Name: Jerome Sydenham
Nationality: Nigerian
Occupation: Composer, producer, DJ, label founder
Current release: Jerome Sydenham's "Walk the Dog," featuring Cosmic Soldier, is out via Mind Medizin.
Recommendations: Benin - Kings and Rituals (Court Arts and history from Nigeria), Snoek Publishers / The Collected works of Spinoza, Princeton / And the music of Fela Kuti. Ok, 3 things!

If you enjoyed this Jerome Sydenham  interview and would like to know more about his music, visit him on Instagram, and Facebook.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

I listen to music with my eyes open and tend to slip into a kind of day dream state that isolates my mind into the sounds at hand.

This can vary depending on what and what I am listening to ...

Entering new worlds and escapism through music have always exerted a very strong pull on me. What do you think you are drawn to most when it comes to listening to and creating music?

I am overtaken by unavoidable emotions when listening to music in general, regardless of genre. Certain aspects of productions/compositions and songs pull me in an innate sense of sorts.

Very thought provoking which leads into the other world of analysis and opinion ...

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience?

My childhood in Nigeria was surrounded with live music constantly, these vibrant circumstances applied to everyone. It was simply a cultural reality that, in my case, turned into a spiritual benefit.

NYC turntables and music collecting are the next steps in my sonic evolution before the studio experience begins.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

My awareness and discerning interest in all things music started a little earlier.

At this stage, I was particularly attracted to a form of local Yoruba  music called Akpala/Fuji Reggae (no association whatsoever with Jamaica). Its complex rhythm structure baffled me with a hypnotic excitement which gave birth to an immediate interest in music arrangement and a lot of fantasizing!

The scope of my music consumption has changed through travel and cultural appreciation. This was the order of the day, wherever I went, it always seemed to be apparent that I was also from somewhere else.

I, to this day, enjoy this very much. The pleasures of being a permanent student.

How would you describe your own relationship with your instrument, tools or equipment?

I regard myself as a DJ/Record Producer. My creative discipline is not instrument based as I have had no formal training. I can work with all instruments based on where my imagination takes me or what is required.

Given the opportunity, I would try to use masters of their specific instruments in a recording/production situation.

Where does the impulse to create something come from for you? What role do often-quoted sources of inspiration like dreams, other forms of art, personal relationships, politics etc play?

My head is so full of music, books, film, art etc .... I am a cultural sponge. I actually sometimes dream ideas, wake up and execute them.

Other times my mind will morphe an array of past or present influences into a fresh and ultimately, unrelated perspective.

Are you acting out parts of your personality in your music which you couldn't or wouldn't in your daily life? If so, which are these? What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music?

Nothing like that, my vibes come from a more fantasy based imagination, lots of dreaming and trying.

A lot of discipline is required in the execution of my expressive approach.

If music is a language, what can we communicate with it? How do you deal with misunderstandings?

Music is also an unapologetic form of free will that cannot, generally speaking, be forcefully imposed on individuals.

So, if you don't like it, change the station or avoid it.

Making music, in the beginning, is often playful and about discovery. How do you retain a sense of playfulness and how do you still draw surprises from tools, approaches and musical forms you may be very familiar with?

Music is always on the move, even when drawing from specific past influences and turning them into pieces that are ahead of the curve or current trend.

I love this adventure! Come what may!

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? How far would you describe them as “musical”?

In Nigeria, as a child, we lived next to a real rain forest and the night came with a symphony of sounds that would take your mind on wild and sometimes frightening journeys all the way across to the power and beauty of thunder and lightning.

Very musical indeed - in my opinion, that is.

What aspects of music do you feel can be captured through numbers, and which can not?

I think most things in life including music can be sequenced this way if you choose to see it through this lense. Fascinating but very academic. Very useful for manipulation if this is your methodical technique.

I don't think absolut predictions are in order yet. Very interesting times though. I'm going with my organic natural feelings but I do love machines at the same time.

We can surround ourselves with sound every second of the day. The great pianist Glenn Gould even considered this the ultimate delight. How do you see that yourself and what importance does silence hold?

Sound is everywhere all the time to me.

Even so-called silence is loud, at least in my head.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more "mundane" tasks?

As, for me, the dishes vary in complexity, a 16track Detroit techno classic can give me as much satisfaction as an entire orchestra.

I have done both and one isn't easier or preferred to the other. Time and place.

If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

Definitely a lot more care and seriousness in the documentation of all music and the implementation of this in educational settings, even if optional.