First Look Friday: Govales' Synaesthetic Soul Features In Spike Lee's New Film 'Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus'

Govales shot by Eddie Pearson for Okayplayer

Govales has recently grabbed the attention of music aficionados with the placement of his song "Doors To Nowhere" in Spike Lee's eerie new effort Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus, featuring prominently in the film's ominous trailer (the film hits theaters, Feb. 13th--watch the trailer below). Entering on an atmospheric wash of synths and Govales' soulful falsetto whispering: "There's six ways to kill a heart...", the track then proceeds to alternate deliriously between a grungy, yet distant, psyche-rock attack and passages more recognizable as modern r&b. It is the type of song which immediately prompts the question, Who is that?

The answer has proven increasingly intriguing. Delaware-bred, Bed-Stuy-based Govales had already released a powerful, more conventionally soulful, single in "Go For The Kill"--but a little digging reveals that he has been making music since his pre-teen years. Okayplayer linked with the young producer to talk about the synaesthesia, the angelic origins of his name and his own aspirations in film. Read on to hear more music and receive a proper introduction to a formidable new talent:

OKP: we understand you started out in a group called Bassline--tell us a bit about how you got into the group and into music

Govales: We started out in the 8th grade in this program called Micro Society, which was a microcosm of the real world. It was for us to learn about how the world works. We had all kinds of fake businesses and fake money. This teacher named Ms. Bishop asked me and my class what kind of business we'd start if we had the chance, everyone kind of just went silent and when she asked me I immediately said "A recording studio!"

Not thinking she'd take it seriously, but she went and got a grant for around $9000 and bought us our first round of equipment. We had auditions for others to be in the group. She brought in two awesome men by the names of Dr. Shuaib Meacham and Tony Anderson. Tony would go on to be the group's manager and my mentor throughout my childhood and into adulthood. After we graduated 8th grade, it turned into a summer program where we got on the Scream tour with B2K & Bow Wow. From there, we got on numerous tours and opening slots across America and got to tour a bit in Europe. During that whole process, I started producing and writing in the group and it sparked a lifelong obsession.

OKP: But there was some support from the University of Delaware (?)--how did that come about?

GV: That came through Dr. Meacham and Tony Anderson. The group was generating a lot of positive press in the community and we got rewarded a bit with the best equipment and programs at the time to keep improving. I took full advantage of it and spent everyday after school and everyday literally during the summer making beats and songs. Also University of Delaware had a fashion program that worked with the New York University Fashion School and I wrote a business plan. When I was too young to get my first fashion line funded, they gave me a whole senior class of students and in order for them to graduate, they had to produce my line. From my drawings to CAD to real world prototypes.

OKP: We understand the tracks that have leaked so far are pieces of a completed LP titled Lovetron--when was the material on the album recorded--and what are your plans for releasing it?

GV: I've recorded so much material, starting around 2011-2012 and I'm still recording and coming up with ideas constantly. I've had a set playlist for L O V E T R O N for awhile, but nothing is ever done 'til it's out, to me. I'm watching what the people love and based on that continuing to mold the collection they'll receive.

OKP: How did you link with Spike Lee to place "Doors To Nowhere" on Da Sweet Blood Of Jesus soundtrack?

GV: I was chopping it up with my friend Yomi at MTV when our mutual friend Vince stopped through his office to say hi to him and dropped a jewel on us that Spike was looking for music for his next film. He thought my stuff could definitely make it cause it was playing when he walked in. He was right--thank you Vince! We sent it to Spike and I totally forgot about it. Then I got a message from Spike about three months later saying he wanted my song for his movie. I knew I could get it but was still surprised when I randomly got the message.

OKP: Your bio states that you have a "parallel career in film"--what does that mean and do you still have aspirations in the film world while you're making such strides in music?

GV: Music and film go hand in hand to me. It's something I've been honing for over 10 years. It's a common thing among artists I know to experience synesthesia when creating music. You see visions, shapes, textures, colors, etc. It's very intoxicating actually. To answer your question: absolutely. I can't imagine life at this moment without both of them. I'm directing the film you will be seeing accompanying my art. I look to people like Spike Lee, James Cameron, Stanley Kubrick, Alexander McQueen, Christopher Nolan and Alejandro Jodorowsky for inspiration as much as look to A.R. Rahman, Teddy Riley, Butch Vig, Rod Temperton, Quincy Jones, Diane Warren and Missy Elliot for inspiration. Film without sound doesn't make sense to me and bringing music to life without film doesn't make sense to me.

OKP: Does being a filmmaker lends itself to creating cinematic music? Specifically in the case of "Doors To Nowhere" did you write it with a particular mis-en-scéne in mind and do you think that helped it resonate with Spike's needs for the film?

GV: Absolutely, when I went to film school I first fell in love with cinematography -- which is very much focused on setting the lighting and tone of a story. I relate the same skills you use in lighting to producing, because you are basically lighting the set for your lyrics to act out a scene in. Spike said when he heard the song and knew immediately where it would fit and after I saw the film, I totally understood his vision.

OKP: Your artist name (and real middle name) 'Govales' has a Portuguese (or maybe Brazilian? Cape Verdean?) ring to it--any connection?

GV: That would not be the first time I have heard that, someone told me Govales was a special archangel God sent out...something like that, I'm not too sure. My father named me that and he passed away when I was young, so I never really got to ask him, but I was told it mean "higher being" through family. A bit much to live up to, but hey, I'm going hard everyday.

OKP: The tracks that have leaked so far have a pretty wide spread, from modern r&b to rock ("Doors") to '80s-grounded electrofunk ("Activate") how would you describe the thread that connects all the material on Lovetron? Is one track or another more representative of your signature sound?

GV: No, I just make music. The common thread is my heart and soul going into it.

OKP: What are you currently listening to? old school new school? what do you draw inspiration from in general

GV: For the new school, I really like Sampha, Sango, Kaytranada, Woodkid, FKA twigs. Old school, I listen to a lot of psychedelic and progressive rock, r&b and music from other countries. I've been on an Isley Brothers, Rick James and John Lennon kick since this past Christmas. I draw inspiration from everything. Sometimes I'll be catching the train in New York and just hear the rhythm of the train on the tracks and it will inspire rhythm section ideas, or recently I heard this recording of crickets singing and the guy slowed it down and they were singing like a chorus

That shit was hella inspiring. I always think about how animals and other living things are vibrating on a frequency we aren't on and there are so many sounds and colors we probably can't even fathom. Just the thought of it makes me excited!

OKP: How did you link with the artist who painted the image that accompanies "Go For The Kill" (and how did that not make the vampire(ish) movie soundtrack??)

GV: Funny that you ask. I don't know. May have to ask Spike cause I actually sent both "Doors to Nowhere" and "Go For The Kill" together for consideration. Either way, I was happy. I saw Shelley Lowell's work in the Brooklyn Museum cause it was right by my old house in Brooklyn and I never forgot that piece and knew I wanted to use it in the future. Creating this music, I wanted to make some records that gave me that feeling I used to get growing up watching my mother and other women sing their favorite r&b records with such heart and soul. I wanted to make records that made women feel like I remembered them feeling good, empowering. Shelley did that painting in the '70s and its a feminist piece of art, it just fit the vibration perfect. God's work.