Rich Jones • "See You All The Time" Video Premiere

For our first interview of the new year, we pick up on a conversation which started a few months back with our friend Rich Jones surrounding his album Smoke Detector. Since, the project has gone on to see a successful vinyl run, the artwork brought to life through a few murals around the city and has garnered praise from a number of publications - including an appearance our 2022 Chicago Albums of the Year list.

Today we have the privilege of premiering the music video for one of it’s fan favorites in “See You All The Time.” Courtesy of Iceberg Theory, the project’s co-pilot, the track pairs a buzzy and bright backdrop with a subtlety backhanded reflection on the loss of thrill in seeing all to familiar faces yet again. For the visuals, Rich reunites with the very talented team at New Trash and the result is one of the best music videos we’ve seen come out of Chicago in sometime.

Enjoy the video and get further familiar with the makings of Smoke Detector in the interview below.

Rich! It’s 100 degrees in Chicago right now, how do we handle this?

Topo Chico, limeade, ice. Together.

Smoke Detector is out now! How are you feeling?

It’s always a little scary leading up to a release, especially one as personal as Smoke Detector, when you’ve been living and breathing with the music for over a year. Thankfully, people seem to not just dig it but grasp it’s trippier leanings and that feels incredible.

The project features exclusive production from Iceberg Theory; how did you two link & what was it about his production that led you to doing a whole album together?

I’d been a fan of Iceberg Theory’s music and production for awhile and we’d messaged a bit back and forth over the previous year. Finally last Spring/Summer I said fuck it and asked if he’d be down to do some stuff. He in turn sent over a couple folders with a million beats and I immediately dove in and very quickly found over a dozen that I REALLY dug. At that point, it was obvious we had more than enough to do an album and I felt like what I’d chosen sound wise was eclectic and cohesive in a way where no two songs would be perceived the same way. And now here we are!

What did you learn about yourself & your art in the process of working on this project?

I think a big thing that revealed itself is that after a decade plus of making music, I feel like I’m finally getting scary good at getting the records to sound as good as they do in my head. Further, I took it upon myself to do all the art and promotional materials for this album and that was a great opportunity to flex my ability to flesh out the world Smoke Detector exists in while developing a new avenue to express myself. This was really helpful during the stretches where my writing went dormant but I still wanted to get shit done that would help with the album.

There’s a phenomenal supporting cast on display across these 13 tracks - can you talk to us about a few of the features / anyone deliver something you were pleasantly surprised to get back?

I spent a lot of time just listening to these beats for months on end with maybe two or three demos completed while I drove around Chicago for work. I wanted to get a feel for them and take as much time as needed to think about what they needed. Was it my voice? Who else did I hear? Or were they meant to exist more as a sound piece than as a written song? In the instances where I heard other people, thankfully everybody said yes and everybody delivered something ridiculously good. Especially during this period where I’ve felt really cut off from community, this was a great opportunity to reconnect with old friends like Yomí and IL. Sublinal while also getting to know some new people like Curly Castro, Lord Cartel & Semiratruth.

In terms of being surprised, I’m not kidding when I say I really wasn’t in terms of what we people did. Everybody’s a pro and is off the charts gifted so I had full faith everything would be wonderful.

You’ve been steadily building a catalog of memorable projects; where does Smoke Detector fit in amongst them in your eyes?

It’s the album 15 year old me would’ve wanted to make if I went back in time with all the knowledge 34 year old me has. As you’ve seen the last few years, I’ve moved thoroughly back into making Hip Hop records as I desired to get back to basics and when I was happiest or most excited about making music. Obviously, it comes with the twist that I’m absolutely unafraid to mix it up and do some different things.

I think listeners would do well to run back How do you sleep at night? and Blue Beach before jumping in if only because I feel like their narratives are intertwined; the fear and paranoia of the 1st, the calm and reflection of the 2nd, and finally the fried wooziness of Smoke Detector. It’s a journey if you got the time, I’ll take ya some places.

Britt Julious recently wrote an incredible feature on you for the Chicago Tribune, what was the feeling seeing that shared & in print?

So grateful for Britt. That was a really special day, especially because I found out it was running because my Dad hit me up to congratulate me. It’s been super tough to adjust the last few years. I very much miss going out and being in the world and there’s too many people I’ve fallen out of sync with. It sucks. But in turn, I’ve used this time to work really hard on my shit and being recognized just motivates me more to keep going and do things on my own terms.

You know as well as anyone how much work it takes to garner these moments of acknowledgements in a city such as ours. What advice do you have for artists who may be feeling that they haven’t gotten back as much as they’ve put into building a music career here in Chicago?

Make sure you love you some you. It’ll keep you warmer on the colder days when the world isn’t looking at you and you wonder if people have moved on. Also don’t be scared to jump around a bit and explore what other scenes are up to. Just because one group of folks isn’t overtly rocking with you doesn’t mean that you aren’t doing something cool, they might just not be the right audience. Plus, if you’re like me, you can think about connecting dots between various groups of people. Before you know it, you just might have started a new scene.

Any other thoughts you’d like to share with our readers?

Fight like hell for each other and all the good things that exist in the world.