Jerry Dee: "It's what gives wings to our voice, give yourself the freedom to be"

Jerry Dee is a music producer from Oklahoma City, specializing in the most visceral expressions of Rock & Roll. From the age of 9, he began developing a direct relationship with his instruments, shaping both his sound and creative ethic through hands-on experience and early musical influences.

Moving from the local metal scene into punk, and later into Oi and Hardcore bands, with further explorations into Darkwave and beyond, Dee has been deeply rooted in underground music culture across multiple forms.

His work also extends into Electronic Dance Music, discovered through punk and Darkwave spaces where synthesizers and experimental approaches were embraced without compromise, expanding his vision of what underground music can encompass.

You started playing music at just nine years old. Which instruments, records, or people had the greatest influence on your earliest approach to music?

I came from a musical family and my life kept me around musical people, I eventually caught on myself. I had a knack for learning new things pretty quickly when dedicated, guitar being one I was heavily drawn to - Something spiritual about that connection.

Consistently being around a collection of records, tapes, 8-tracks, and CD's, I had a sea of music to learn from and that I did. I'm forever grateful for my roots. 

Your musical background spans Metal, Punk, Oi, Hardcore, Darkwave, and EDM. What is the common thread that connects all of these genres within your artistic identity?

Rock & Roll has always been where my soul is at. After discovering Punk through the Metal scene, Oi was an easy first love with Hardcore being a natural delight. Post-Punk brought me to Industrial and Darkwave, opening my eyes to a broader EDM scene. The more familiar I became with the truest of them each, the more they all had in common at their rawest. The two commonalities unmistakably consistent between the realest factions of these subcultures are the value of being free and the fight for truth. 

Comparable to many rivers leading to the same ocean: They are different in nature and inhabitants but are each destined to reach deeper waters; Consciousness. They all rage for freedom and create new realities from thin air to achieve it; A nature to overpower the unnatural barrier between each of us and life's truth. We are all taking that voyage to create the answer. Many of us have more in common than we may think. 

You have described discovering EDM through underground clubs, afterhours parties, and invite-only raves. What did you find in those spaces that you had not yet found in the Rock or Punk scenes?

Most of the real alternative scenes stayed very true to what they were about but there's always going to be a level of exploitation and dilution with any movement. 

In the real corners of the Electronic scene, most of what I witnessed was another level of positivity, openness, and self-expression that was often taboo in Rock scenes that became cookie-cutter in their dedication to fitting a scene mold. The spark of individuality was too often dampened, rebellion became about cheap esthetics rather than principle. Bands became too loyal to (then) promoters who became too loyal to trends, and the gap between underground and acceptable became a soulless lottery too often regulated by companies who didn't value the music, the movement, or the people at all. Believe it or not, those very scenes lost much life because of it. 

I never want to see another Alternative band diminish their creativity for what's popular ever again. Don't change your sound for percentages. Don't change who you are for talking heads. Expand on the magic you already have, that's what makes your art unique. Keep growing without glass ceilings. It's what gives wings to our voice, give yourself the freedom to be.

The real club kids [I had the privilege and honor of knowing] were free, truly free. If they had style, they meant it. If they were expressing in art, it was genuine; Unique without trying. This was exactly what drew me to real Rock & Roll to begin with. They didn't play music that was acceptable but rather gave themselves the artistic freedom to fly in open uncharted skies, just as their music sounded. 

The heartbeat of Electronic banging through giant speakers and subs, shaking the core of the club and everyone present, was like nothing I had experienced. It's one thing to listen on a Walkman, it's another to be in the center of it all like you're inside of the beat itself. It's an energy and ecosystem of it's own. I will always love roaring guitars, though this was a different flavor entirely. When I found EDM featuring ripping guitars, I was all in. Bass is a language best understood at Boss volume, electronic or analog. 

You have said that "EDM is Rock & Roll". How do the rebellion, freedom, and self-expression of EDM reflect the original spirit of Rock & Roll?

It all started from doing what you could with what you had, making the most out of nothing regardless of odds or circumstances, all for the soul of what's real. The nature to create, the nature to overcome anything to do so. That's Rock & Roll.

You cite Psychic TV, Nina Hagen, and Raymond Watts among your earliest major influences. Which elements of their work still appear in your music and productions today?

Being only a few of my earliest influences in discovering Electronic, I remember being way young when I first heard "Get Your Body (ft. Nina Hagen)" by Adamski before I knew anything about Dance music. I had heard Drum and Bass, House, and Jungle before I knew what they were but I knew that I liked it. 

Always digging further, this path would lead me to discovering ItaloDisco, Eurobeat, Electro, Synth Pop, Industrial, anything I find. I was in. 

Growing up raised on ZZ Top (taught by the best), I was already a fan of the Blues, hearing them incorporate EDM styles into their music immediately caught my attention. I later heard this in the music of Slade, Raymond Watts, Devo, Lita Ford, Kraftwerk, among others I regularly sought out. I was given a cassette of "Future Shock" as a kid and kept it in rotation. Later finding bands like Psychic TV, The Prodigy, and Killing Joke definitely brought a sharper new edge to that playlist.

The bridge between analog and digital were often crossed in that exploration.

With Shillely, you are pushing the boundaries of Street Rock by incorporating influences from EDM and Indie music. How did you develop the sound of “Widowmaker” and the wider “Guardian Angel” project?

"Widowmaker" and Guardian Angel as a whole are a healthy amalgamation of my favorite styles while staying true to Real Street Rock ethic. 

It does have it's bite, it's one of the most matured pieces of Heavy Music that I have written thus far. 

I look forward to the future with this strength. 

Jerry Dee & The GearJammers draws on classic Glam Rock, football-terrace anthems, and Britpop. What attracts you to that era, and how do you want to reinterpret it for a contemporary audience?

Before there was Glam or even a title for "Oi", there was Street Rock (AKA Pub Rock). This was the next true generation of Roots Rock & Roll, a modern answer to the original framework. No frills, no filler, no disingenuous gimmicks, just the music and the people - Very loudly.

Especially in music, original roots ignite a natural fire in each of us that surpasses eras and fads alike. Heavy drum and bass will get anybody feeling alive, strings and wind give our soul the tune to sing to. It lifts us into flight (or fight), it's primal. The original combination of a raw real Rock & Roll band is unbeatable. It communicates universally, and clearly. It's the most original sound to me, it deserves to be celebrated and innovated.

Our noise is a contemporary answer to the roots we come from and appreciate, our way. 

In your work, you move between being a singer, guitarist, producer, and label owner. How does your way of listening to music change when you are working on your own project compared with another artist’s release?

Each artist is the embodiment of their own vision and their work reflects that, inadvertently or not. Every real artist has an entire world they want to communicate, and adequately too. I hear the recording process, I hear the mixing process, I hear where their writing is coming from. I hear where they added, where they subtracted, multiplied, etc. It's all somebody's canvas. 

Any piece of art ever created is going to have it's hair of differences from the sculptor's original vision, I have learned that firsthand. It's uniqueness gives it priceless character, always. 

I see this in both listening to or working on another artist’s piece. We create that reality as closely to their dream as possible and allow that innovation to fly freely.

I took up recording and releasing music, teaching myself, because I wanted to create on my terms. 

I have worked with remarkable engineers before and may again in the future, owning your own tools provides a deeper freedom.

Arctic Soul is a DIY label focused on underground releases distributed through independent networks and word of mouth. Why is it important to preserve that kind of approach today?

So that music lovers listen with intention. Not because they're being told what to like but because they know who they are and what they want. It is necessary to extend yourself because you never know who will be impacted by your music, though this also deserves intention. 

Sincere art doesn't need to be so commodified that it's sterilized into it's only appeal being esthetic shock; It must have meaning predicated on truth. I want to know that what I'm listening to is real, the listeners deserve to know that too. Where did any Alternative come from? People who knew what's up and people who were down with it. No vultures.

Looking ahead, what impact would you like your music and Arctic Soul to have on the Oklahoma alternative scene and the wider international underground community?

A real impact. One that cannot be feigned, exploited, or replicated. Buy that. 

Follow Jerry Dee

Instagram / Soundcloud / Spotify