Photo courtesy of LOCKJAW
LOCKJAW
LOCKJAW
Digital Creators. That’s a widely used term these days. What do they create? Music, reels, cooking or cat videos, maybe. Well today we are going to take a look at a creator that creates a universe with his vision and musical creativity. Medavon DeRaj’e, founder and creative impetus behind LOCKJAW.
Medavon found himself drawn to music such as classic rock from the ‘70s and ‘80s, as a young person. Maturity brought on other music such as hard rock. The progression of influence flowed, and he saw Pigface live. The dark music and fashion and catharsis resonated deeply for him. His interests also swung in the direction of the origins of rock and roll, which provided some fertile musical soil.
The story doesn’t end here. In order to truly transcend the realms of inner reality one must be willing to include the realm of the psychedelic. Medavon has been profoundly influenced by the Syd Barrett era work of Pink Floyd and other artists of that time making what was called psychedelic rock. The substance used to achieve these states isn’t as relevant as the state produced. This has been something famous artists have turned to for inspiration, and something of my own personal experiences, so I began to pay more attention to Medavon’s words. I will defer to Medavon’s own words briefly:
“The essence of psychedelic and the tripped-out sounds with delay and echo and simulating sounds of what you might hear being on acid”
I think now that I have conveyed an idea of the soil and ground which Medavon’s creative vision was planted in. The industry would describe his music as industrial due to the use of electronic instrumentation. Regardless his approach is with monk-like asceticism. LOCKJAW was formed in 1994. Four years of crafting and evolving the foundation and spirit of the group, led to the first CD release in 1998.The first show was in 2002.
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Throughout the years, Lockjaw has steadily grown and evolved into a successful touring band. They have done direct support for names such as Prong, Powerman 3000, and Wednesday 13. A major highlight of their run so far has been providing Direct support for a handful of sold out shows for Marilyn Manson as an opening act. One of Medavon’s songs, titled “Bored Again,” is featured on the XBOX360 game, Dead Rising.
The shorter days and longer cold nights over the last winter afforded LOCKJAW time in the studio. Medavon is also a multi-instrumentalist and a local music teacher. He has been busy teaching and composing material for the band.
Recording a single a month over the last winter, seemed to be the way it turned out for LOCKJAW. The most current single “We Are Alien” was self-released on February 18. “We Are Alien” is a song about feeling alienated in today's society and how we are all equal.
“We all share the same space we live in and we all have a unique voice and an inherent need to be heard,” Medavon says. “This is a shared vision as opposed to one of a more self-introspective approach. This multi-perspective awareness is something LOCKJAW choose to incorporate into our work. The song “Eyes Closed” is a song about the rise of a fascist regime in a society where many refuse to admit and turn a blind eye to.”
These sentiments resonate today as strongly as ever for obvious reasons politically. These songs, video and all of LOCKJAW’s work can be found on the LOCKJAW Official YouTube Page
https://www.youtube.com/@LockjawOfficial
As well as:Facebook/Meta
facebook.com/lockjawx.official
IG
