Start Listening To: Geneva Jacuzzi
Step into the wild, eccentric world of Geneva Jacuzzi as she unravels the chaotic, creative journey behind Triple Fire and the art of turning life into a surreal masterpiece.
We didn’t meet in a dark bar or some surreal gallery at the edge of Los Angeles, but interviewing Geneva Jacuzzi still felt like stepping into another world. Imagine a psychedelic dreamscape where art collides with performance, post-apocalyptic pop echoes from every corner, and the lines between reality and fantasy blur. Geneva’s responses weren’t just answers - they were cryptic musings, the kind you’d expect from someone who views their life as a living art project. You could almost hear the hum of her mind working in multiple dimensions at once, juggling music, visual art, and existential humour with the ease of a cosmic juggler.
In this Q&A, she opens the door to her latest creation, Triple Fire, an album eight years in the making. But it’s not just about music - it’s about the chaos of life, the rawness of collaboration, and the beautiful absurdity of art itself. And Geneva? She’s not just along for the ride; she’s steering the ship into the unknown. Welcome aboard.
For those unfamiliar with your music, can you tell us who you are, where you’re from and about the music you make?
My name is Geneva Jacuzzi. I'm from los Angeles and I make Post Apocalyptic Purgatory Pop music.
"Triple Fire" is your first album in eight years. What inspired you to come back with this collection of songs now?
It’s not uncommon for me to have a big break between records. I’m not necessarily working on a record for 8 years but my practice extends beyond music to visual art, video and Performance so I like to explore different corners for periods of time. Throw a pandemic in the middle of all of that haha. After my last record "Technophilia", I really wanted to hone in on video art/directing and live performance and installation. I wouldn’t recommend that to any other artist but I’m not a typical musician so I think it all sort of makes sense when you see the live show. The process is sort of a Fool’s journey into the unknown. Lots of experimentation, adventure, trial and error. Somehow the trials and tribulations of life get woven into the narrative. It’s more of a living ART PROJECT. I put something out there and something comes back to me. Then I play with it and see if I can make it interesting or challenging.
But the backbone of the project is music. I didn’t necessarily need to make another record. It was asked of me. And I fulfilled my duties to the best of my abilities haha. I know I sound so cryptic but if I were to go into the details it would be a novel. Needless to say the whole process has been a wild adventure.
Your recent single "Art Is Dangerous" is both a powerful statement and a celebration of artistic communities. What was the creative process behind the song and its visually striking video?
I cowrote a large portion of the lyrics with my friend and collaborator Roderick Edens. Funny enough the title came by accident. He misread something on the TV and thought it said “Art is dangerous” when he said it out loud, we both knew that it was title of the next song. With a title like that, it was almost effortless to flush out the rest of the lyrics with funny satyrical cliches about power, money and ego. I dip my toes into different worlds and in Los Angeles, the art, music, fashion, literary, and film industries cross over quite a bit so I can write from experience. That being said, I have so many fabulous friends in all of these different worlds that I wanted to highlight in the music video. People who both inspire and support me. I wanted to share the debut with them all.
Your new album is described as an eclectic spectrum of moods, from "funny" to "menacing." Can you share more about how you approached creating such a diverse emotional landscape in "Triple Fire”?
I think that in order for this album to be authentic to me as a person/artist, it needed to touch on all of the different aspects of what makes me (or anyone) human. I’m both cerebral and emotional. Funny and serious. Light and dark. Good and bad. Full of contradictions, delusions, fantasies, reflections. I both overthink and overlook. Love and hate. I’m happy and I’m sad. In a way it’s like cooking. You add in the different ingredients and then taste it. If it’s missing something, you add it in. I’m actually quite bad at cooking, tbh.
In "Art Is Dangerous" you collaborate with a wide array of artists, including Weyes Blood and Mac DeMarco. How did these collaborations come together, and what was it like working with such a diverse group?
The majority of the people in the video didn’t actually work on the track. They are mostly friends. But they all inspire me in so many ways. I’ve known both Natalie (weyes blood) and Mac for years now and have watched them evolve into very successful artists which has a really positive impact on so many other artists in our scene. We all come from a DIY, punk, weirdo, indie community and it’s so hard to break out of that and actually make a career of this. I admire all of the people in that video in one way or another. All very special humans. Each of them have carved out their own thing on their own. Nothing corporate, nothing fake. All real, all talented, all decent human beings too.
You’ve been a key figure in the Los Angeles underground scene for years. How has the scene evolved since you first started, and where do you see it going in the future?
I don’t know if it evolved or devolved. Probably a little bit of both. I miss the LA house parties. There used to be the most EPIC house parties in LA. And people would dance! In living rooms. To good music! Everyone had record collections and good sound systems. Now if there’s a dance party, it’s some Spotify playlist off of a bluetooth speaker. Every once in a while there will be a good show at Zebulon and maybe some good dancing afterwards. Honestly, I’ve never paid attention to the scene or had strong opinions on it. It gets fun and not fun every other year.
Your performances are legendary for their immersive and unhinged nature. How do you translate the energy of your live shows into your recorded music?
I think it’s the other way around. The show is a way for me to translate the music on stage. The music is slightly unhinged and I don’t think it makes sense to people until it comes to the stage. I create other worlds in my mind when I make music and the challenge is to bring that world to life.
"Triple Fire" is your most collaborative album to date. How did working with other producers and musicians influence the sound and direction of the album?
It was a fun experiment. I was getting bored with myself and needed to change it up. I used to do everything alone, and while it was necessary for me to do that for a while, you can only go so far on your own before you start repeating yourself. So I came to the realization that even if I didn’t “need” to work with others, I “needed” to work with others if I wanted to grow. So I found a few friends whom I trusted and enjoyed their company. That process was quite interesting too since it’s the first time collaborating on a record and didn’t know what it would be like. Art is Dangerous was a fun collage of different styles. It started off with me jamming with Josh da costa in LA. I came up with the baseline and he did the drums and twinkly synth riff. Then I took it to Virginia Beach where Roderick Edens, Andrew Briggs and myself took it to another level. We basically did surgery on it and turned it into a song.. At the very end, I brought it back to LA and had Josh add the final guitar riff at the end. Back and forth from coast to coast. Sometimes I’m in there writing and other times, I’m producing.. everyone is changing roles but I always felt like the director because ultimately it was up to me. But its so fun to paint with more colors and bounce ideas and laugh and fight and share the experience with your friends.
You've mentioned that halfway through making the album, you started calling it “the record that’s going to save mankind.” Can you elaborate on that bold statement?
Yes, We were calling it “the record of the prophecy” haha. Half joking but almost half not. I think I have some weird leftovers from being raised with a strict fundamentalist christian background and one of those leftovers is the attachment of meaning and the value of sacrifice. I’ve always done things differently in my career and what comes with that is a sort of struggle that I encounter every step of the way. It’s almost like the world wants what it wants and unless you’re going to play it safe, you will encounter pushback. But in the overcoming of certain obstacles, you have the opportunity to bring something special and different.. and meaningful.. And in doing so, you make the world a better place. Or at least a more interesting one.
The themes of disconnection and uncertainty are evident in tracks like “Dry.” How do these themes resonate with your own experiences, especially in the context of the current world?
I’ve always felt disconnected and uncertain. Especially as a child but still today. The world is a strange place and people are weird. I think we are more connected now than we’ve ever been but also more disconnected as a result because we are still flesh and blood and have emotions and are always in survival mode. But it’s cool when you can laugh at yourself or write songs about it and make art about it. I think that’s the only control or freedom you can ever have which separates us from machines and animals. For now at least.
Your work spans multiple mediums, from music to performance art to set design. How do these different forms of expression influence one another in your creative process?
As far as this project is concerned they are all one thing. Or different limbs on the same body. They work together to create Geneva Jacuzzi which is more of an art experiment than a music project.
What do you love right now?
Chess.
What do you hate right now?
When people say “you always do this thing..” That I’ve only maybe done once in my life. Drives me nuts.
Name an album you’re still listening to from when you were younger and why it’s still important to you?
When I was a little girl, I fell asleep listening to the Beatles White Album on cassette in headphones every night. It was so colorful and diverse. Silly AND deep. Hard and soft. So many different twists and turns. It felt like a journey. In a way, I’ve modeled my own records after it. I’ve always liked to throw in different styles to create an interesting experience. To show the full spectrum. I still listen to it every now and then to connect to that part of me that would lay there, eyes closed painting pictures in my mind as I drift into dreamland.
Looking forward, what do you hope listeners take away from "Triple Fire" and where do you see your artistic journey heading next?
I mainly want people to feel inspired. When I listen to good music, it makes me want to go make something cool. I hope that the music and the shows can do that for people. I also want people to have more sex… to my music. Because I don’t have kids and this is my only method of procreation haha. Kidding/Not kidding.
As far as where I see this going? Honestly, where the wind takes me. The goal is to be able to curate specialty performances all over the world. It's what I've been doing but at I hope to be very successful so I can pump a bunch of money back into unconventional art making. Whether its me or not me making it. I have a dream of being an rich old eccentric lady living in a house with a labyrinth in the back yard who secretly funds a bunch of projects that no major institutions would touch.. Just to keep the world an interesting place.
