Daniel Fears and Jiji Collaborate on ‘This Heart’
by Jeff McCord
Catch Jiji & Daniel Fears perform on March 23rd and 24th brought to you by ACG!
We live in a vast and diverse world. At times the gulfs between us seem too enormous to traverse, yet the smallest bit of commonality can bring together childhoods spent half a world apart.
“We grew up on opposite sides of the world.”
That’s Austin R&B singer Daniel Fears, describing how he and South Korean guitar prodigy Jiji (real name: Jiyeon Kim) ended up as collaborators. I’m talking with them both after recording a Studio 1A session, in support of their upcoming collaborative premiere, ‘This Heart’, a one of a kind performance that takes place March 23rd and 24th at the Rosette. (More info and tickets at austinclassicalgutiar.org).
“Jiji grew up in Korea. I grew up in Texas. But we found that we had a lot in common in terms of growing up in these very religious households and very strict sort of upbringings.”
“I was Catholic!!” Jiji interjects, laughing uproariously. She’s excitable and gregarious, a complete contrast to the delicacy and precise nature of her musicianship, and to Fears’ reserved cool. “I had the Bible study and it was intense!!!”
In a 2021 interview, Fears told how his walled-off church-going existence led him to pursue a career as a trombonist in classical music, and how a grad school lip injury at Yale changed his course. His clandestine listening to Frank Ocean and the like had sunk in a way he had not previously realized, and through them, Fears found his own unique voice.
Jiji’s story is not dissimilar.
“Probably Jiji had it worse and more strict…”
“I was in church 3 or 4 times a week and playing in the band,” Fears continues, “doing all that stuff. We’ve grown away from those traditions.Now we’re just thinking about how we relate to ourselves, to the world, to our spirituality. And something like that connected us. And I also think the desire to make our own stuff was unique to us rather than doing what we’d been taught to do.”
Jiji has had phenomenal success at what she has been taught to do. A sought-after concerto soloist, she has premiered solo and chamber works by a diverse array of composers, and accompanied many of the top symphony orchestras. She has appeared on PBS, NPR, done solo concerts at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. The Washington Post recently raved that she’s “one of the 21 composers/performers who sound like tomorrow.” She’s currently an associate professor of guitar at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. Between their January Studio 1A session and their concerts in late March, Jiji had two major performances lined up.
I have this new guitar concerto that was written by Steve Mackey, who’s an amazing composer,” she explains, when I ask if she is hanging around Austin until her and Daniel’s March performance. “We’re actually premiering on March 9th, in the Kimmel Center at Verizon Hall in Philly. And I’m terrified because this man has written all this finger tapping stuff. I’m classically trained. I don’t do Eddie Van Halen stuff, so I have all these blisters on my right hand. And then I have one premiere by David Lang. He’s one of my favorite composers. So that’s coming up. I’m not even thinking about the future right now. I’m just taking it day by day because I can’t survive.”
So, busy. It’s a testament to Jiji’s musical curiosity that she’s taken the time to undertake this ambitious project with Daniel Fears. In fact, she was the one that sought him out.
“We both went to Yale,”Jiji explains, “but we didn’t overlap, so we had mutual friends. And then I saw his video through Austin Classical Guitar social media, and I was like, ‘Oh, my gosh, he’s so cool!’ And then we met officially.”
“Yeah,” Daniel continues. “I came to her concert at Austin Classical Guitar. She played some classical repertoire and then her own music. And both, of course, were amazing. But I was really blown away by her original stuff.”
How was it, I ask, that Daniel happened to attend her show?
They both laugh.
“I just reached out to Joe Williams [artistic director of Austin Classical Guitar],” Jiji recalls. “I said ‘Oh, do you guys know Daniel? He’s my friend. Invite him!’ I was nervous to straight up talk to you. I just lied to Joe that we’re friends.”
“Joe was like, ‘Oh, you and Jiji went to school together’” Daniel remembers. “I was like, ‘Nooo…. but let’s let’s go with it.” But I’m so glad I did. I’m so glad that worked out.”
So they hit it off, and began collaborating over the internet.
Daniel explains.
“Jiji sent me some tracks in the summer of last year, I think. I was super busy and I didn’t get to it until November, but when I finally did, I would set aside time in the morning. I’d wake up, go to my little studio space and just settle. I literally would put on like some Miyazaki films and sing lines that I felt fit with the music and with the visuals, and that kind of birthed the shapes of these melodies and things. And then I went back and try to figure out what it meant. We had a couple of meetings and we talked about our upbringing and where we come from, and I’d go and reference that, and try to fill in those experiences.”
The music began to take shape, and their classical backgrounds showed only in the intricacy of the arrangements. In the end, they had a full program of music, which they are calling “This Heart”. Performed in its entirety for the first time at the Rosette on March 23rd and 24th, the material moves with its dynamics. At times Fears’ voice is a whispered falsetto, other times powerful, filling the room. Jiji’s guitar work unfolds with a surgeon’s precision, from delicate fingerwork all the way to voluminous power chording.
Fears took an abrupt turn from his classical background years ago, but Jiji’s work has hovered closer to the genre. How different has this experience been for her?
“It’s totally different! This was my scariest project of the year [she breaks into laughter]. To come up with a whole set of original music – I‘ve written music here and there, but for guitar and atmospheric, droning music. That’s what I do. Writing music with Daniel has really motivated and inspired me to get out of my comfort zone, which I love doing. And I’m scared. Terrified.”
“I love collaborating with other people. It’s always the scary thing, creating your own music. It’s very vulnerable. But in the end it’s really exciting to put your own music out there. It’s a piece of you. So I think yeah, ‘You can do it!” That’s what I like to say. “YOU CAN DO IT!!”
The preview we got in Studio 1A is really just the tip of the iceberg.
“It’s probably about 45 minutes worth of music,” says Daniel. “We’ve got some more stuff that combines acoustic and electronics. I’m excited to bring those out into the real world.”
Any plans to record?
“We might,” Daniel says, almost as if he is asking a question. “I mean, I’m open to recording.”
Jiji jumps in. “I want to go on tour! LETS GO TOUR!!”
First things first. It may be an unlikely partnership, but the creative magic has been there from the start. The upcoming evenings at the Rosette promise to be unique and exciting, the start of something, not the finish. Reconvening for the Studio 1a session, the pair have already started working on new material.
FOLLOW DANIEL FEARS
FOLLOW JIJI
Set List:
Get Right
Where To Go
Hope You Will
Musicians:
Daniel Fears: vocals, keys; Jiji – guitar
Credits:
Producer: Deidre Gott; Audio Engineer: Jake Perlman, Rene Chavez; Audio Mix: Rene Chavez; Cameras: Renee Dominguez, Michael Minasi; Edit: Michael Minasi
