Artist Inspiration: Ronald Jenkees

This fellow is a smidge of an internet phenom, so there is certainly a chance that you heard about him long before I did. This, however, does nothing to change the fact that Ronald Jenkees is a genius, if not a bit odd-looking (chipmunk aesthetic?), and that he is constantly my go-to playlist while I am "working" (aka, artsing and fartsing around). His niche is in electronica with subtle influences from symphonic and orchestral rock, so if that is not quite your thing, go listen to your favorite tunes rather than raining on my musical parade with hatin' comments.

This is "Stay Crunchy," Josh's and my favorite Jenkees jam from the "Disorganized Fun" album:

Many thanks to AudibleAudioArt for posting so many of Mr. Jenkees's songs to the wonderful world of YouTube. AudibleAudioArt, or Triple-A as I am going to call this chick/bloke (not sure which) from now on, describes her/his musical collection as "Like Candy for Your Ears." This tagline makes me smile because it taps into the medium-crossover that I love so much. Why can't music taste beautiful as well as sound beautiful? I don't know, but I'm sure I could find several psychologists who would have a few words to say about my synesthesia. Anyhow, check out this delicious channel when you get a chance.

Speaking of medium crossover, if anyone can tell me who the artist behind these images is, I will give them a trillion dollars--or just a hug--an e-hug of course. You're all kind of far away. These are the images Triple-A uses as for the Ronald Jenkees videos on YouTube, and they capture Jenkees's style in a way around which I cannot quite wrap my head.

On Triple-A's channel, Jenkees is quoted making an important and inspiring statement about his art:

 "If someone has no way of paying for my music, or if it's 'against their religion' to pay for anything digital (LOL), whatever the reason, I'd personally rather those people be able to enjoy my music rather than to not hear it at all. I'm not going to give a tutorial on how to download torrents of my album (google it, it's simple stuff) but I'm also not going to hate on anyone that downloads my music or shares it with a friend. That said, I still think it's important to support the stuff you like whether that's software, music, whatever . . .I hope that everyone will keep it in mind that I'm an independent artist. I make most of my music from scratch and I'm not signed to any record label."

This man is very progressive both in his sound and in his ideas about the nature of art and economy. Me likey! My kind of guy.