Stimulator Jones is most comfortable jamming in his home studio to some of the soul, disco, dub and R&B tracks that have influenced him over the years. He particularly loves to sing along to “You Are My Starship” by Norman Connors, perform slap bass with The Brothers Johnson and play laidback beats in his bathrobe. To keep spirits high through lockdown, he’s spent the past year posting videos of himself playing just some of the many instruments he’s mastered throughout his life, including the vibraphone and the sitar, and live-streaming intricate DJ sets beside an overheating lava lamp.
Now, Stimulator Jones brings that playful, no-frills spirit to a new instrumental beat album, Low Budget Environments Striving For Perfection. Its title was inspired by Ego Trip’s Book of Rap Lists, describing, “the setting and manner in which most of my music and art has been created – trying to do the best I can with limited means and resources. It’s the DIY philosophy.”
Described simply as “tape hiss, turntables, and THC”, Low Budget Environments… is a record born out of Stimulator Jones’ lifelong love of hip-hop. It sees the singer and multi-instrumentalist compiling the hip-hop beats he’s been creating since getting his first sampler as a teenager. These are, he says, “pure, uncut, straight forward beats – no clever arrangements, no cerebral overindulgence, no cute stuff, no vocals.”
Stimulator Jones was born, raised and still lives among the nature and wildlife of Roanoke, Virginia. (Low Budget Environments artwork, by illustrator Adam Ace, reflects these surroundings with colorful drawings of a largemouth bass, mushroom, and pig). Stimulator’ hometown is a place where he can remain creatively inspired. He says: “the relatively small-town isolation of my home has given me the freedom and space to pursue my own personal artistic path, independent from trends, scenes, the pressures of big-city conformity and social ladder climbing.”
