Joni Forest – Brutalism
Podcast name: Brutalism
Host: Joni Forest
Genres: Electrónica, Bass, Breaks, Afrodisco, Hip-Hop, Jungle
Tuesday 7pm UK
Jonathan Montoya is a bit of an eminence on that torrid afro-caribbean nice known as Bass Music. Going from the countryside to the city – and all the way back – had a quite literal impact on his life and contributed to develop his very particular and sensitive musical palate. Starting out as a little boy who discovered FL Studio on a laptop, beginning to make tracks for sale under the name of SONOTECH. He’ll turn into a series of character of some influence, who became an essential part of the Venezuelan netlabel COCOBASS.
In retrospect, we can find him talking on a diversity of languages through his different incarnations. There was the cytrus, glazed sounds of Jairomendez, who made his enthusiasm for Cumbia and other Afrocaribbean rhythms very eviden on his Puta Rumba EP back in 2010, mixing Argentina’s Pibes Chorros with Gangsta Rap and finding his samples in places never heard of, like Machito Ponce’s lyrics about short dicks and Beastie Boy’s Intergalactic: a style which he’ll master by Puñalada Dance and El Final, taking a dive in the Dembow and Tukki aesthetics before taking a turn to a more experimental production style.
It was around that time when he formed Dubberman along his frequent collaborator and compadre, Mr. Ioso, going even deeper into the realms of Dembow and Dancehall and pasting adorable porno samples over extremely sharp 8-bit plugins.
The past of Joni Forest with his alter-ego Jairomendez and Lakra
After the living “death” of Jairomendez, and as grief coping mechanism, he returns as Lakra, an alter-ego that goes for a little ride on Rap and Hip-hop beats in search for a cure to the ailment of life, until the time he returns to the woods to reach a state of zen. Finally, on 2015 he consolidates his bits and pieces as Joni Forest, his most recent creative iteration, a far more cohesive and serious voice with much less of the slapstick, parodic vibes from his beginnings with a clear aim towards the dancefloor.
After almost two decades of coming and going around various Latin American electronic cliques, he’s collaborated on various projects along musical collectives and independent producers. Amongs which La Gallera Social Club, FLYBVCK, Le Ronca Records and S.A.L.A.S. stand to the eye.
Brutalism is a show that emerges from the need of points of reference to better understand the development of contemporary electronic music. Each session covers a small bit of musical terrain in contexts and genres as broad as Electronica, Garage, bass, Rap, Breaks, Afrodisco, House, Hip-hop and Jungle.