As you may or may not know, I have in the past made music under the name "theJLM." Most of it wasn't made for public consumption, though. And until the last few years, it pretty much entirely consisted of cover songs produced as birthday gifts for friends and loved ones. Back in 2000, I produced my first ever original as part of a collective songwriting project called The Subtle Incline:

Since then, I've worked sporadically on a mix of covers, originals, and remixes* that I plan to start releasing sometime in the coming months. Here's a quick capsule bio for the project that I'm using, for some further context:

theJLM is Jeremiah Lee McVay, an A/V producer and artist with roots as a drummer and arts venue founder in the 2000s-2010s Brooklyn indie/DIY scene who turned to synthy sounds to soothe his ears after long nights at the noise factory.  
> > >  m o r e

*watch/listen to a preview of an upcoming remix of "Abide" by Old Man of the Woods

So with that in mind, I thought I'd revisit some of the music that has influenced me and particularly theJLM project to give some context for where it comes from...

"Human Behaviour" by Björk (1993)

Björk's "Human Behaviour" might just be ground zero for the strain of musical interest that would grow for me over the years in parallel to my more mainline alternative/indie rock interests. The hook for me was the Michel Gondry-directed music video I'd often see on MTV in rotation with whatever else I was tuning in for and hoping to see – stuff by Nirvana, Stone Temple Pilots, Smashing Pumpkins, and maybe that one fun/dumb video by Green Jelly (though we all preferred to call them Green Jello despite the lawsuit that forced the name change).

The twisted storybook look and vibe of the "Human Behaviour" video was just endlessly interesting to watch and I'm not sure I would have got turned on to Björk when I did without it. At the time, though, it felt like a guilty pleasure – something I might not dare discuss with the other kids I talked about music with because it felt outside the norm of what we collectively enjoyed (see above). And I'm sure I heard whichever other songs of hers that had videos on MTV, but it wouldn't really be until more than half a decade later, when I was in college, that I'd truly get into the full breadth of Björk's work. At that point, I'd not only add the entirety of Debut to my listening rotation, but also Post and Homogenic. For context on the context, my work-study job often consisted of me sitting in a tiny room, spinning 16mm film prints from reel to reel and repairing torn sprockets ahead of those prints being used in film theory classes, so I'd bring in CDs to play on headphones while I worked. I remember this as a very formative time for my musical taste as I filled hours a day of solitary silence, sometimes taking a break to run into The Wiz (a now defunct NYC electronics store along the lines of Best Buy or the Circuit Citys of old) across from 721 Broadway to hit up their bargain bin and see what new albums were out.

But back to Björk...

Her music was sort of a perfect crossover for me from the alternative music of the 1990s into the more danceable sounds I'd also come to enjoy in the years to follow alongside the punk, post-punk, indie, and other rock music I'd both enjoy and emulate as a musician. But whereas the music I've been involved with making in the past has largely been more of that latter strain, the music I've lately been making as theJLM is mostly electronic, though certainly with hints of the other thing, too. So in that way, I think it owes at least much of its spirit to what I learned and loved from Björk, even if only I can really hear or feel that influence.

This is part 1 in a series. You can also find a playlist with dozens of context tracks at thejlm.com/context