Jesse Ceja is an Arizona-born, Texas-raised, and New York City-based musician that combines experimental grooves and avant garde wisdom for a truly unique musical outcome. The electronic-based music is categorized as experimental electronic pop. As a solo artist, Jesse views music-making akin to a mad scientist’s experiment. “I see sounds as chemicals in a laboratory being mixed up & sometime blowing up in my face. I find it entertaining. Being a musician makes me feel like a mad scientist.” Early on, Jesse experimented with music as a teenager. Soon after, Jesse began writing songs for a female vocalist. The collaboration eventually ended, but the inner drive for musical magnificence did not wane. Jesse’s inquisitive, imaginative, flamboyant, reflective, soft spoken and colorful personality shows up in the music. Importantly, there is a strong, mysterious element to the music, which reinforces the electronic foundation.
Jesse’s musical creations are steeped in the electronic underbelly of experimental, avant garde, and innovative music that transcends expectations and clear-cut, genre classifications. The approach to music-making is not only with large doses of mystery, but an almost mechanical set-up. For instance, Jesse likes such things as, “circuit bending & massive reverbs". I like taking such tools & mixing them with commercial tools to create an experimental pop track.”Essentially, Jesse enjoys the musical process, because it “seems the same, yet the outcome is always different.” Jesse is a vocalist and songwriter, but equally-adept on keyboard, drum machines, and a mix of other random instruments. Additionally, Jesse has worked on some graphic design projects. Jesse’s music contains similar elements with other musicians, yet these elements relate to mixed genres. “Right now, there is a lot of mixing of genres happening in the music scene & I feel that my work will mix elements from different genres as well.”
Jesse released his first full-length album, Under: Back Inside Gaia, in 2008. The experimental and electronic pop album contained eight tracks with a solid mix of industrial, down-tempo, and mechanical infusions amidst a colorful palette of aural sound-scapes and spacey inflections. In 2013, Jesse re-released the album with the same title and tracks. The album begins with “Life’s Way”, a booming, electronic track with reserved vocals and swishy mixes of percussion. The dark, brooding elements are mysterious and archaic with some lighter keyboard embellishments that do not disappoint. “B. Side (Not My Day)” opens with an upbeat and jingly electro-guitar melody that incorporates electronic pop elements that scream power pop. If U2 and Hooverphonic joined forces, “B. Side (Not My Day)” would result. “Angel Of Faith” is a sparkling embellishments of percussion, keyboard arrangements, and eerie tonal noises with some indiscriminate background vocals. “Awaken” opens with a little chip-tune sounds that merge into a jazzy intro and a scattered beat. The swishy percussion and fluid sounds reach new heights with various sounds that meld together with ease. “Repel” adds a little piano accompaniment amidst a backdrop of electronic percussion, languid vocals, and swishy sounds. “Posterior Part” is a buzz-driven, electronic tune with dance-like vocals and a tinny beat. The sound is akin to a hip-hop instrumental, but the beat is more uniform. “Evoke” opens with a sketchy mix of bleeps, tinny shrieks, and atmospheric embellishments. The vocals are reduced and mechanical, as the dance-like elements take over. The final tune, “Repent,” is rather spacey and down-tempo with nearly eighteen minutes of music. However, there is about a seven minute lull in the middle of the song. The latter half of the song represents early Hooverphonic instrumentals.
Jesse Ceja’s music brings a good blend of authenticity, obscurity, and talent to the forefront onUnder: Back Inside Gaia. The somewhat psychedelic compositions and diverse musical arrangements add to the experimental nature of the music with surreal, abstract, and non-conforming elements that are never boring. In fact, Jesse would like to “provoke obscure abstract surreal ideas into pop commercial music."