Jack Waterson

Jack Waterson is the acid that Adrian never took as a kid. The result, as you’d expect, is both colorful and dark; full of sonic and musical surprises. The creative relationship they have questions the social order of the United States, yet theirs is a quintessentially American Story: Kindred spirits.

Punk rock and hip hop came from the same place, fueled by identical sentiments: people taking the music back, reclaiming it, and finding a new audience. Waterson, primed from the mid-70s Punk scene, began his musical career in ’79 as a founding member of Green on Red. They inspired artists as diverse as My Bloody Valentine, Wilco and Mazzy Star with their records and psychedelic palette. Years later, Waterson continued his influential journey by opening the revered musical instrument store, Future Music, a Los Angeles staple.

In ’99, an 18 year-old Younge realized that he wanted to create music that sounded like the records he was sampling. Unbeknownst to him, he serendipitously wandered into Future Music. It’s there, he realized his dream was possible. Intrigued by the stores focus on pre ’83 equipment, Waterson soon became a mentor in developing Younge’s unique analog sound. They spoke heavily about the importance of vintage equipment and it’s use in creating revolutionary worlds.

During these years, Waterson schooled Younge on psych and art rock; Younge returned the favor by schooling him on Hip Hop, the origins of sampling, and its source music. Together this unlikely duo manifested new revolutionary worlds with Waterson appearing on every Younge album within the last decade. Adrian Younge presents Jack Waterson is getting lost in the impressionistic and at times jarring world of psychedelia, questioning what is real and challenging to question the role you play in this world. These kindred spirits have created a cinematic psych album with no boundaries. Laced with hip hop breaks and acid rock, their intention is to subvert the designation of what is black vs. white music.