Rise of Summer, Sound, Radio and Fragrance

Summer will be upon us in just a few weeks and I realize that a lot of my perfume activity happens in summer. This feels almost counterintuitive (as my first instincts don't place my creative pursuits as those which would thrive most during the summer,) but there is something about the heat from the baking sun that demands attention. Ideas that have been slumbering will awaken, and start to push out of the soil with wild growth. There's an inevitability about it.

So many different projects have emerged in the last few months that it's hard to distill them to just a few lines, but I'll do my best. As some of you know (those who graciously follow some of my happenings here and there,) I tend to juggle a lot of things at one time: Currently, that would include my new full time gig working in software product design (which began in January), teaching with the IAO (with a slate of new classes beginning next week), continued writing and editing at Fragrantica, and some exciting new work on a project with friend and colleague Michael Nordstrand (who is currently studying at the prestigious Grasse Institute of Perfumery (GIP). More of this last bit to come as the months pass, but it's safe to say that great things happen when like minds meet, partake some vino, work hard, and listen to some Japanese folk music...

Something for which I'm extremely excited are two upcoming projects involving sound - a creative realm that I haven't explored in a few years and am excited to rejoin. The first is a project for Lookout FM made in collaboration with IAO: Perfume on the Radio. It's called Sound, Smell, and the Wireless - an hour-long soundscape tracking the connection of smell and sound, a radio adventure that I've worked on over a number of weeks as part of this new series. Please be sure to check out the debut on June 24th, 5:00 PM PDT, and then available as a podcast as well: (KGAP 96.7 FM in Burbank, KFQM 101.5 FM in Pacific Palisades, KLDB 99.1 FM in Hollywood, or online at lookout.fm).

Similarly, I have been working on the next perfume release and as I was toying with a name for the fragrance, a distinctly "sound"-based idea (something which came to me as I was staring off into space,) rose to the surface. I've learned to trust these ideas that come in vaguely dream-like forms, and along with that idea, I began recording music as an accompaniment to the whole experience. The final form will be a digital EP made available along with the fragrance, as well as a very small edition vinyl record (details to come.) In part, this is the way that January Scent Project (and conveniently January Sound Project) can widen the umbrella and explore new ways to broaden the scope of a fragrance’s reach. You can hear a short teaser of the upcoming EP here.

January Sound Project

In the next few weeks, I'll be releasing more details about the next fragrance (it's in the final stages of development) but I can leave you with three generalized notes which will give you a sense of what's coming: Fruit, cool greenery, and musk. As always, thank you for following along this meandering road.

John in London, 2017: Traveling will soon be an option again.