jw studio

it feels quite right that we work in the middle of nowhere, as it has often been said that our work seems to come outta there… when your job is entirely changing the way people experience a brand it’s vital to be able to get some distance on the conversations of culture.

neil gust came up for dinner last night. he had shared 3 new songs with us and we wanted time to listen to them together and talk.

the songs are from a new body of work where he is challenging his own sense of how to make music, and they mark a powerful turning point in his already audacious career.

the music is powerful, he spoke often of it having a thrasher quality that i understand, but there is also a steely restraint. and of course there’s a rocker mastery that’s kinda undeniable, and surprises in construction that jam up to hooks that make your ears tickle. one of the songs made me feel like a 15-year old girl hanging out with unbearably cool college boys with awesome stereo equipment.

we drank too much wine, toasting a summer of work and sharing a meal that was an ode to the boisterous collision that is indian summer.

we have geese on our ponds in the spring and summer, so we’ve learned a thing or two about them. of real fascination to me was discovering that geese fight like hell to have a pond to themselves to breed, but then they gather in community to raise the goslings. i’ve been pondering it as a way of thinking about developing ideas. i’ve noticed the cycle for years in myself, and in people i’ve worked with. a frustrated need to have some space, quiet focus, and then loud collaboration.

a glimpse into how the team thought through the work, and at how much fun making it can be.

behind the scenes shooting the launch of the xj