Jasmine Crowe and Jonathan Fairchild on New Pop Single ‘Poolside’
From a certain perspective, Los Angeles is the world’s first particle accelerator – it’s where highly charged artists collide and produce explosive results. It’s where Jasmine Crowe and Jonathan Fairchild were destined to meet and combine their creative talents.
Jasmine Crowe hails from Hawaii, and, like her homeland, her career has produced a dynamic and fruitful ecosystem of diverse creation. A virtuoso on the violin, Ms. Crowe also seamlessly cycles through guitar or piano while performing any number of songs from her award-winning catalogue. Her 2019 single “Chess Game” even reached #28 on the Billboard Dance Charts. Most recently, she shook hands and rubbed shoulders with the one-and-only Ringo Starr as she accepted the John Lennon Song of the Year Award for her single “Breaking Things.”
Jonathan Fairchild grew up in the light and love of the SoCal sun. In a time when being gay was not okay, Fairchild has been working professionally as an actor, singer, and dancer since he was eight years old – and now shines as a creative beacon to others in the City of Angels. He’s toured with the likes of Lizzo, Kesha, and Aaron Carter (and so many more) over his 20-year career in the music industry. More recently, he’s blossomed into a thoughtful and provocative producer and vocalist, releasing songs like “Lover” and “So Beautiful” that strike you stunned with insight in the midst of your spontaneous booty-shaking.
Fairchild has been interested in hair and makeup his whole life, and has even built a career working with cosmetic companies for sponsorships, traveling and wearing new products on display. While studying for his cosmetology license in Studio City, he met Crowe as a client getting her hair done. In 2019, he hosted Sun.Day.Live., the first LGBTQ arts and music festival, where Crowe and her band performed – and so, a beautiful musical collaboration began.
In their debut collaborative bop “Poolside” (which Crowe produced), Crowe and Fairchild distill the Hollywood experience into a single setting: the paradigmatic LA pool party. With a groovy upbeat bass and dance-along percussion, they lay the foundations for their infectious melodies and strutting guitars to flourish into a synth-and-string orchestral disco explosion. Together the duo lyrically seduces us into their world and reveals all is not as it seems under the California sun—Hollywood vampires lurk in the umbrella-borne shadows by the pool.
The energetic music video for “Poolside” develops a deeper dive into these tempting and torturous undertones of the entertainment industry. Director Jeremy Eichenbaum vivifies the vision, following a white-laden Crowe as she attends a poolside shindig hosted by our devious Fairchild. Upon her arrival, she guilelessly stumbles through crowds of sharp-toothed guests, grooving and coaxing her into their perilous party. Eventually, the maiden/villain dualism dissolves into a blowout ball for all parties involved. Maybe the vampires got her in the end, but who wouldn’t want to live forever in this sanguine scene?
Can you describe your formation as a duo? At what point did you both realize you wanted to collaborate musically?
Jasmine Crowe: Johnny and I have been good friends for a few years. When he came back to LA recently he came to one of my shows and we reconnected. We’d always wanted to write a song together so we planned a day where we could brainstorm at my studio. When Johnny came to the session that day he said he had a concept “Poolside” since my studio is right next to my pool at my house and the last time we had seen each other was at a pool party. As I began creating the track and musical elements around our ideas, lyric wise I thought it’d be cool to bring in the element of Hollywood to the song in a fun, party vibe way. “Poolside” became a story and a metaphor about the Hollywood scene where you can get swept away in your dreams, aspiring to be in that Hollywood mansion by the poolside and what you might have to go through to get there. The line about “Hollywood vampires” inspired the concept of the video where a young star arrives at a party where she finds everyone there to be a “Hollywood vampire” eventually falling victim to becoming one herself. The song is a very upbeat, catchy, happy and fun party song but there is also a deeper meaning to it. After we recorded ‘Poolside’ Johnny also expressed he wanted to write a Christmas song and serendipitously that was a goal of mine as well – so from there we started on the next collab together!
Jonathan Fairchild: I met Jasmine while doing her hair, I was touring for Aaron Carter and Lizzo. I did her hair for her Chess Game Video. From there, I booked Jasmine at my LGBTQ Art and music festival, Sun. Day. Live. I fell in love with Jasmine’s music. I love her writing and her musicianship. We both love pop music and performing so when we got together everything kind of just blossomed naturally. I can sing an idea to Jasmine and she builds a magical world around it with instruments and her vocals. I’ve sung with a lot of people, and when you can have fun and just be, it’s truly special.
Did you both have similar musical tastes or did you have to work on finding a middle ground when creating “Poolside”?
Jasmine Crowe: Growing up around so many musical influences, when Johnny and I teamed up on this song he gave me a reference on what he wanted the vibe to be like, very dancey and fun with some funk elements which reminded me of some of the bands my dad listened to and I loved like the Bee Gees, ABBA, and in modern times, Daft Punk, Dua Lipa, etc Johnny’s voice really fits this vibe as well. We’ve done a couple of songs together and when we collaborate the sound is very consistent in this way, which I love! Retro pop/dance/funk!
Jonathan Fairchild: She and I love the stage life, I would say we love all music but for this, I wanted to incorporate my love for dancing and she kicks butt at playing instruments in heels. So definitely brought in pop elements that make people want to move. The vibe of POOLSIDE is funky, haunting, soulful, pop, and uplifting at the same time.
How have both of your previous experiences and successes in music and entertainment influenced “Poolside” and your other musical creations?
Jasmine Crowe: Moving from Hawaii to Los Angeles, there is a lot you learn to navigate in the entertainment industry. ‘Poolside’ is definitely inspired and influenced by our experiences in Hollywood and the red flags you find along the way in pursuit of your dreams. (I actually also have a song called ‘Red Flags’ inspired by a particular experience in reference to this.) I absolutely love LA and it feels like home to me now, but sometimes you gotta watch out for the vampires in this town haha or you can even start to feel “dead inside” without even noticing the feeling creeping up on you. ‘Poolside’ is very tongue and cheek of course.
Jonathan Fairchild: You learn to always shoot for the stars and land on the moon and remain willing to learn and grow. We change as a culture every year, so every year how to do things can change. I’ve learned to take each day one at a time and constantly stay in gratitude. POOLSIDE more than any other project, has shown me anything is possible if you put your heart and mind to it. Sometimes people want to write a “Hit” but they don’t know what or why they are writing. I think intention changes a project. Jasmine and I knew right away what we wanted and who we were talking to, because we were relating to each other and the ones we love around us. Love is the universal language and that is what we always want people to feel when listening
The “Poolside” music video is so fun and unconventional! What was the process of creating the video’s concept? Why were poolside vampires the way to go?
Jasmine Crowe: When we wrote ‘Poolside’ at the end of August, Johnny already knew he wanted to create a music video for it. It felt like a summer smash but we didn’t want to wait to release it. The line about “Hollywood Vampires” inspired the storyline about a young star attending a poolside party unsuspectingly in the midst of vampires, eventually becoming one herself as a metaphor for what this jaded town can do to a person pursuing their dreams. I wanted my look for the video to be reminiscent of Marilyn Monroe in the white as a nod to old Hollywood nostalgia. My original concept was to then have her in the end turn yet another unsuspecting victim repeating the cycle. We thought around Halloween would be the perfect time to release the song instead since summer was already over. It was a super fast timeline but both of our teams took on this ambitious project bringing so much creativity and heart to it. We planned out all the shots for the storyline and Johnny found the location and brought on the dancers and choreography for the video which was new and exciting for me. It was a crazy experience with 50 people on set and a full twelve hour shoot but in the end everyone came together – I remember standing at the performance shot with the gazebo at the end of the shoot with Johnny and I turned to him and said, “omg I can’t believe we did it!” It was amazing to see our vision be brought to life in real time.
Jonathan Fairchild: When it comes to me and Jasmine, I’ve produced a lot of big shows and I just see a larger than life show. Two angelic singers , a band and 4 dancers. Like Michael Jackson meets the B52’s. I wanted something we could perform and relate to. I know she and I could gig at the poolside of some of my friends. So, that’s how we got the location and performance concept.
Jasmine came up with the Hollywood vampires bringing a little realness and relatable darkness of temptation in the lyrics. So, we built that into the story. Since my vocals came in later, we made it a story of me bringing her into the dark side of the fun and fantasy of Hollywood. We had a lot of fun creating the story and creating the shots with the team.
What are the most important lessons you’ve both learned from your experiences in the music and entertainment industries?
Jasmine Crowe: Surround yourself with people that continue to inspire and help you grow, moving you forward. I’m so lucky to have found such an amazing team in this town that has helped me get to where I am today, continuing to work and create together. Find your tribe. Challenge yourself, you have to learn to set boundaries as well to prevent burn out and protect your brand. It’s not the destination, but the journey and you have to work hard at your craft and love the process more than the carrot of success, because if you love what you do, you will always feel fulfilled and successful. I’m not happy unless I’m moving and growing and constantly creating, haha.
Jonathan Fairchild: I say “ show up, and stay workable,” No matter what, and always support your peers. You have to give the love to get the love.
Do you both plan to continue creating amazing music together as a duo? Are there any plans for the future you’d like to share?
Jasmine Crowe: We have a Christmas single on the way as well as a remix of “Poolside” by Matt Moss which we’re very excited to release! Stay tuned for new shows and new music in the future! xx
Jonathan Fairchild: We have an awesome remix coming out of Poolside by Matt Moss and we are releasing a christmas song. We just finished our first show together opening for Naika and it was amazing. The ball has just started to roll and we will continue to keep sharing the light and the love through art.
Jasmine Crowe and Jonathan Fairchild
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About the Author
Dr. Jerry Doby Editor-in-Chief of The Hype Magazine, Media and SEO Consultant, Journalist, Ph.D. and retired combat vet. 2023 recipient of The President's Lifetime Achievement Award. Partner at THM Media Group. Member of the U.S. Department of Arts and Culture, the United States Press Agency and ForbesBLK.
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