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.

Ojiim - limited edition perfume - coming soon in December 2020.

I’m excited to announce a new limited edition perfume that will be available in December 2020. It is called Ojiim. The name comes from the Ojibwe language and means “kiss”. It’s pronounced o-JIM (emphasis on the second syllable.) I have mixed a batch which will produce approximately 30 x 30ml bottles, with enough remaining perfume to make a certain amount of samples as well. I’ve been teasing out some information about the visuals and design of the project on Instagram, and was quite surprised at the keenly enthusiastic response (thank you all for this.) I am still working out the most equitable means of making the perfume available. I believe that I may make a limited number available as a presale, samples available at that same time, and then release the remaining bottles. I have a few days over the Thanksgiving holiday to figure it out (but not many!)

Ojiim Perfume Extrait, 30ml, January Scent Project, 2020.

Here is some additional info about this release: As some of you may know by following my social media activity, I came into possession of a group of antique / aged oils from a dealer here in Pawtucket, Rhode Island, US. They are approximately 100 years old, and they’ve all aged remarkably, some of them becoming quite mellow and very nuanced. I knew upon obtaining them that I’d like to do some very special projects with them, and that will transpire over the next few years.

I have used three of the oils in Ojiim (Antique Citron essential oil, Oil of Palmarosa, and Styrax absolute.) There are still about 15 more vials of wonderful things I will be working with as time progresses and ideas present themselves.

I decided to group these particular oils with a very particular, spicy and full-bodied note: Cumin CO2. For those who don’t like perfumes with cumin, this may be your train stop (and it’s ok…) but it’s important to explain what a curious phenomenon the CO2 extraction of cumin smells like - it’s far airier, brighter, greener, “alive” than the cumin most of us may be used to smelling in spice jars. It’s a real thing of beauty.

A significant chunk of rose de mai was added, along with a synthetic castoreum accord, bergamot, pink pepper, Australian sandalwood, treemoss, and agarwood. There’s a hint of orange added as well which works into a kind of synergy with rose and cumin and jumps out at the very beginning of the perfume.

Because some of these oils are antique and in very limited supply, the perfume itself is a bit archaeological. It would be very difficult to remake it precisely. I may try to make a second batch if I can find similar materials, but it would be a challenge, and not for another few years at the earliest.

I will be sending out an email shortly with details about Ojiim. Thank you all for your interest and support, and I hope you all enjoy a safe and warm Thanksgiving holiday.

New Work and Autumn Arrives

I was fortunate to spend a few days with JK de Lapp (perfumer, Chinese medicine doctor and perfume source material expert) and some oud enthusiasts at a kind of retreat in the deep woods in Georgia recently. The exposure to so much raw material, from ambergris to palo santo, to (of course) agarwood / oud was so refreshing. Many friendly faces were there to share in this event. I’ve sometimes seen oud as “beautiful but somewhat unobtainable” as some of the best ouds are so far out of our reach cost-wise, but even enjoying the burning smell of a sliver of oud can be an amazing experience. In short, it was a creative boon after months and months of isolation.

Poster design for Horla Eau de Parfum.

I have also (somewhat quietly) released the latest perfume, Horla. It’s an exciting event, though, because I feel that this work is markedly different from the others so far - maybe reaching into new perfume territory for January Scent Project. It also began to develop a more distinct theme than some of the others, weaving itself around a specific work of fiction (Guy du Maupassant’s story Le Horla from 1887.) Although the short story and the perfume are not direct depictions back-and-forth, they became like a haze of past and present, and reminded me often of the surreal world we’ve been living in during COVID-19, sometimes traveling back and forth between studio and home, seeing very few people and being in a kind of sensory bubble. The main character of du Maupassant’s “Horla” has a similar relationship with a boat that is moored out in the harbor near his home in France. I started to feel the presence of this fragrance hovering around like the boat, The Horla and it becomes an obsession to our narrator. We can become similarly obsessed, I believe.

I’m glad to present it to the public and some thoughts from the outside world are trickling in again. It’s good to release, connect, and create that loop of communication.

I have plans to release yet another perfume before the end of the year - I will endeavor to do so. There has been such a bounty of fragrance releases all over the world this autumn - have we all waited to see if we emerged from the seclusion ok? Time will tell, of course, but the isolation gave way to that feeling you get when you’ve studied and studied and then finally passed an exam. I have a few more exams to take before the end of the year, but I believe I’ll pass them as well - I’ve had abundant time to prepare.

Enjoy the encroaching Fall / Autumn season and its incredible sensory delights. More info to come by email very soon. ~ John