Meet Francis Doom, Jay Sakong’s newest venture that’s redefining the boundaries of indie music.
Francis Doom, the compelling new venture from New Jersey-based musician Jay Sakong, has been turning heads within the indie music scene since late 2023. Greatest generally known as the singer, songwriter, and guitarist of the acclaimed band OWEL, Sakong has taken a daring step into recent sonic territory with Francis Doom. Teaming up with OWEL’s bassist Nunzio Moudatsos, Sakong crafted a set of 10 songs that defy straightforward categorization, seamlessly mixing traditional songwriting sensibilities with cutting-edge manufacturing strategies.
The result’s a sound that lives as much as Sakong’s intriguing description: “like a ballroom, on fireplace, in house.” From our perspective, it’s an apt characterization. Francis Doom’s music is concurrently grand and intimate, with lush, expansive soundscapes that really feel each timeless and avant-garde. The songs mix nostalgic heat with modern textures, making a sonic palette that’s each acquainted and refreshingly unique. Regardless of their cosmic qualities, these tracks stay firmly grounded in uncooked emotion and masterful storytelling, showcasing Sakong’s distinctive skill to attach with listeners on a profound stage. It’s a fragile steadiness that Sakong strikes with exceptional precision, creating an auditory expertise that’s actually distinctive in immediately’s indie music panorama. Francis Doom is undoubtedly an artist to have in your radar now.
Now, recent off the discharge of his newest single, “Night time Imaginative and prescient,” earlier this summer season, Jay Sakong sits down with us for an unique interview. We’ll delve into the inventive course of behind Francis Doom, discover the transition from OWEL to this new venture, glimpse what the longer term holds for this modern musician, and extra.
HKP: Hello, Francis Doom! Thanks for taking the time to talk with us. What sparked the thought of embarking in your solo venture, Francis Doom, and the way did you give you the identify?
Francis Doom: My authorized identify is Francisco. After I was slightly child, some would name me Francis as a method to get below my pores and skin. I suppose it’s as a result of it sounded a bit female. So it’s simply type of a method to personal that. And after I began this venture and I used to be serious about what it might sound like, the time period “doom pop” saved coming to thoughts. I don’t even know if that’s an actual style, but it surely made sense to me. Songs with pop sensibilities however with a way of doom.
HKP: Are you able to share a bit about your journey as a musician, out of your early days to your present work with Francis Doom?
Francis Doom: Like many Korean youngsters, I used to be compelled to play piano at a younger age. Satirically, I hated it then. I began taking part in drums at 13 and performed in bands since then. Converted to guitar after I was round sixteen after which finally discovered myself singing. Primarily as a result of nobody else would.
HKP: How would you describe the sound of Francis Doom to somebody who’s by no means heard your music?
Francis Doom: Properly, one factor that saved popping up in my thoughts after I was discovering my sonic palette was that I wished these songs to sound like a ballroom, on fireplace, in house. Virtually as a mantra. To me, the considered a ballroom evokes a way of traditional traditionalism, paired with the opposing concept that it’s in house, for a way of futurism. And it being on fireplace once more simply evokes the concept that every little thing’s gone horribly fallacious. So the bones of one thing outdated, wrapped within the pores and skin of one thing new, all with a sense of impending doom.
HKP: What are a few of your greatest musical influences, and the way have they formed your sound?
Francis Doom: I got here up in my teenagers as a typical metallic/hardcore child. Listened to a variety of Deftones and Glassjaw. I feel that taught me the sweetness in chaos. Then, I discovered Smashing Pumpkins, which taught me the sweetness in melody and songwriting. After which I obtained actually into ethereal bands like Sigur Ros and Radiohead. And I feel these bands taught me the sweetness in house and silence.
HKP: Are there any recurring themes or motifs in your lyrics that you end up exploring?
Francis Doom: My lyrics are usually like journal entries. So the songs are like a snapshot of the place I’m in life and what I’m personally going by way of.
HKP: Many artists speak concerning the vulnerability of solo tasks. Have you ever discovered any surprising challenges or freedoms in being the only real inventive drive behind Francis Doom?
Francis Doom: The freedoms are the vulnerabilities. The truth that there isn’t a gaggle to cover behind is each liberating and terrifying. I can specific myself extra freely now as a result of I’m merely talking on behalf of myself. The place earlier than it felt like each submit needed to move by way of a committee so that everybody felt represented. That being stated, every little thing is a little more private, which is frightening typically.
HKP: Your album ‘I Caught A Gentle’ options a mixture of beforehand launched singles and new tracks. How did you resolve on this launch technique, and the way do you are feeling it formed the album’s narrative?
Francis Doom: I recorded all of those songs (except “Night time Imaginative and prescient”) as an entire. The concept was at all times that this group of songs would make up the file. However the best way individuals digest music now has clearly modified. Many are much less inclined to dive into a whole file, so if I simply launched it unexpectedly, the person songs wouldn’t get the eye I assumed it wanted. So, the primary singles acted as flag bearers for what was to return from the file.
HKP: Are you able to inform us a few notably memorable second through the recording of ‘I Caught A Gentle’?
Francis Doom: I had made some songs that didn’t make the file as a result of I hadn’t fairly discovered the sound I used to be in search of but. I used to be simply feeling round at the hours of darkness. However the tune “I Caught A Gentle” was the primary tune I wrote that I felt like I had discovered the identification of the file. It was a lightbulb second (no pun meant).
HKP: What was probably the most rewarding or difficult a part of bringing your ‘I Caught A Gentle’ album to life?
Francis Doom: Probably the most difficult half, I might say, was recording the drums. Though I began as a drummer as a child, a variety of that muscle reminiscence has gone. So I can write drum components however don’t at all times have the talent to execute them correctly. So, there was a variety of tedious modifying. As for probably the most rewarding, I’m type of going by way of that now. The work is finished, so simply seeing individuals discover it and relate to it’s fairly superb.
HKP: “Night time Imaginative and prescient,” your newest single, was launched in July. What’s the story behind this monitor?
Francis Doom: The songs on the file are very synth-heavy, however I discovered that after I performed these songs dwell, a few of these components didn’t at all times translate. And particularly as a result of this was earlier than I discovered my keyboard participant for the dwell band. So, I wished to put in writing one thing guitar-heavy that might translate dwell.
HKP: How does “Night time Imaginative and prescient” differ sonically or thematically from the tracks on ‘I Caught A Gentle’? Does it sign a brand new course for Francis Doom?
Francis Doom: I don’t assume it alerts a brand new course. However that’s additionally onerous to say. I can’t predict what I’ll be enthusiastic about when it comes time to make a brand new file. I can’t even predict what I’ll need for dinner tonight.
HKP: Your first dwell present is developing on September twenty seventh at Saltys Seaside Bar. How are you reinventing your stage presence for Francis Doom, and what can followers anticipate?
Francis Doom: There may be positively a little bit of reinvention for my dwell exhibits. In my earlier tasks, I at all times discovered myself singing on the very prime of my vocal vary. I’m discovering now that singing decrease presents its personal units of challenges in a dwell setting. As a result of I need to deliver a sure vitality, but it surely’s additionally more durable to sing in a decrease register whenever you’re not relaxed. So it sounds counterintuitive, however I’m going to attempt to loosen up extra.
HKP: Are you able to stroll us by way of your typical day whenever you’re in full inventive mode?
Francis Doom: I type of strategy writing like a job. I spend the day (normally in entrance of a pc with a guitar on my lap or a keyboard at my fingertips) simply chipping away at sonic concepts. After which, when the evening comes, that’s after I take into consideration lyrics. So a lot of my lyrics are written whereas I’m mendacity in mattress ready for sleep to return. That good steadiness of being sleepy sufficient to let the concepts move and awake sufficient to then write them down in order that I can assess them within the morning.
HKP: Trying forward, what are your objectives for Francis Doom within the coming 12 months?
Francis Doom: I feel proper now, I’m simply within the mode of desirous to play out as a lot as attainable. I’ve put a variety of vitality into social media (which is one thing I’ve at all times prevented prior to now) however now it’s time to bodily deliver the music to individuals.
HKP: Lastly, please depart a message in your followers studying this.
Francis Doom: I can not thank sufficient these people who find themselves continuously sharing and posting my music. It actually provides this entire factor life. I really like ya.
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Picture and Video Credit: Francis Doom