Producers Jewelssea and Jjared form a bond over beats

When Juliana Concepcion and Jared Daley start making a beat, it's hard for them to stop. 

The glow of the laptop catches the intensity and excitement on their faces when the beat starts coming together.

The young Philadelphia-area producers, whose respective stage names are Jewelssea and Jjared, sat down together on Dec. 2 and ended their impromptu beat making session by exporting a rough version of their newest creation.

Concepcion and Daley's process includes a lot of back and forth. They routinely pass each other the keyboard controller and laptop, which houses Ableton, a beat making software, to whoever has an idea flowing. The rhythm and tune of the music is their primary focus.

The pair met in January 2018 at Buffalo Exchange, a used clothing store in Center City, Philadelphia. Their mutual friend, James "Beautifulmvn" Saint-Fort introduced them and they all made a beat that day in Daley's basement, and then continued to make beats over the next few months, Concepcion said.

"We just realized, 'Oh, we have a few tracks now we should probably like just come up with an idea and put a little beat tape out there," she added.

                                                               

Concepcion and Daley worked on beats in Daley's basement for the majority of the summer and released "Transcend," a beat tape with four tracks, on Spotify and Apple Music in August.

Concepcion, 19, a sophomore film and media arts student at Temple University, specializes in ambient, lo-fi beats. Lo-fi has a lower quality sound than modern production standards. Concepcion's sounds are often inspired by movies, she said. 

"If people are like laughing or if there's people having a conversation, I'll put that in a beat," she said. "Or cars driving by, that's an interesting texture to put into music."

Daley, 22, a communications student at Delaware County Community College, creates beats similar to ones heard in trap music, a sub-genre of hip-hop that originated in the Southern United States.

"Working with her, it was like a new perspective," Daley said. "It helped me and it really changed the way that I make beats. It was like a piece that I needed to continue."

Concepcion puts a lot of thought and intention into every sound, he added. 

The producers both said they hope to collaborate on another beat tape and repeat that same creative energy from last summer. 

"I think next time that we make something together, it's going to be crazy," Concepcion said.

"We can make a beat tape tonight," Daley said. "We can make a beat tape tomorrow. It doesn't matter...because it's in us now. The bond is there and the creative energy is solidified and we could really make whatever we want."

Text, video and photos by Zari Tarazona