Jay Som - Tenderness

Melina Duterte goes by the name Jay Som. She’s a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist. She’s released three albums as Jay Som, and has produced, engineered, and mixed each one. Her third album, Anak Ko, came out in August 2019. And in this episode, Melina breaks down a song from it called “Tenderness.” To learn more, visit songexploder.net/jay-som http://songexploder.net/jay-som.

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:00Hrishikesh Hirway?

  You're listening to Song Exploder, where musicians take apart their songs and, piece by piece, tell the story of how they were made. I'm Rishi Kesh Hirway.

• 0:11Hrishikesh Hirway?

  I'm going to be on tour, playing some shows this fall. I'm going to be in London on Wednesday, November 18th. I'm going to be performing solo at Rough Trade Records on Denmark Street, and I'm going to be in conversation about my music moderated by one of my favorite actors and writers, Matthew Bainton. And a ticket to the show also gets you a copy of my album on vinyl or CD. And in December, I'm going to be on tour supporting S. Carrie. We're going to be playing a bunch of shows in the Northeast US. So I hope to see you in one of those places. You can find all the details and get links to tickets at songexploder.net/live. That's songexploder.net/live.

• 0:55Hrishikesh Hirway?

  This episode is sponsored by Tidal. If you're an artist or if you know somebody making music, you should know about Tidal Upload. It's a way to share and sell music without the usual barriers. You can upload your music directly to Tidal at no cost. You decide how you want to release it. You can share it publicly with Tidal listeners, or you can keep it private until you're ready. Or you can sell your music directly through Tidal Upload. Your music will also be considered by Tidal's editorial team for their playlists. And if your track is selected for their spotlight program, you'll get $1,000 bonus and you'll be on one of their marquee playlists. And now, Tidal has dropped its platform fee to 0%, which means you keep more of your earnings there than on any other platform.

• 1:39Hrishikesh Hirway?

  Visit tidal.com/songexploder to create an account and start uploading your music for free. That's tidal.com/songexploder for zero platform fees on every sale. Your music, your earnings.

• 1:56Hrishikesh Hirway?

  This episode is sponsored by LinkedIn. Anyone who's ever had to spend money on marketing knows how tricky it can be to feel like you've spent that money wisely. Well, with LinkedIn Ads, you can be sure that you'll get a great return on your investment. You can target your campaigns by company, industry, job title, and more. Spend $250 on your first campaign on LinkedIn Ads and get a $250 credit for the next one. Just go to LinkedIn.com/songexploder. That's LinkedIn.com/songexploder. Terms and conditions apply. J-Song has a new album coming out on October 10th called "Belong," which is pretty exciting if you're a fan like me, because her last album came out six years ago.

• 2:41Hrishikesh Hirway?

  This new one features guest appearances by Hayley Williams from Paramore and Jim Atkins from Jimmy Eat World. And I've been really enjoying it, so I thought it would be nice to revisit her Song Exploder episode, also from six years ago, November 2019. Since the episode was published, Melina's done a lot. She was part of the Grammy-winning Boy Genius album that came out in 2023, and she's produced and mixed a bunch of albums for other folks. I've been lucky enough to work with her a few times, including a duet that we did together for a song of mine, and I consider her a friend now. And that all started with this episode, so here it is. Melina Duterte, who goes by the name J-Song, is a singer, songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.

• 3:25Hrishikesh Hirway?

  She's released three albums under the name J-Song, and she's produced, engineered, and mixed each one. Her third album, Ana Koko, came out in August 2019. And in this episode, Melina breaks down a song from it called "Tenderness."

• 3:59Speaker 01

  I'm Melina from JSOM.

• 4:02Speaker 01

  I started writing "Tenderness" the summer of 2018. I just moved to LA and I was doing a lot of production work for other people. This artist came over to work with me for her whole record. And there was one day where I had to clean her entire hard drive. And I noticed that there was a folder that said "Vintage Drum Machines." And I just like copy and pasted it onto my computer because I was like, "Oh, it's right there." She doesn't know that, but it's okay.

• 4:37Speaker 01

  And I just experimented with all of those. I started off by recording this Lin LM1 drum machine.

• 4:50Speaker 01

  That's like the Prince drum sampler. And I know he used that on all the hits. And at the time, I was listening to a lot of Steely Dan. They make a lot of songs that have a shuffly beat. And I wanted to emulate that because you don't get to hear it that often, especially in pop music, too. Just like

• 5:13Speaker 01

  And I thought it'd be really cool to have this languid guitar part that strums as if it's a piano.

• 5:23Speaker 01

  Just boom.

• 5:29Speaker 01

  Just pretty like minor seventh chords.

• 5:38Speaker 01

  The concept and the meaning of the track came as I was writing it. Those chords are used in lots of R&B songs. And it just felt right to make a song about love.

• 5:55Speaker 01

  I was trying to conceptualize this idea of sitting in your bed, thinking about your new romantic partner that you just started dating. And you're kind of like wondering if they're thinking about you and wondering if you're their right person.

• 6:26Speaker 01

  As I was doing the vocals, I really wanted that lo-fi effect. I imagined myself on my bed with an old telephone. And you're kind of like speaking into the telephone. I really wanted that conversational feeling, as if you're either leaving a voicemail or you're the only one that's speaking. And you really want to put your heart on the line. Show me before you haunt me on the screen. Will my affection pull the strings? Another forgotten memory. And that was originally supposed to be the whole song. It was going to be like a minute and 30 seconds.

• 7:08Speaker 01

  It was going to be like the intro of that and one chorus.

• 7:29Speaker 01

  But I sat with the demo for a couple of months. And it just didn't sound right to me.

• 7:38Speaker 01

  That was the first time for like an album-making process where I had demos. Usually when I write songs, I record them at the same time because I really like having the idea in my head and going through with it. But this time, I started to get a little frustrated because I was writing songs that I couldn't play. When it goes into the part with the drum fill and it comes into the rest of the song.

• 8:07Speaker 01

  That's just like drum samples. And it started sounding too rigid. It didn't have a flow. And that's when I decided like I need to have Zach play drums on it.

• 8:23Speaker 01

  That is my touring mate Zach. We've been playing music together since middle school and high school, like in jazz bands and concert bands and indie cover bands. We just went up to his parents' house in our hometown, which is in the East Bay area. They have this bonus room that he has his drum set in and he usually records music in there because it's always quiet.

• 8:52Speaker 01

  I just set up some mics on his drums and he just nailed it. He did more to it than I would if I played the drums. More taste and style and flavor.

• 9:11Speaker 01

  So I had the drums for "Tenderness" and I was super happy because I was like, "Oh, I could finally have it sound the way that I want it to." And then I went back to LA and started doing bass.

• 9:31Speaker 01

  Bass is my favorite instrument to play. I started playing the bass after I really learned guitar. And then I realized that the bass was the most important instrument in every song. I think it just has so much meaning in the foundation of a song. It really drives and motivates the groove of it.

• 9:54Speaker 01

  With the bass, you can just do the roots, but I think I always like to do a little more.

• 10:00Speaker 01

  I like little nuggets of jazzy notes that work in the chord progression.

• 10:13Speaker 01

  And I think it gives it a really cool flow.

• 10:25Speaker 01

  Most of the guitar tracks were done in Joshua Tree. I rented this house for like a week.

• 10:36Speaker 01

  So the intro guitar, I wanted it to sound like the guitar was coming from an old record player.

• 10:45Speaker 01

  To sound like vintage.

• 10:50Speaker 01

  And then I wanted to introduce these new elements for guitar layering to make the intro build a little more. So I played through cleaner setting and put like a tremolo on it and that was panned left.

• 11:09Speaker 01

  And then the end of the intro introduces like another guitar, panned to the right.

• 11:17Speaker 01

  And then for the first chorus, I added in a guitar with like a Leslie effect.

• 11:28Speaker 01

  I love layering guitars. I think that is the secret to making a song sound lush.

• 11:42Speaker 01

  The warlitzer was done in Joshua Tree as well.

• 11:50Speaker 01

  I thought that the warlitzer would really like serve its purpose as being like a steely tan part of the song.

• 12:00Speaker 01

  It just has that like classic electric piano sound that can make the song come to life. It like brings a certain energy that like a guitar doesn't bring.

• 12:20Speaker 01

  I grew up playing jazz trumpet. And throughout that time, I was really heavily invested in music theory and learning about everything. I've always had the mindset that music can speak for itself and music can tell a story and evoke a sort of emotion that lyrics and vocals can't. So I just wanted to have an instrumental passage rather than more lyrics in the bridge of the song.

• 13:01Speaker 01

  I did the final vocals for "Tenderness" right before I turned in my album. That was the only song where I was like, "I don't know if I'm gonna release this 'cause I don't know if I'm singing it good" or anything like that. And I think there was just a moment where I forced myself to keep doing the vocal takes over and over again for hours. And I had hot tea with me at all times so that I can coat my throat to sing it. Because I'm not, I don't consider myself a singer or someone that can belt. But if I can sing sweetly, I will. I'm feeling like we've just begun.

• 13:45Speaker 01

  Nothing's ever good enough. Tenderness is all of God. I got my friend Taylor Vick to sing harmonies. I really admire her voice and can relate to the way that she records her voice. She sings really quietly, kind of in a whispery fashion. I'm feeling like we've just begun. I also got that style from learning about how you can make your voice sound bigger by singing quietly. And I just think our voices sound really cool together. Yeah, I'm feeling like we've just begun.

• 14:29Speaker 01

  Nothing's ever good enough. Tenderness is all of God.

• 14:41Speaker 01

  I think when you're starting off in a new relationship, you feel the effects of puppy love. You're obsessed with this person and you're always thinking about them. And everything you do together is really important, like where you go out to eat and the sort of vacations that you take. You feel like you're in this environment that's yours. You feel like you're sinking and you can't get out of that. It's just sort of like you're falling in love.

• 15:14Speaker 01

  It feels really good to write songs that are about being loving and showing that you can be vulnerable and emotional in relationships and actively wanting people to know that you love them rather than being emo, I guess.

• 15:32Speaker 01

  But I can write songs about being emo anytime.

• 15:42Hrishikesh Hirway?

  Coming up, hear how all those parts and ideas came together in the final song.

• 15:47Hrishikesh Hirway?

  Song Exploder is sponsored by DistroKid. If you're an independent artist, DistroKid is now offering a new way to start selling merch without dealing with inventory or running an online store. DistroKid Direct automatically turns your existing album artwork into merch products, like shirts and hoodies, posters, totes, all kinds of things. And you choose what to sell, you set your prices, you connect PayPal, and DistroKid handles the printing, the shipping, and the customer support. They don't take a commission, so you keep 100% of your merch sales. It's a simple way to add another revenue stream to your music career without adding more work to your plate. Artists can learn more and launch a merch store at distrokid.com/direct.

• 16:33Hrishikesh Hirway?

  There's a new podcast called Before the Moment with Nile Rodgers. In every legendary music career, there's a moment right before it all changes. And in every episode of this podcast, Nile Rodgers talks to a legendary musician about the choices, the events, and the relationships that shaped their career before the moment that everything changed for them. Every story is unique and opens a window into the lives of some of the biggest names in music, and Nile is the perfect person to lead these conversations. Because for over 50 years, he's played guitar with artists like Diana Ross, David Bowie, Madonna, Daft Punk, and Beyoncé. In the first season of the podcast, some of Nile's guests include John Legend, Miguel, and more.

• 17:18Hrishikesh Hirway?

  New episodes are coming out every other Tuesday. Listen to Before the Moment with Nile Rodgers wherever you get your podcasts. This episode is sponsored by the podcast What It's Like to Be. Do you ever think about what other people's workdays look like? Satisfying some of that curiosity is the idea at the heart of bestselling author Dan Heath's podcast, which is called What It's Like to Be. In each episode, Dan interviews someone from a different profession to find out what it's like to be a professional Santa Claus, or a Secret Service agent, or a long-haul truck driver, or an aerospace engineer at NASA, just to name a few examples. The show gives you an insider view into all kinds of jobs

• 18:02Hrishikesh Hirway?

  from a wide range of industries, answering questions like, "What do mail carriers learn about us from our mail?" There are so many jobs out there that exist only as titles in our imagination, if they even register that much. This show is a chance to reach beyond what you know or think you know. If you're curious to learn more about the work lives of other people, check out What It's Like to Be wherever you get podcasts. And now, here's tenderness by JSON in its entirety.

• 18:55Speaker 02

  Tell me, did you fall in at first glance? Do you think you'll take a chance? Do you think on a weekend I could know?

• 19:12Speaker 02

  Show me, before you haunt me on the screen? Will my affection pull the strings? Another forgotten memory?

• 19:29Speaker 02

  We've built the city that we're sinking in? Nobody wants to play pretend?

• 19:40Speaker 02

  I just know that...

• 19:45Speaker 03

  I'm feeling like we just begun? Nothing's ever gonna be enough? Tell me this is all a game?

• 20:02Speaker 03

  Yeah, I'm feeling like we just begun? Nothing's ever gonna be enough? Tell me this is all a game?

• 22:26Hrishikesh Hirway?

  To learn more, visit songexploder.net, where you'll find links to buy or stream Tenderness.

• 22:36Hrishikesh Hirway?

  This episode was originally produced by me, Christian Kuns, and guest host Tao Nguyen, with production assistance from Olivia Wood. This reissue was produced by me and Mary Dolan. The episode artwork is by Carlos Lerma, and I made the show's theme music and logo. Song Exploder is a proud member of Radiotopia from PRX, a network of independent, listener-supported, artist-owned podcasts. You can learn more about our shows at radiotopia.fm. If you'd like to hear more from me, you can sign up for my newsletter, which you can find a link to on the Song Exploder website. You can also follow me and Song Exploder on Instagram, and you can get a Song Exploder shirt at songexploder.net/shirt.

• 23:20Hrishikesh Hirway?

  I'm Rishi Kesh Hirway. Thanks for listening.

• 23:29Hrishikesh Hirway?

  Radiotopia.

• 23:33Hrishikesh Hirway?

  From PRX.