Artist Uncovered: Jembei
Welcome back to Artist Uncovered, the series where I, Lofi Cody, seek to uncover the deep lore behind the world’s greatest instrumental, lofi, and downtempo producers.
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Jembei (pronounced Jim-bay) is a multi-instrumentalist, composer, and producer from Texas. Possibly Jembei’s greatest claim to fame is his Baldur’s Gate 3 Lofi, which has even been lauded by the original composer. Within producer circles, Jembei is admired for his complex layered percussion, creative arrangements, and smooth, smooth saxophone skills. Recently while asking Jembei to collaborate on more tracks so that I can ride his coattails to fame, I also assailed him with a series of questions about music. So sit back, grab a drink, and prepare to discover the man behind the legend.
Q: Is Jembei your real name? Where did the name come from?
Jembei: Jembei is not my real name. Real name is Julian Ayacannoo. I came up with the name Jembei because I absolutely love the One Piece character Jinbe. That character always reminded me of the same temperament of my uncles haha.
Q: Can you tell us a little about how you first started making music?
Jembei: Well I was tossed into piano lessons when I was 10 years old. Then picked up saxophone when band became available in school. Towards the end of my senior year, a friend lent me a demo copy of the DAW Fruity Loops. And that led to the curiosity of composing music, instead of always just being the player. That event and my piano knowledge led me into the score & composition world and then eventually into the lofi pool we are in now.
Q: What inspired you to start doing video game covers / remixes?
Jembei: So I also would make orchestral versions of pop songs when I was younger. But I never knew there was an avenue nor a platform for that so I just did remixes as a fun pastime. It wasn’t until 2021 when I came across some lofi cover artists on Spotify and I had the most frustrating light bulb go off “I could have been doing this the whole time?!?!!!” So I reached out to the lofi artists Sunday Vibes and MrDark both of who were well beyond established in that genre. So I was absolutely not expecting a reply, but they both answered and walked me through step by step how to start an artist page and how to distribute my own music! I owe everything to those guys. And also to another artist named Sad Gatomon for bringing me into my first lofi discord community. I just sat back and read through old Discord chats to learn the game.
Q: What’s your favourite video game franchise to cover music from?
Jembei: You would think it’s Baldur’s Gate but I actually really enjoyed our Fallout project (Spotify) because it gave the opportunity to cover a bunch of old jazz songs that I love. And, to be honest, I got started as an anime lofi guy, and that’s still close to my heart! Nothing like remixing a great anime OP.
Q: Do you have any specific goals for Jembei?
Jembei: Well Jembei was started just as a side project. I was, at the time, more focused on trying to make sync music (stock generic music that could be sold to publishing houses for tv and commercials). But that plan went out the window once I joined the community. I then pivoted into wanting Jembei to be my main focus. So I would say my goal for Jembei now is to be able to make a sustainable living and fund my other musical ventures.
Q: Do you have any goals for music in general outside of your Jembei project?
Jembei: A huge goal outside of Jembei would be finally going back to my composing roots and establishing myself as a composer and one day hear a tune I wrote on Tv. That’s always been my no. 1 dream is to be in a theater or my living room and hear something I made.
Q: Are there any projects you have coming up this year that you’d like to tell us about?
Jembei: This year I’m going to finally put together a big compilation album with a bunch of my buddies. I’ve been a part of so many others but never stepped out to do one of my own. I’m still searching for the right video game title to do though. Mass Effect is my favourite RPG franchise so if a miracle happens and something from Bioware drops this year…it’s on!