Meet Jason ‘gordo’ Gordon

Today we’re excited to be connecting with Jason ‘gordo’ Gordon again. If you haven’t already, we suggest you check out our prior conversation with them here.

Jason ‘gordo’, thanks for joining us again. Just to level set a bit for folks who may have missed our last interview together, can you briefly introduce yourself?
Most people know me as Gordo, which is a play on my last name. Yes y’all, I know that means “fat” in Spanish. I own and operate a small label called Gordophonic Records, which is more of a loose collective of like-minded artists. I do many things in the musical realm including songwriting, performing, consultation, collaborating, audio engineering and mixing. I have spent many years making records and touring. My basic tenet has always been to do whatever feels/sounds good. I am decidedly “old school” in my approach to making music. I consider it art. I don’t place a lot of value on the typical careerist aspects of being a modern musician. That is, you typically won’t see a lot of ‘content’ from me or the label unless I have something specific to say. What ever happened to mystique?!

My musical journey began at a young age listening to tons of records, but I really got going with playing via the local music scene in Lawrence, Kansas in the late 90’s and early 2000’s. So yeah, I’m an old head! I have played in many genres that include bluegrass, punk rock, metal, surf and country. I’ve met many wonderful artists along the way. My wife and I moved to Denver, Colorado in 2015 where I leaned into performing more and started the label.

Alright, so our main goal today is to give our audience an update on what you have been up to since our last conversation. We’d love to hear how things are going and what you are most looking forward to or excited about these days.
Well, things have changed drastically for me since we last spoke. In 2019 my wife Melissa was diagnosed with S4 cancer and then immediately after that the pandemic came along. Needless to say the performance aspect of my life was pretty much nonexistent at that time. This carried forward as the pandemic receded and I found myself caring for my wife. In the spare moments that I had to myself I would often escape to the studio where I would do work remotely mixing for clients or creating on my own. Over a couple of years I managed to record two albums. The first one I completed was a new album from Agents of First Choice which is an ongoing electronic sci-fi project. The second album was a collaboration with Randy Olinger called Doom Island that delves into a dark goth-inspired feel with elements of surf, reggae and lots of beats. These two projects were completed prior to my wife’s passing in February of 2024.

Needless to say the past year has been the most difficult of my life. Melissa was in many ways my muse. She was incredibly supportive of my creative endeavors and I miss her terribly. Her presence is embedded in my work, so even within the tumult of grieving it was of paramount importance that I release these two albums. Although they are very different in nature and the specter of death hangs over them I believe that they both contain some of the most significant music I will ever put out into the world.

“Discomorphosis” by Agents of First Choice was released in July of 2024. When I listen to these instrumentals the doom and desperation are palpable. In the moment I was just following the lead of my emotional state and I just let that determine my path. There is no attempt at being clever, deceptive or cute. The sounds are at times intensely brutal and at other times very withdrawn and spare…but always dark. Most of the tracks took weeks or months to complete. The sole outlier is “Rid”, a quickly thrown-together improvisation that I remixed; it features an accidental power-down of a keyboard. It’s fucking scary! Hats off to Meris, Death By Audio and Walrus for making such incredible effects pedals.

“Doom Island”, my collaboration with Randy Olinger, was just released last October. We had a fun island-themed record release party at Mutiny Comics and Coffee in downtown Littleton and we just put out our first video for “Marooned”. We are both very proud of this record, as it represents different influences neither of us have utilized before. It’s basically a beach goth record if you can wrap your head around that. I wrote and performed the music while Randy did all the vocals and lyrics. It was 100% a collaboration, split down the middle like that. We had very little input on each other’s parts. We just went for it and we are super happy with the results. We hope to start doing shows at some point later this year.

I am really looking forward to putting out a couple more releases from the label this year, one featuring my favorite drummer, like, ever. Dimension Bill Edwards is in the studio right now and they just asked me to contribute something which is a total honor. I love what those guys are doing. Randy’s new band Cereal Killers just recorded a couple songs with Bart at The Crash Pad and we’re playing some shows this summer. I feel so fortunate to be surrounded and supported by so many talented people. I need to give a special shout out to my homies at Flipside Music. They’ve been super cool people to work with.

We also want to give folks a chance to get to know you a bit better so we’ve prepared a fun lightning round of questions. Ready?

Favorite Movie: Anything by David Lynch. Rest In Peace.

Favorite Book: I’m an avid reader…so many favorite books! Off the top of my head: Kathleen Hanna’s “Rebel Girl: My Life as a Feminist Punk” is great. “The Only Good Indians” by Stephen Graham Jones and “The Strange” by Nathan Ballingrud are both page burners.

Favorite TV Show: Right now it’s Severance.

Favorite Band or Artist: Church Fire

Sweet or Savory: Yes, please.

As a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up: I wanted to be a vet until I wanted to be a musician.

French Fries or Onion Rings: Yup.

Favorite Cartoon growing up: Looney Tunes: Banty Raids is one of my all-time favorites. It still makes me laugh.

Favorite Breakfast Food: I don’t eat them often cuz they’re not exactly healthy but I love pancakes.

What do you want people to remember about you and your brand? What are some of things that you feel are most important, unique, special, etc?
The life of a musician or artist can be really fucking tough these days. As a member of the ‘older guard’ of lifers, I can’t express enough how important it is to support your local arts and music scenes. Getting the word out about your creative endeavors can seem like a constant uphill battle, so when you have the opportunity to expose someone to your local music community, do it. I’ve met some of my best friends in the world by playing or attending local shows. I always wish that I had the budget to do more for all of the great artists on my label. If I had that 1% money you can bet your ass you’d hear a ton more underground music breaking through the surface.

Website: https://gordophonicrecords.com

Instagram: @gordophonicrecords, @blacksandcove

Image Credits
GR Logo: Elsie/Jason Gordon
Photo: Jason Gordon
Doom Island album cover: Joshua Finley
Agents of First Choice “Discomorphosis” album cover: Roger Mattos of Linear Collages