Jasper Sommer Premieres An Anthem For The ‘99%’
While some in Britain have been staring at their TV screens in search of the new privileged utopia of ‘Eden’, many of us are far from it and living the darker days of some kind of dystopian reality.
There may be no instant detox for us away from all this madness, but we’re taking respite in the art of music for a moment to let someone else channel some of our angst. Jasper Sommer may be lucky enough to be living the life of a reclusive naturist but he’s not taking anything for granted as he harbours an idealistic vision to affect change through his sound.
Although Derbyshire is known more widely for it’s sprawling peaks, it’s hardly the place we’d expect to find a new wave of electronic music, but that’s exactly where Jasper’s moulded the unorthodox into his music over the past 4 years and drawn the attention of Pushcrayons. Now keeping company on a roster alongside Kojey Radical, Jasper Sommer is premiering his first single ‘99%’ from the forthcoming ‘Sommer 16’ EP.
With a clear statement of intent, this isn’t just any music, this is his anthem for the Black Lives Matter movement;
“After seeing the videos of Alton Sterling & Philando Castile police shootings I became angry and frustrated, but being a white guy in the UK I felt helpless, the only thing I can do is share the truth and educate other whites on the matter at hand. We live in a time where white supremacy and white privilege is still a huge problem and if you can’t see that you’re blind. The 1% white supremacists don’t want us (the 99%) to know that black DNA is the oldest and strongest human DNA.”
Drawing on inspiration from influences like Zodiac (Jeremy Rose), Burial, Sango, Nicodxmvs, Friendships amongst others, Jasper Sommer is intent on hypnotising listeners with new sounds, ideas and plans to “make the world a better place”.
Big plans indeed, but Jasper Sommer is an idealist after all – “That may sound like a big thing but just as Tupac said “I’m not saying I’m gonna change the world, but I guarantee that I will spark the brain that will change the world.” That’s my goal. What’s the point of being here if you’re not making it a better place? We all have the ability to do it, so what’s stopping us?”
Sometimes music can speak louder than words to put across the power of an emotion – and Jasper just put a spark on it!
