Hailing from Detroit, music duo J-E-T-S includes Machinedrum’s Travis Stewart and Jimmy Edgar. The two musicians have a new album out called ZOOSPA.

ZOOSPA has been categorized into the very unique niche of “futuristic post-trap R&B” and spans a variety of electronic music genres. The two artists spoke with Jill Hopkins on Vocalo about the new hybrid-genre album.

Jill Hopkins: What did you two learn and gather from the many different places you’ve lived that you wanted to incorporate into the music you made together?

We both lived in Berlin for a while. That was a good place for us to really cut our teeth and grind it in the club scene, get to know the European sound and how dance culture works differently there. In the states, dance music culture is just a bit different. There’s less emphasis on the events and the long DJ sets and just the electronic music in general as sort of like a scheme to have a dance party.

There is a lot going on in Zoospa, your new record. Why was it important to you to explore and meld so many elements into one album?

We’re not necessarily consciously trying to make music that spans all these different genres. It just naturally comes out through all of our influences, and being aware of those influences and over the past 20 years, experimenting, specifically within those different genres. We’ve used this collaboration as an outlet to kind of hybridize all of those different elements together, using all the different equipment and newer and older approaches to producing music adds to the hybridization.

You’ve described this album as “futuristic post-trap R&B.” You seem to be invested in the future of sounds, how are you able to predict and create that on these tracks and on the album as a whole?

We don’t really use the term trap so much even though what we do is definitely related to it. But I just love how the the genre of trap is mainly based around the the 808 and there’s such a long history of using the 808 and different styles of music. In everything we do, we try evolve the sound and create something new and fresh. But I just love the the history of the 808 and how it kind of stuck around for so long because it’s such a really foundational music.

What do you see in the future for J-E-T-S, post this 2020 tour?

We’re really excited about the unknown and just seeing where the universe can kind of take us with what we’ve been putting out there. We’re super into the idea of collaborating with more and more vocalists because that’s where we really shine. Don’t get me wrong, we love making instrumental kind of music as well. But I think there’s a certain kind of joy that we get out of collaborating with really amazing vocalists, who not only are talented but have something to say that’s inspiring and uplifting and clever.

Audio produced by Fyodor Sakhnovski

More from Vocalo:

• Raequan Scott Finds Joy In Not Fitting In
• Matt Muse’s New EP Is “Chicago Decent”
• Anthony Bruno Shares His Story With Each Note
• The Reel Critic Travels Into Outer Space With ‘A Million Miles Away’
• Darius Dennis Uses Change As His Canvas

Related posts:

Rapsody is Hip-Hop to the Core P.O.S and Sims of Doomtree Make Bangers as Shredders Rich Robbins Bridges The Gap Between City and Suburbia With Summertime Raps and Vibes Cantrell talks palindromes, jam skating and new EP “Devil Never Even Lived” Tobi Lou Breaks Free with New Album “Live on Ice” Sherie and D Smoke’s Love Shines On New Single “Candlelight”