Gold Fang
Interview with Jess Lord
At the age of 17, reggae/dancehall artist and producer Gold Fang moved to Sydney from Trinidad. Originally a strictly-live performer, during lockdown he tried his hand at recording music. It was then that he was discovered by his current manager, Sydney tastemaker, Nina Las Vegas. Jess Lord chats with Gold Fang about the risks of constructing a musical alter ego, how multiculturalism influences his music, and finding inspiration in animals.
Shot by Oliver Wensing
So I’ve been doing my research, and every article I’ve read doesn’t mention your real name. Is that something you’re keeping under wraps?
My name is funny. It’s not a self hating thing, I just don’t think it suits me as a person. My name is Jamunajai. That's my first name, which sounds a lot like Jumanji. My whole name is like a fucking bible. It’s Jamunajai Andrew Joseph Reno. It sounds like the Duke of Edinburgh or something.
Do you feel like Gold Fang is your alter ego, or it’s become who you are?
It all blends together. I’m a mad man. It definitely all ties together. I don’t lie about anything. If I’m out on the street and someone sees me I want to be the same person that they see on screen. You know, like if everyone thinks, oh, this dude doesn’t wear shorts. And then they see me in shorts and it’s like, “Oh what the fuck man? I’m so betrayed by you”. And you’re just like, “Fuck bro, it’s Sunday bro, it’s hot”. Yeah, I just want to show people what they are going to get, you know? This is my true self.
All about consistency?
Consistency. Consistently being a dickhead [laughing]. The only difference [between my music identity and my self], I would say, is when I’m on stage I don’t hear anything.
What do you mean by that?
How do I say this... There can be total chaos going on outside. But I’m just locked in. I just love performing so much. Like, if they said the end of the world was going to happen in the next 30 minutes, I’d go home, get my speaker, play some instrumentals and just freestyle. Just perform somewhere you know? I feel like when I’m performing it blanks out all the noise, distractions, problems, or things you probably might be going through. It just blocks it out.
Shot by Oliver Wensing
What are the differences you’ve noticed between the music scene in Trinidad and in Sydney?
Trinidad artists are more hungry, you know, and they’re more original in terms of themselves. But in saying that, Australian artists explore more. There’s wider culture to explore here. There’s so many walks of life in Sydney alone that we can learn from.
I wouldn’t have explored so many genres if I wasn’t over here. In Trinidad you can be boxed in because it’s such a small place. There’s a lot of artists in Trinidad, but they’re not doing reggae. They do soca and dancehall but they don’t do reggae. I do dancehall music as well, but I mix it up. Some people just stick with what they know, which if you grew up in Trinidad, is most likely dancehall and soca because that’s basically the two native genres that live in Trinidad.
That’s interesting. Do you think there’s a good reggae scene in Sydney then?!
I’m making it [laughing]. I’m trying. But no, there’s not a good reggae scene in Sydney. I feel like there should be a major festival for, not just reggae music, but so many genres under reggae, you know, dancehall, reggaeton... I feel like there should be a bigger scene over here because there’s so many subgenres that fit under this giant, you know?
What have you found hardest about making music in Sydney?
The hardest thing about making music in Sydney is that I can’t find no authentic players of my genre. There are, but there’s not enough, especially my age. There’s not enough people who enjoy what I enjoy. There’s not enough people who love reggae music the way I do, there’s not a lot of people my age that’s hungry for it. That’s one of the things that’s very frustrating over here because everyone likes music that’s a different style.
What inspires you?
Art inspires me. Things I’ve never seen or heard before, talking to old people, and animals inspire me. When you scroll through my feed it’s just raccoons and otters at the moment. I’m going to Bali this week, so I’m definitely going to go take a trip to check out the monkey forests.
The monkeys are crazy there, I’ve seen videos where they pickpocket people.
Yeah nah, I’m going with zips on my pockets. Might even put a little handy lock on there. Let me see you unlock that! I might just go with some bananas or something, you know, to distract them. I really like monkeys. I had a monkey when I was a kid in Trinidad. They’re running around in Trinidad, wearing diapers. And they’re notorious for tossing their faeces.
You’ve just released your debut mixtape, SMOOVE KILLA, and you’re performing at Splendour in the Grass this year. Is there anything else exciting coming up you want to share?
Stay tuned. I've definitely got some exciting things in the works that I think the people that follow Gold Fang would appreciate in the latter part of the year. I can't really expose it right now. But you know, there's a couple of things that we're working on inside the camp.
Top three favourite animals?
1. Black cats
2. Monkeys
3. Racoons
Who do you think is the most exciting young & emerging creative in Sydney?
Danté Knows
@danteknows
