It’s never too late to rekindle a passion for music.
Take it from Jai Agnish.
The indie-electro-pop musician from Montclair, N.J., has been releasing new music for the first time in 13 years. His latest single is called “Moment in Time.” It’s a dreamy song soaked in atmospheric synths, drum machine beats, and subtle acoustic guitar. It calls to mind music by Air, Com Truise, and Sufjan Stevens.
Agnish sings wistfully: “This one moment in time, it’s so sublime. If I could just keep it alive. Was it ever enough, or would I keep wanting it more?” Agnish wrote, performed, produced, and engineered “Moment in Time” and teamed up with an old friend, Daniel Smith (Danielson, Sufjan Stevens), who mixed the song. The fellow Garden State dweller runs Familyre Studio and brought some psychedelia and smoothness to the project.
The cover art for Agnish’s new single is by Kitchen Dalelio, a long-time friend who made the art for his second full-length, Mechanical Sunshine, released in 2006.
Agnish is no stranger to drum machines, samplers, and electronic bleeps and bloops. And he’s long been intrigued by the razor’s edge that separates the “electro” and “acoustic” components of his electro-acousticism.
“Moment in Time” is the fourth single from Agnish since July and marks his continued foray into the world of DAWS and midi controllers. Lately, he has been constructing music from the synth up, which departs from earlier material that used the acoustic guitar as the primary compositional tool. The guitar is an accompanying instrument for now.
Pop Matters wrote of Agnish: “There’s an endearing quality to his voice.”
And Pitchfork, in a 7.6 rating of his debut album Automata in 2000, said: “Agnish blends electronics, toys, and folk into a chalice and offers it to you as a gift. Both familiar and unlike anything else, you’d be wise to taste it.” “[Agnish] also employs electronics to greatly expand the performance potential of folk’s typical guy-with-a-guitar format,” wrote the Toronto Star. “The New Jersey singer’s curious ear for samples and unconventional, techno-savvy accompaniment adds a captivating new dimension to some already-gripping songs.”
Agnish, an award-winning multi-media journalist, was active in music during the mid-90s until 2008 when he released Awake When You Dream as a free download on Bandcamp. He recently uploaded his back catalog to all the streaming platforms, including his debut album Automata, released in 2000. The Boston Globe said of the college-radio charting record: “Though imaginative, electronic samples are heard throughout, the basis of these 11 self-penned songs is mostly Agnish’s wistful singing and his warm, flowing guitar work.” His friend and bandmate at the time, Sufjan Stevens, contributed analog synth and melodica to some recordings. In 2000 the two put out 8.21: A Blue Bunny Compilation on Agnish’s defunct indie label featuring songs by each of them.
Stevens later included a tune by Agnish on Mews
Too: An Asthmatic Kitty Compilation. “The Argument” also appears on Agnish’s sophomore album, Mechanical Sunshine, released by Clerestory AV in 2006.
Agnish, who had a knack for publicity and published a fanzine called Flygirl, ran the first PR campaign for Asthmatic Kitty Records, landing Stevens his earliest album reviews in 2001. Agnish booked and promoted shows for himself, Stevens, and other friends in the New York City/N.J. area and beyond. Collaboration and community have always been important to Agnish, who began Blue Bunny Records and Flygirl in high school to give known and unknown artists an outlet. Writers and artists who were beginning to hone their craft found a chance to be published on the pages of his zine next to fun interviews with Liz Phair, Lou Barlow, Built to Spill, and others.
During this time of the DIY/indie-rock scene of the ‘90s, Agnish would approach musicians after shows for interviews and songs. A compilation 7” and CD were included with the last two editions of Flygirl with new tracks from Bonnie Prince Billy, Lou Barlow, John Davis, Danielson, Soul-Junk, and others. Agnish didn’t realize it at the time, but these spirited interactions with musicians at clubs like CBGB and Maxwell’s in NYC and N.J. were the training grounds for his journalism career.
Agnish gradually exited the music scene to move deeper into journalism. His focus shifted to a different kind of creativity: writing, photography, and videography. He found success as a local reporter and editor with the Record/Northjersey.com/USA Today Network. While there, he wrote about everything from nightclub shootings, lottery winners and underground mines. He became the resident aviation expert after getting his commercial pilot license.
Music found its way back into Agnish’s life, and then the passion came roaring back last year.
He is currently producing a series of singles using the synthesizer as the primary composition tool. He continues to also write on guitar and incorporates acoustic and electric guitar into his electronic music.
Agnish, who is part Asian Indian and white, holds dual citizenship in America and Canada. He was born and raised in a New Jersey suburb and lives in Montclair. His mom grew up on a farm in Canada and met his dad at the University of Saskatchewan. Agnish’s dad immigrated from India to pursue his Ph.D. in anatomy and cancer research, and his parents relocated to N.J. shortly after marrying.
Saskatchewan is nicknamed the “Land of the Living Skies” for its expansive blue skies and cotton cumulus clouds. This is where Agnish’s parents and siblings spent their summers on the family farm. It was a playground for Agnish and was where he learned to ride horses and drive in his early teen years. In high school, he spent a summer on the farm cultivating fields in a tractor. The enduring nostalgia of the farm life is captured in the album art for Automata. It features family photographs of Agnish’s brothers and cousins running through freshly combined wheat fields.
India also made an impression on Agnish. He made a trip there with his dad in 2004 and sang about the experience on Awake When You Dream. Agnish grew up hearing his dad’s favorite Indian film music around the house.
