SNS Presents: Jonathan Richetts

We caught up with musician Jonathan Richetts in his Brooklyn apartment to discuss the release of his new EP, Wild Boy. He spoke about his creative process and his top 3 sneakers. Check out the interview and his new music video below!

SNS: Give us a quick intro on who you are and what you do?

JR: I'm Jonathan Richetts - I am an artist straight out of motha fucking Brooklyn, New York. Shit. And I make whatever I want. I'm blessed with the opportunity to literally make any genre, any item, any idea that comes out of my mind - I can literally make it tangible. I think that's what I do. I'm a visionary, I believe, and a philanthropist.

SNS: So what are some projects that are in the works right now?

JR: My first EP, Wild Boy. Wild Boy. Yeah, I'm really excited for that because I'm over it. And I just want it to come out, and for the world to enjoy what I finished almost two years ago.

SNS: You started two years ago? 

JR: Patience is a virtue man.

SNS: What label’s putting it out? Or are you doing it independently? 

JR: I'm doing it independently unless something happens in the next three months. But I'm doing it independently just the way I want to, under “Vanilla.” Yeah, I guess my own label.

SNS: When was your last live performance? 

JR: Oh my last show...was at you know, this is full circle, my last show was at RetroSuperFuture.

SNS: At the closing party?

JR: Yeah

SNS: Oh yeah, I was there! 

JR: Yeah, that was my last show. Right before Covid. 

SNS: Yeah. Yeah, right before.

JR: Yeah, I was peaking and shit. I really thought that year was going to be a really good year for me. It wasn't. 

*laughter*

SNS: Rest In Peace RetroSuperFuture on Howard St.

JR: Shout out to Retro. On top of the counter where I used to work and ship out sunglasses and perform in that bitch. 

SNS: And what do you miss the most about playing live?

JR: The people, man. I think that we can do these online shows and it'll never amount to  person-to-person interaction. Like, how the hell are you supposed to stage dive on Zoom?  

SNS: Right. 

JR: You know what I mean? I just miss the personal interactions with people and the feeling after the show. I don't count a Zoom show as a show, but I've done a Zoom show before and I think I'm doing one on this Friday, or like an online situation, and I hated it. Well, that's a strong word. But like, I really disliked it. And then after the fact it’s like, all right, we got a check. But like, at a real show you do a cool set and then after, you know, your friends and your homies are like, “That shit was fucking crazy!”  You know what I mean? It's just different.

SNS: No, absolutely. Tell us about the recent project you just did with the masks.

JR: It was just a collaboration with Free Arts NYC and my production company called “Vanilla”. I just thought that I should contribute back to my city and back to the community that brought me up. You know, that helped me so much. It's always on my mind to say “Hey, it's not about me, but how do I make an impact in my community where, say after I'm gone, it can still thrive?” So through Vanilla we curate fundraisers and cool things to give back. And I just kind of hit up Paula who’s the owner of Mask On NYC - and I was like “Yo, I like what you do. Let me put my ideas behind your craft and make something so great”.  Then we tapped in with Terry because he also does philanthropy and meaningful things.

SNS: I saw you collaborated with about 20 different brands on a Free Arts NYC t-shirt?

JR: We did the t-shirts with everyone. This is the demo. You can get a shot of this. You can't get a shot of the back because of copyright reasons. *laughter* I was like, I'm gonna reach out to the people that I know and just tell them about this and see if they want to get down with it. I reached out to probably like 40 brands. Some people I know, some people I kind of know, some people I don't know. And just said “Hey, this is what we're doing. It’s super simple - just say yes, and we'll put your fucking logo on it.” But because of that, it'll give people more incentive to participate with the fundraiser because their favorite brand is in on it. 

SNS: Who are you donating the proceeds to? 

JR: Free Arts NYC

SNS: And what does Free Arts do? 

JR: They provide educational arts and mentoring services to underserved kids in the city. I'm going to start being a part of the mentoring program later on this year till next year. Basically they get creatives and people who are in the industry, who are moving, doing all this shit in the industry, and then they pair them with a kid that shares the same interest. I kind of show them the ropes. “This is how you make a beat.”

SNS: So that's what you're going to be mentoring them in, making music? As a musician? 

JR: Yeah. 

SNS: And is that what you pride yourself on - being a musician? 

JR: I think I just pride myself on being a person, man. Just stripping down all of the titles. I think I pride myself on who I am in the shower. I’m serious, like you have no ego when you’re naked, you know what I mean? It’s like, you can do these great things, but like, if you’re in the shower at your Grandma's house, you are that. That's it. That's who you are. Maybe a little less if she opens the door. You know…

 *laughter*

SNS: If you had to pick your top three sneakers at the moment?

JR: Top three? That I own or just in general?

SNS: That you own.

JR: Okay. Definitely the Overshoe. I don't care. I'm a Tom Sachs stan. Stan- “Stalker fan” for the ones that don't know. 

JR: This is the shoe from last year's fundraiser, the first one I did-

SNS: Is that with Nike?

JR: Yeah. This is my own personal pair. It’s got a custom shoe box. I mean- pretty sick. Kinda beat up now. I think I skated in them. I don’t even know why. Busted a little heel flip. 

SNS: Did you design those?

JR: Yeah man, the Vanilla Air.

So the colorway was inspired by Luke Skywalker because I'm a huge Star Wars fan. So I don’t know if you’re into Star Wars but - Luke's color palette like, you can just tell this is his robes. This is from his robe from when he was on Tatooine before he became a Jedi- like regular Luke. And then, you know, Return of the Jedi when he was just iced out. He had the fuckin’ robot arm, he was just nice. I just added this to kind of give a dynamic, and then the green for his lightsaber from Return of the Jedi. 

SNS: You made those about a year ago?

JR: Yeah. A year ago, last June. I basically previewed the shoe on my Instagram story on Juneteenth - June 19th, and that was it. And it came with a t-shirt too. When you opened the box and took out the shoe, there was a t-shirt inside the panel. 

SNS: Sick

 JR: I’m gonna say the Sacai’s because I fought so hard to get these.

SNS: I personally love those. 

JR: Yeah, I put in pain - I put in pain for these.

SNS: What do you have planned for the future?

JR: I think I'm just really excited to start this full journey as a musician, you know what I mean? Because I've been working on it for so long where I’m just being impatient. “When am I gonna get my chance?” And then, you know, finally things are lining up and setting up for me to be able to just do my thing freely. I think that's really it. From this first project I get to just hit the ground running and just do whatever the fuck I want now, you know?

SNS: Yeah, we mentioned collaborations earlier. Have you collaborated with anyone on this album? 

JR:  No. I feel like sometimes you gotta show people that you can hold your own. That you as an artist separately can sustain this thing. So I’m big on that. Let me establish myself first and then I can start to add people to the roster. I actually have producer credits. My boy Tony Sure is on there as a producer / co-producer and Glenn The Saiyan. I have one collaboration with Bailey, this amazing singer from Detroit. That's about it.

SNS: How many tracks are on the project? 

JR: Four maybe five. I don’t know *laughs*

SNS: What's the project going to sound like?

JR: It loudly screams every single influence that I have, that has really affected my life musically and in other ways.

Check out Jonathan's new music video ENEMY below.

Interview by Cody Simons

Photos by Jonathan Padilla