ there’s that same stilled almost incubated / hermetically sealed sensation that’s brought on by snowfall as it blankets the land acting like a pillow muffling the sounds from afar, the skipping keys mimicking perfectly the galloping flurries as well as the pit a patter here brought to life by the frosted chimes. its gorgeous stuff mostly piano based and very much moulded with a classical eye none more so is this the case than on ‘foggy (strings mix)’ where gthe calming swells of brontean braids tenderly tempt with the sumptuous beauty of fortdax. Mind you we here are rather taken by ‘windy’ its fizzing guitar shuffle peppered by skewering riff rips you feel ought to come with its own 70’s styled noir spy TV show - it being something that should appeal to admirers of early Gnac as well as the more coolly cold offerings from Budd and Mancini’s respective back catalogues. And lest we forget to mention the distractively skewed ‘hot’ which cleverly blends the busy with the lazy, the cosmically scuttled fuzzy funk and playfully hectic accents (much reminiscent at times of Stevie Wonders ‘living for the city’ and lovin spoonfuls ‘summer in the city’ being retrained through a Vernon Elliott blender) dissipating to moments of Stereolab like lounge groove. - losingtoday.com

"I really liked many of the places you took this harmonically" - Tomás Hradcky

"There certainly are some very lovely melodic elements to this piece and I also appreciate your pure and simple approach, your layering and builds are quite effective as well." - Great American Song Contest

"Rainy" semi-finalist in the instrumental category in UK Songwriting Contest 2009 - UK Songwriting Contest 2009

http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=123218

Email: jaloesmusic@gmail.com
Url: http://www.reverbnation.com/jaloes
Jaloes is a self-released musician who makes instrumental minimalist music, using JamStudio and music editing software for multi-track recording. His music is often based on repetition, enhancing a melodic pattern with a new figure or a small difference that creates a new pattern, and thus gradually. He also uses superposition of several simple patterns to achieve a more elaborate pattern. His creative parameters are melody, repetition, superposition and addition.

In March 2009 Jaloes released the album "Weather" with nine compositions played by computer and mixed and produced by the author himself.

"Weather" is his first album, "Rainy" is his first song, and this is the first time he enters a music contest. In the UK Songwriting Contest there were around 6,000 entries this year and semi finalists have their song among the top 23 percent of 6,000 songs. Finalists are the top 2 per cent of entries this year.

As some of his inspiring musicians, Jaloes names Wim Mertens and Philip Glass to recognize the most influential. - Music Industry News Network