Dance music is so often about the female diva belting out the lyrics that male singers have to work twice as hard to get their music out there. Jason Antone is up to the challenge, starting his own label, Chickie Records, and harnessing the power of the internet, video, and a strong DIY ethos to get his music out there. "With You" was a great introduction, watch out for "Be Free" to conquer clubs and radio this summer.
DJ Ron Slomowicz: You've got a new single out called Be Free that is climbing
the club charts. Did you write it?.
Jason Antone: Yes, I wrote it with Georgie Porgie. I came to him
with an idea and he came back to me with an idea. I think it took
about a month. We went back and forth to come up with the finished
product which is what you hear today.
RS: Do you normally start with the track or do you normally
start with words?
Jason Antone: It comes to me both ways. Sometimes I'm driving in a
car and I have to call myself at home to leave myself a message with
some lyrics or a melody. Or sometimes I'll be sitting at the piano
vocalizing or playing some classical music or something and I'll hear
something in my head that I'll note and write down. I keep a bag of
my little notes, tapes, messages, and dates of when I wrote stuff that
I compile together to write songs, so I've got a lot of treasures
hidden in there.
RS: So you actually write music, that's such a rarity these days.
Jason Antone: Yes, I actually write music. I love performing music
that I write because even though I sing other peoples' songs as well,
there's something special about singing something that you wrote
yourself, I think I give a better performance.
RS: Very cool. You also had a really popular single last year,
"With You." Was that composed in a similar way?
Jason Antone: It was. I wrote that song in about a half hour,
actually, which was kind of weird, as sometimes it happens really fast
and sometimes it takes a long time. So I wrote that song and recorded
the vocals at home in my home studio. Then I went to a studio and
recorded the vocals professionally, sent it out to a couple of
producers and tried some new people. It's interesting to see what
people do with what you give them.
RS: You also did a video for that song, was that your first video.
Jason Antone: It was my first video and I shot it in Chicago. It
was a two-day shoot and I loved it, it was great. It's so interesting
doing the storyboard and seeing what the director comes up with and
putting in your own input. Then there's the makeup and the hair - at
the time, I had hair, I shaved my head for this single, so this next
one will be easier.
RS: So there is a video coming for "Be Free?"
Jason Antone: Yes, I am shooting a video with director Davidson Cole
whose film "Design" was a hit at Sundance.
RS: Talking about videos, you were involved with the Turn Up
America project. What was that like?
Jason Antone: That was very cool. Georgie Porgie had this great
idea of putting all these dance artists together and giving America a
visual to put behind music, which is very lacking in our industry. It
was a two-day shoot here in Chicago and a bunch of artists flew in.
We spent about twenty-four hours together that weekend shooting
various segments and scenes, basically recreating a club and it was
great fun.
RS: You're part of the Music Plant family with your own record
label Chickie Records. Where did that name come from?
Jason Antone: Chickie is actually a nickname of mine that my family
and friends call me. I got it when I was about six months old as I
used to have long blonde curly hair. My Dad looked at me one day and
said you look like a chickie, so it kind of stuck. I actually still
have the yellow feather outfit at home, which I really don't tell many
people about but maybe someday it'll be in the Jason Antone museum.
