Jock Nowell-Usticke isn’t your average chemical engineering graduate. In 2 short years, Jock (also known as by his stage name, BAYNK) went from making beats in his bedroom to headlining festivals and touring the globe.
The New Zealand-native’s music is experimental by trade. I’ve read articles that place him in the future bass, trop-house, and alt-pop genre; however, I don’t know If I agree with any of those classifications. If you listen to his new EP, A STUDY IN MOVEMENT, there’s no way you can lump him into one specific category. He’s one of those artists where no two songs are the same, which oddly enough, is something he strives for.
Certain things that happen to myself or friends of mine that induce certain emotions which leads to different sounding music inspires me. I haven’t quite pinned it down yet, it’s fleeting. I think I have something in-built that needs to make something different every-time
BAYNK, ThomasBleach Interview
I was able to catch a live BAYNK show at the Bottom Lounge in the West Loop earlier this year (pre-covid) and it completely blew my expectations out the door. He had a rectangle of LEDs bordering his setup, almost like a picture frame. He would come up to the edge of frame, but never through it. That was of course until his last song, “go with u,” in which he burst through and damn-near jumped into the crowd, belting the lyrics.
The other thing I noticed during the performance was that the dude LOVES to dance. As soon as he had the tempo where he wanted it and the transition all smoothed out, he was in front of the crowd moving. You can definitely tell from the video below. His energy was contagious.
Back to the track. To me, “go with u” is paying homage to finally taking that leap with a significant other. He uses his fair share of ocean/water references, but I guess they always work when talking about relationships. In an article with FEMALE AUSTRALIA , Jock describes the track as a “confession,” which is a compact way to explain such an expressive track, BUT I think it makes all the sense in the world.
I go back and forth on what BAYNK song is my favorite, but for now, it’s this one: everything from the lyrics to the clean synths. I also enjoy when he does his own vocals……not that Sinead Harnett, Golden Vessel, and NïKA destroy a track, but you get what I mean.
Be sure to check out the rest of Someone’s EP II, as well as his new 4-song EP, A STUDY IN MOVEMENT. And for the love of God please go to one of his shows once our world opens back up.
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