Freddie Joachim Square
Musing over his long and active career, along with his new composition "Ex'pressed," California-based producer and DJ Freddie Joachim keeps circling back to one fundamental concept: patience. "One thing that's important, once you're getting into something new, is to remain patient. That's a big thing in music, I think," Joachim said during a visit to the Bay Area audio school Ex'pression College, one that had him and Gyrefunk going into the studio together with nothing but time and tools at their disposal.
Joachim was recently named an artist-in-residence at Ex'pression, and for good reason. His mindful approach to making jazz-tinged hip-hop has won him a growing following, especially thanks to his recent EP Charcoal and "Doppelganger," a collaboration QSTN that may go down as the most-overlooked cut of the year. A student of mid-90s masters including Pete Rock, J Dilla and DJ Spinna, Joachim is a musician whose grooves never rush themselves; his sample choices coast perfectly between inventive and lushly nostalgic.
And "Ex'pressed" is exactly that--a calm groove that only gets better with each passing bar line, built out of classic stutter-bap drums, clean jazz guitar and buttery strings that come and go like a late summer breeze. Freddie Joachim and Gyrefunk wrote and recorded the track in the Ex'pression College studios, taking advantage of some free space and time in order to let their minds go to work. Okayplayer is very proud to present both the world premiere of the song below, as well as the unveiling of a brief video look at the on-campus session that made it all possible. Listen and watch below, and check out Joachim's Mellow Orange music collective for more fulsome productions.
