In an age of multicolored promotion levers, TikTok, and the ever growing virality of mainstream electronic music, it can sometimes be hard to remember why we’re here in the first place.
For most fans, it’s the music that keeps us coming back. It’s the music that leads the way. For artists who aren’t over fixated on self-importance or image, such as Josh Kipersztok, AKA Smigonaut, it’s the music that receives the highest priority. Not social media, inauthentic personas, clout-chasing, or anything else.
Kipersztok makes music for music sake, and in our recent interview with him, he provides us with the Smigonaut story and how his devotion got him to where he is today.
Max Vanegas: So, you’ve had quite an eventful year including one very significant life event. Could you catch us up to speed with what’s going on?
Josh Kipersztok: It’s been a pretty eventful past few months, personally and for the Smigonaut project. I was juggling a full-time job for the past few years and was recently let go. So this is the first time I’ve been able to really focus on the Smigonaut project 100%. One of the biggest challenges of juggling a job and a music career is finding the time and energy to create. Recently, I’ve had so much time and energy to work on new music, which has been amazing. I feel more creatively energized than I have in a long time.
MV: At what point in your life did you decide that you wanted to pursue music as a profession?
JK: Music was all I cared about ever since high school. I was in a band. I loved playing guitar. And I knew I wanted to make music but every bit of societal pressure told me to go to college and get a degree. I originally went to the University of Arizona but that was a really difficult time in my life for various reasons. One of which was my confusion surrounding what I wanted to do. I knew it wasn’t for me, I just wanted to work on music. So I worked up the courage to talk to my folks and be like, “guys, I think I want to be a musician, I think I want to apply to Berklee.” After some intense conversation, they were like, “okay, let’s give it a shot.” So I auditioned at Berklee on the electric guitar, got admitted, and the rest is history.
MV: I think a lot of people, myself included, don’t have a good idea of what goes on at a school like Berklee. Could you describe what your experience was like?
JK: As soon as I arrived I knew that it was the right decision. From day one I met extremely like-minded people who were all just as excited and eager to pursue music as I was. I met drummers, saxophonists, clarinet players, guitar players, bass players, vocalists. It was a bunch of misfit kids who felt like they had this calling and were compelled to pursue it.
JK: As far as the school itself, it wasn’t like the movie Whiplash where JK Simmons is hurling symbols at students’ heads and stuff, but there were some really intense classrooms and teachers. I think part of the reason why it felt so serious was because the music industry is so brutal and it seemed like a way to get people prepared for that. I sometimes question whether that’s the best way but it did reinforce the idea that you don’t want to fuck around in the music industry because it’s so competitive and brutal.
MV: What’s the hardest thing to teach about music production?
JK: I would say the hardest thing to teach about music production, not to sound pompous or anything, is taste. There’s no accounting for taste or what influences you bring to production. All of these technical things, mixing, sound design, can be learned. It’s more about how you apply it and what you do with it that makes the music and defines your sound. It’s very personal and almost spiritual in a way. You either feel it or you don’t.
JK: You have to spend a lot of time listening to music and really thinking about, okay, why do I like certain music? Why do I not like certain music? What makes music good to me? And that’s a very abstract thing that’s open to interpretation. It’s kind of like being a cook versus being a chef. I hate that analogy, it makes me sound like an asshole, but it’s following a recipe versus creating a recipe, if that makes sense.
MV: One notable alumnus coming out of Berklee is Jade Cicada. Can you discuss how you met and how that friendship grew?
JK: I met Skyler [Jade Cicada] at a party that me and some buddies were throwing. We all lived in this apartment complex that was right outside the main campus. The building was about to collapse and frankly, it should have been condemned, but everybody knew each other and threw parties on the roof.
JK: At one of the parties my friends was like, “oh, you should talk to Skyler [Jade Cicada], he loves Tipper,” so I introduced myself and we started talking about Broken Soul Jamboree. After a while we started to hang out and listen to tunes together. A typical night would consist of grabbing a six-pack and listening to Tipper or swapping artists we liked. It was a really carefree time when we were all just beginning to get inspired by this very technical, sound design-heavy, and sort of awe-inspiring electronic music.
MV: Aside from Jade Cicada it seems like another very close collaborator and peer in your career is Deez.
JK: Oh, yeah, Andy [Deez] is one of my closest friends, and obviously we have a side project called DeeZNauts. I think Skyler was actually the one to suggest that name. I met Andy long after I graduated from Berklee when I was living in Boston at this place called Wonder Bar. It’s since closed but it was a place where a lot of electronic acts would come through. He came up to me and said he was a fan of my stuff and we hit it off from there. A little later Iater I was looking for a place and ended up moving in with him and his partner where we ultimately lived for four or five years together. I think living together is why the DeeZNauts project was so easy and natural because we could just walk across the hall and work on music together.
MV: You chuckle a little every time you mention DeeZNauts. Whether it’s with the names of your projects or your demeanor towards promotion, you tend to approach things with a tinge of humor and lightheartedness. Why do you think it’s important to have this attitude about music and life in general?
JK: I love humor and comedy. For me, humor is a way of coping with difficult things in my life. I feel like I’d be doing myself and my fans a disservice by taking myself too seriously. I’ve recently discovered that one of my weird pet peeves about electronic producers, or musicians in general, is those who take themselves to seriously. It seems to come off inauthentic. It’s hard to explain what that means, but you can just kind of feel it. Have you ever seen Grandma’s Boy? Like JP in Grandma’s Boy, just really sort of self-important. Like I’m this misunderstood genius. The way I see it is you should take yourself seriously as an artist, not as a person. I love cracking jokes. I love comedy, I love humor, and I think it is just who I am. Look at some of Tipper’s song titles, “Class 5 Roaming Vapors,” I think that’s a Ghostbusters reference…
MV: “Air Biscuits”
JK: Right, exactly. Let’s not overthink this. At the end of the day we’re making bleeps and bloops for people who are trying to have a good time, feel goofy and silly, and let loose. It’s about fun at the end of the day. I think it’s important to take yourself seriously as an artist and try to create compelling and emotionally impactful things, but it’s also supposed to be fun, and you’re also supposed to be dancing. So why not have a good time? Why not crack jokes and all that shit?
MV: In the past, you’ve been categorized as strictly a left-field bass and neuro-leaning producer. However, this recent 2024 mini mix is a massive counterpoint to that statement. What has been the biggest factor in expanding your sound lately? Did it come naturally or was it a conscious decision?
JK: I think part of me has felt a little intimidated to break into the 140 or DNB scene because they have a bit of a reputation for gatekeeping and being somewhat elitist. DNB is also considered one of the harder genres to produce because it’s faster and you need to really pay attention to your technique and mixdown.
JK: So originally, I felt like I wasn’t ready or good enough. But now I feel like I’ve produced long enough where I’m confident enough to tackle these genres in a way that I’m happy with and proud of. I think one of the hardest things about music production is knowing when you’re ready to put yourself out there. So yeah, I’ve been challenging myself to work with all kinds of genres and I’m glad because I really enjoy it.
JK: I would say experimental music is being willing to try anything at all. Whether that’s working in a different tempo, working in a different time signature, working in multiple time signatures, or just being willing to mix and match and throw shit at the wall to see what sticks. Maybe this next portion of the song is completely different from the last one. Maybe I’m going to put a bossa nova groove in the middle of this track, or a video gamey jazz intro in the center of this track. It’s about not following any set parameters or boundaries.
MV: Perhaps one of the most famous gatherings involving experimental music was/is Rendezvous that you performed at earlier this year. Can you talk a little bit about what your experience was like working with the Tipper team and playing such a coveted festival?
JK: Playing that stage at Suwannee has been a goal for a while so finally getting the opportunity to do that was such a blessing. As far as working with the Tipper team I can’t say I’ve ever been treated better in my time playing shows. They were very accommodating in terms of making sure that all the artists were very comfortable in terms of lodging, having food available at the right times, and making sure you were set up to get where you needed to go. It was very seamless.
JK: Stuff like that makes such a difference. Touring is hard and playing shows is hard, especially big shows. [Rendezvous] could have been one of the most nerve-racking events I ever played, but they set everything up in a way that made me really comfortable and put me in an excellent headspace that carried into the live show. I wish I could say I was super nervous but I felt really calm going into it and I think that’s a testament to their abilities.
MV: Different to Rendezvous in scope and size you have festivals like Fire Lights where you will be performing later this month. What makes small independent festivals like this so unique?
JK: Independent festivals like Fire Lights just feel very intentional. You can see the care that goes into the curation, the event planning, the food vendors, all the way up to what you’re seeing on stage and how the vibe is set up. It’s also just so much more community-oriented. It’s a lot easier to assimilate and meet new people while also interacting with people you’ve known. This is going to be my first Fire Lights so I’m looking forward to experiencing that.
MV: What are your feelings towards the need to promote yourself versus letting the music do the talking?
JK: I would say that my opinion on that has changed a lot. Right now, I totally get it and I think for better or worse social media is a tool that if used correctly can grow your audience or even make you an overnight celebrity. But on the flip side, it is cancerous and I hate social media in terms of what it represents. It feels very squid-gamey, which I don’t like because we’re all just kind of competing for our fans’ attention. But I’m also not against it and with music now being my full-time job I am actually thinking of ways that I can leverage it.
MV: What is the one thing that you would change about the electronic music community today?
JK: The one thing I would change about the scene would be more equity in terms of pay. We live in a capitalist society and it costs money to do this stuff. If it didn’t, we’d be having a different conversation. But at the end of the day, it’s really discouraging for younger artists who are trying to grow and are putting in the work to feel like they’re being dismissed because they’re at the bottom of a lineup. Some of the discrepancies I’ve heard of between headliners and openers are absurd. Do artists need to be getting paid as much as they’re getting paid or can they still go home happy while also making it worthwhile for everybody involved? And that sounds really idealistic, and I can almost hear people just being like, “that’s not how the world works blah, blah, blah,” but here I am. That’s what I would change.
MV: I think it’s an important conversation to have. Hopefully with people like yourself and Tom [Keota] making it a point to be discussed, we can start moving in that direction. Anything else you’d like to share about the project at the moment?
JK: I’ve got a couple of heavier EPs in the hopper and my second full-length LP is in full swing. It’s going to be very different than the last one and much more downtempo leaning. So it’s going to be kind of a different vibe, but if you’ve been attending my sets over the past few months or listened to my minimix you are going to be getting a good sense of what’s coming down the pike. This past weekend I played at the Black Box and in Atlanta and then I’ve got Fire Lights Festival this weekend! Lastly, we just announced an afters for the Tipper Run in Alabama at the end of the month. Really excited about what’s to come.
In an age of multicolored promotion levers, TikTok, and the ever growing virality of mainstream electronic music, it can sometimes be hard to remember why we’re here in the first place.
For most fans, it’s the music that keeps us coming back. It’s the music that leads the way. For artists who aren’t over fixated on self-importance or image, such as Josh Kipersztok, AKA Smigonaut, it’s the music that receives the highest priority. Not social media, inauthentic personas, clout-chasing, or anything else.
Kipersztok makes music for music sake, and in our recent interview with him, he provides us with the Smigonaut story and how his devotion got him to where he is today.
Max Vanegas: So, you’ve had quite an eventful year including one very significant life event. Could you catch us up to speed with what’s going on?
Josh Kipersztok: It’s been a pretty eventful past few months, personally and for the Smigonaut project. I was juggling a full-time job for the past few years and was recently let go. So this is the first time I’ve been able to really focus on the Smigonaut project 100%. One of the biggest challenges of juggling a job and a music career is finding the time and energy to create. Recently, I’ve had so much time and energy to work on new music, which has been amazing. I feel more creatively energized than I have in a long time.
MV: At what point in your life did you decide that you wanted to pursue music as a profession?
JK: Music was all I cared about ever since high school. I was in a band. I loved playing guitar. And I knew I wanted to make music but every bit of societal pressure told me to go to college and get a degree. I originally went to the University of Arizona but that was a really difficult time in my life for various reasons. One of which was my confusion surrounding what I wanted to do. I knew it wasn’t for me, I just wanted to work on music. So I worked up the courage to talk to my folks and be like, “guys, I think I want to be a musician, I think I want to apply to Berklee.” After some intense conversation, they were like, “okay, let’s give it a shot.” So I auditioned at Berklee on the electric guitar, got admitted, and the rest is history.
MV: I think a lot of people, myself included, don’t have a good idea of what goes on at a school like Berklee. Could you describe what your experience was like?
JK: As soon as I arrived I knew that it was the right decision. From day one I met extremely like-minded people who were all just as excited and eager to pursue music as I was. I met drummers, saxophonists, clarinet players, guitar players, bass players, vocalists. It was a bunch of misfit kids who felt like they had this calling and were compelled to pursue it.
JK: As far as the school itself, it wasn’t like the movie Whiplash where JK Simmons is hurling symbols at students’ heads and stuff, but there were some really intense classrooms and teachers. I think part of the reason why it felt so serious was because the music industry is so brutal and it seemed like a way to get people prepared for that. I sometimes question whether that’s the best way but it did reinforce the idea that you don’t want to fuck around in the music industry because it’s so competitive and brutal.
MV: What’s the hardest thing to teach about music production?
JK: I would say the hardest thing to teach about music production, not to sound pompous or anything, is taste. There’s no accounting for taste or what influences you bring to production. All of these technical things, mixing, sound design, can be learned. It’s more about how you apply it and what you do with it that makes the music and defines your sound. It’s very personal and almost spiritual in a way. You either feel it or you don’t.
JK: You have to spend a lot of time listening to music and really thinking about, okay, why do I like certain music? Why do I not like certain music? What makes music good to me? And that’s a very abstract thing that’s open to interpretation. It’s kind of like being a cook versus being a chef. I hate that analogy, it makes me sound like an asshole, but it’s following a recipe versus creating a recipe, if that makes sense.
MV: One notable alumnus coming out of Berklee is Jade Cicada. Can you discuss how you met and how that friendship grew?
JK: I met Skyler [Jade Cicada] at a party that me and some buddies were throwing. We all lived in this apartment complex that was right outside the main campus. The building was about to collapse and frankly, it should have been condemned, but everybody knew each other and threw parties on the roof.
JK: At one of the parties my friends was like, “oh, you should talk to Skyler [Jade Cicada], he loves Tipper,” so I introduced myself and we started talking about Broken Soul Jamboree. After a while we started to hang out and listen to tunes together. A typical night would consist of grabbing a six-pack and listening to Tipper or swapping artists we liked. It was a really carefree time when we were all just beginning to get inspired by this very technical, sound design-heavy, and sort of awe-inspiring electronic music.
MV: Aside from Jade Cicada it seems like another very close collaborator and peer in your career is Deez.
JK: Oh, yeah, Andy [Deez] is one of my closest friends, and obviously we have a side project called DeeZNauts. I think Skyler was actually the one to suggest that name. I met Andy long after I graduated from Berklee when I was living in Boston at this place called Wonder Bar. It’s since closed but it was a place where a lot of electronic acts would come through. He came up to me and said he was a fan of my stuff and we hit it off from there. A little later Iater I was looking for a place and ended up moving in with him and his partner where we ultimately lived for four or five years together. I think living together is why the DeeZNauts project was so easy and natural because we could just walk across the hall and work on music together.
MV: You chuckle a little every time you mention DeeZNauts. Whether it’s with the names of your projects or your demeanor towards promotion, you tend to approach things with a tinge of humor and lightheartedness. Why do you think it’s important to have this attitude about music and life in general?
JK: I love humor and comedy. For me, humor is a way of coping with difficult things in my life. I feel like I’d be doing myself and my fans a disservice by taking myself too seriously. I’ve recently discovered that one of my weird pet peeves about electronic producers, or musicians in general, is those who take themselves to seriously. It seems to come off inauthentic. It’s hard to explain what that means, but you can just kind of feel it. Have you ever seen Grandma’s Boy? Like JP in Grandma’s Boy, just really sort of self-important. Like I’m this misunderstood genius. The way I see it is you should take yourself seriously as an artist, not as a person. I love cracking jokes. I love comedy, I love humor, and I think it is just who I am. Look at some of Tipper’s song titles, “Class 5 Roaming Vapors,” I think that’s a Ghostbusters reference…
MV: “Air Biscuits”
JK: Right, exactly. Let’s not overthink this. At the end of the day we’re making bleeps and bloops for people who are trying to have a good time, feel goofy and silly, and let loose. It’s about fun at the end of the day. I think it’s important to take yourself seriously as an artist and try to create compelling and emotionally impactful things, but it’s also supposed to be fun, and you’re also supposed to be dancing. So why not have a good time? Why not crack jokes and all that shit?
MV: In the past, you’ve been categorized as strictly a left-field bass and neuro-leaning producer. However, this recent 2024 mini mix is a massive counterpoint to that statement. What has been the biggest factor in expanding your sound lately? Did it come naturally or was it a conscious decision?
JK: I think part of me has felt a little intimidated to break into the 140 or DNB scene because they have a bit of a reputation for gatekeeping and being somewhat elitist. DNB is also considered one of the harder genres to produce because it’s faster and you need to really pay attention to your technique and mixdown.
JK: So originally, I felt like I wasn’t ready or good enough. But now I feel like I’ve produced long enough where I’m confident enough to tackle these genres in a way that I’m happy with and proud of. I think one of the hardest things about music production is knowing when you’re ready to put yourself out there. So yeah, I’ve been challenging myself to work with all kinds of genres and I’m glad because I really enjoy it.
MV: What do you think makes music experimental?
JK: I would say experimental music is being willing to try anything at all. Whether that’s working in a different tempo, working in a different time signature, working in multiple time signatures, or just being willing to mix and match and throw shit at the wall to see what sticks. Maybe this next portion of the song is completely different from the last one. Maybe I’m going to put a bossa nova groove in the middle of this track, or a video gamey jazz intro in the center of this track. It’s about not following any set parameters or boundaries.
MV: Perhaps one of the most famous gatherings involving experimental music was/is Rendezvous that you performed at earlier this year. Can you talk a little bit about what your experience was like working with the Tipper team and playing such a coveted festival?
JK: Playing that stage at Suwannee has been a goal for a while so finally getting the opportunity to do that was such a blessing. As far as working with the Tipper team I can’t say I’ve ever been treated better in my time playing shows. They were very accommodating in terms of making sure that all the artists were very comfortable in terms of lodging, having food available at the right times, and making sure you were set up to get where you needed to go. It was very seamless.
JK: Stuff like that makes such a difference. Touring is hard and playing shows is hard, especially big shows. [Rendezvous] could have been one of the most nerve-racking events I ever played, but they set everything up in a way that made me really comfortable and put me in an excellent headspace that carried into the live show. I wish I could say I was super nervous but I felt really calm going into it and I think that’s a testament to their abilities.
MV: Different to Rendezvous in scope and size you have festivals like Fire Lights where you will be performing later this month. What makes small independent festivals like this so unique?
JK: Independent festivals like Fire Lights just feel very intentional. You can see the care that goes into the curation, the event planning, the food vendors, all the way up to what you’re seeing on stage and how the vibe is set up. It’s also just so much more community-oriented. It’s a lot easier to assimilate and meet new people while also interacting with people you’ve known. This is going to be my first Fire Lights so I’m looking forward to experiencing that.
MV: What are your feelings towards the need to promote yourself versus letting the music do the talking?
JK: I would say that my opinion on that has changed a lot. Right now, I totally get it and I think for better or worse social media is a tool that if used correctly can grow your audience or even make you an overnight celebrity. But on the flip side, it is cancerous and I hate social media in terms of what it represents. It feels very squid-gamey, which I don’t like because we’re all just kind of competing for our fans’ attention. But I’m also not against it and with music now being my full-time job I am actually thinking of ways that I can leverage it.
MV: What is the one thing that you would change about the electronic music community today?
JK: The one thing I would change about the scene would be more equity in terms of pay. We live in a capitalist society and it costs money to do this stuff. If it didn’t, we’d be having a different conversation. But at the end of the day, it’s really discouraging for younger artists who are trying to grow and are putting in the work to feel like they’re being dismissed because they’re at the bottom of a lineup. Some of the discrepancies I’ve heard of between headliners and openers are absurd. Do artists need to be getting paid as much as they’re getting paid or can they still go home happy while also making it worthwhile for everybody involved? And that sounds really idealistic, and I can almost hear people just being like, “that’s not how the world works blah, blah, blah,” but here I am. That’s what I would change.
MV: I think it’s an important conversation to have. Hopefully with people like yourself and Tom [Keota] making it a point to be discussed, we can start moving in that direction. Anything else you’d like to share about the project at the moment?
JK: I’ve got a couple of heavier EPs in the hopper and my second full-length LP is in full swing. It’s going to be very different than the last one and much more downtempo leaning. So it’s going to be kind of a different vibe, but if you’ve been attending my sets over the past few months or listened to my minimix you are going to be getting a good sense of what’s coming down the pike. This past weekend I played at the Black Box and in Atlanta and then I’ve got Fire Lights Festival this weekend! Lastly, we just announced an afters for the Tipper Run in Alabama at the end of the month. Really excited about what’s to come.
To keep up with everything the Smigonaut sound project has going on, follow the links below.
Follow Smigonaut:
Website | Facebook | Instagram | X | SoundCloud
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