Why Lo-Fi Music is so popular: Zoom in on Jam’addict

This feeling is unmatched
Though it literally came out of nothing
From people stuck in bedrooms, studying, dreaming or rather overthinking
From musicians that long for more jamming and vibing.
A trend that inspires nostalgy and escapism from a life that is meant to be
Over a smoking hot beat.

Jam’addict is a guitarist, bassist, producer from Lyon – France. After over 18 years of guitar lessons, and self-taught bass learning, he started releasing his first productions in the Lo-Fi Music scene in 2020. He has been making collaborations since 2019 over the web to nourish and master his aesthetics. Now, in 2022, he’s taking the Internet by storm, with the release of his latest EP, Out of Nothing. Jam’addict attracts monthly over 530K listeners on Spotify.

This body of work is released with the help of Effortless Audio, Lofi/Jazz music label with the clear goal to bring some simplicity to the oftentimes overly difficult music industry. This label is dedicated to the struggles of aspiring independent musicians, and respects their rights and freedom.

Here at Effortless we know how tiresome the journey of a young artist can be, that is why we focus on friendly, honest and direct communication with our artists, giving them all creative freedom to use their own sonic and visual language to create projects that they are truly proud of, while offering our support and guidance wherever it is requested. 

Effortless Audio team.

The Out Of Nothing EP is rich, not only based on the quality of its exquisite production, but also based on the collaborations he made along the way. Many contributors from all over the world are featured in this project. The main one, Sam Cross, is a pianist and producer from Peru, based in Germany. He started producing EDM when he was in high school. After moving to Germany, he got into Lofi and playing instruments to compose music.

I met Sam Cross through the Lofi Hip Hop artist community. We had already worked together in the past and we developed a certain “musical complicity”. We both like this jazzy and groovy hiphop style that we find on this EP.

Jam’addict

Along with Sam, Jam’addict invites Farnell Newton from Philadelphia, Ian Ewing from California, Monocloud from France, Brass Beat from Argentina, Lamar Azul from California. And quickly, the EP sounds like the mellowest jam session ever.

The culture of jam sessions

Jam’addict‘s stage name is quite indicative of his music approach: he makes music over genuine encounters and collaborations, then catches the organic feeling that comes out of it; quite as if he was live in a jam session. Besides, in Lyon, jam sessions are hot. They’re the place to be for young musicians to gather then find new mates to share and express music with.

Since 2019, Jam’addict has been showcasing his talents as a guitarist, bassist and producer on his Instagram. His studies taking more and more place in his daily routine, the boy had less and less time to go out and jam, though he did crave more and more collaborations with musicians, singers and rappers, and started reaching out to any artists he could compose with.

That’s when he came from the Jam Sessions community to discover the Lo-Fi Music community.

The Lo-Fi Music Community

Jam Community is all about entertaining and genuine sharing. Lo-Fi Community is all about relaxing and sharing as well.

Lo-Fi shapes a new attitude towards life, and a very relaxed one at that. Just sit back, relax and slow down everyday life. The art lies in reduction and being different. Special sound aesthetics and a deliberate contrast to the over-produced mainstream.

Thomann blog

This genre, much appreciated by students, school boys and girls, otakus (fans of manga), introverts, is all about freedom and taking it slow. Besides, each track or playlist is indicate to fit a precise moment of your day, at home. For breakfast you get some jazz-hop feels, for studies you get chill-hop vibes, for a nap you have sleep-hop music… Lo-Fi is the go-to when it comes to smooth hip-hop. Rappers such as Kota the Friend, known for his minimalism and simple jazz-infused tastes, helped make this type of vibe popular.

Strangely enough, the process of making Lo-Fi music follows the almost same rules of jam sessions, which are based on catching a moment.

Why Musicians love the Lo-Fi way of thinking

There’s a Lo-Fi dogma, from the Zurich cultural foundation called Sound Development that exists since 2007. It’s about “bringing back risk and chance in the production of music”, through the following of self-limiting guidelines. For example, as soon as the recording is in the can, nothing can be edited, added or corrected afterwards; a song must also be recorded in one day with all musicians and instruments in the same room (source Thomann blog)

Such rules can have a huge impact to stimulate creativity and break free from overthinking the process. A way to empower musicians who feel like sh*t to go and simply trust the process.

This philosophy recalls the likes of Marie Dahlstrom who’s been making EP’s for 10 years before the release of her crçitically acclaimed debut album, Like Sand. This one came out during the 2020 lockdown. While many musicians remained reluctant of releasing new music, many more were creating music in their rooms. As quarantine brought a lot of anxiety in homes, Lo-Fi music exploded, as a coping mechanism and a way to find some peace of mind. As a proof, we all remember that day whan Will Smith released a lofi hip-hop mix for those in search of calming instrumental tracks to listen to amid the COVID-19 (2019 coronavirus) pandemic (source Okayplayer).

Marie Dahlstrom was already much appreciated in the community, and her album gave the comfort millions of listeners were craving for.

Quickly after the celebration of her significative body of work, critically acclaimed, she released an EP made with her boyfriend producer, Dan Digga, and her room-mate rapper Aligo.

A plan was hatched to carve out 4 hours (8 pm – midnight) for four consecutive days, with the intent to create a new song each night – hence the title, 4inARow. Aligo explains, “Theme-wise there wasn’t a plan at first but we knew we wanted to explore different emotions and feelings with each night that passed. By the end we noticed the songs came together in a cohesive way that demonstrated a four stage cycle of love/relationships.”

SoulBounce

A friend from Jam’addict could totally relate to this process: Nohone beat, another producer that proves how much Lo-Fi Music offers an escapism out of time and space. When he began to take the road of the Lo-Fi production, his motto with his fellow musicians, was “shit music is good music <3”. Flaws and all, he enjoyed the process of creation.

The positive impact on brain and creativity, that’s what musicians and listeners love about Lo-Fi Music. Stress free and lively.

The best joints came Out Of Nothing

Jam’addict can take pride in making the music he loves with people he’s building honest friendship with. Plus he’s been able to spread his works for the world to listen. The right way to make a whole out of nothing. Thank you the Internet.

“Out of Nothing”: The idea behind this title is to try to highlight the creative process as a whole. Often an idea comes out of nowhere (“Out of Nothing”). All the titles of the EP refer to “moments” of creation such as the fact of thinking too much and going around in circles (“Overthinking”) or even the moment when you find your brilliant idea and enjoy of the vibe (“Vibing”).