Feature: JVKE
Words by Brigid Young
Multifaceted pop sensation JVKE is the master of translating specific emotions into songs, as seen with his viral hit “this is what falling in love feels like”. His most recent release, ‘golden hour’, incorporates both classical influences and modern musical techniques to create JVKE’s signature sound.
‘golden hour’ was released on July 15th, and has already amassed several million streams on Spotify.
“I’m so happy I finally got to release it. It’s probably my favorite songs I’ve ever written. Hopefully people feel similarly!”
The song features reflective, genuine lyrics and a swelling instrumental that creates a lush, moving track. It’s a love song, and narrates seeing your partner as a bright light in your life. JVKE is a producer, songwriter, and instrumentalist, and often utilizes multiple of his stills on his tracks.
“One day I was messing around on the piano and came up with this piano melody. I was heavily inspired by Franz Liszt, an 1800’s composer. His music is very impressionistic and you can definitely feel that on the track. I freestyled most of the verse, pre chorus and chorus in one shot, filled in the lyrics after, and the song felt like it wrote itself.”
JVKE has had several of his tracks go viral on TikTok, with “this is what falling in love feels like” having over 200k videos made with the song. Social media, specifically TikTok, has become integral in many musicians' careers within the past few years. It’s become both a marketing tool, and just a way to connect with fans.
“I feel like social media has served its purpose in my career: to give me a platform for my music. I really am just a music guy who figured out how to keep people’s attention on social media.”
Getting into music as a young teenager, JVKE originally started with production.
“I started when I was 14 making beats on logic pro x. I’m self-taught, just figured out my own way of making music. I think that’s how I found my sound and vibe.”
While his lyrics primarily focus on relationships and their turmoils, JVKE finds inspiration everywhere. As the primary writer, performer, and producer of his music, he finds inspiration for different facets of music in everyday life. When asked where he mainly finds his inspiration, he shared:
“All sorts of things. Usually listening to dope underground music gets me pumped to work on new stuff. Everyday life can also inspire you if you force yourself to think creatively. It’s like a muscle that overtime can become very strong.”
Seeing as his music combines a wide variety of sonic qualities, and musical influences, it’s no surprise that he finds inspiration in an array of artists. He shared that his inspirations include “Franz Liszt, Frank Ocean, Kanye West, Charlie Puth”, and a variety of others.
Following the release of ‘golden hour’, JVKE has just released his latest single, ‘i can’t help it’. Listen to ‘golden hour’ and ‘I can’t help it’ and follow JVKE on Instagram to stay up to date on future releases!
