Jacqueline Cordes Releases "Illusions of Amethyst" and Talks Music, Synesthesia, and Her Creative Journey
- STAFF
- Jul 24
- 8 min read
By: Staff
Jacqueline Cordes’ "Illusions of Amethyst" is a breathtaking masterpiece, blending vivid soundscapes with cinematic emotion.
Introducing "Illusions of Amethyst" – A Song That Transcends Time and Space
Get ready to embark on a sonic journey like no other. Jacqueline Cordes, the young visionary whose music is as vivid and immersive as her imagination, has just released Illusions of Amethyst. This hauntingly beautiful track is the first taste of her highly anticipated album Frozen Star, a work that promises to immerse listeners in an entirely new dimension of sound and color.
But what makes this song so magnetic? What lies beneath the surface of its cinematic melodies and ethereal atmosphere? To dive deeper into the artistry behind Illusions of Amethyst, we connected with Jacqueline herself to uncover the creative process, the vibrant world of synesthesia, and the passion that fuels her unique sound.
Read on to discover how she transforms emotion into music and colors into stories, and get a glimpse of what’s next for this rising star.
BEGIN INTERVIEW:
Hello Jacqueline Cordes, we’re thrilled to have you here for this interview! We've had an amazing time exploring your music and diving into your creative journey. Now, we’re even more excited to get a deeper look into both your brand and your personal and professional inspirations.
Q. For those who may not be familiar, how would you explain synesthesia in your own words, especially in relation to how it influences your music?
A. So, synesthesia is basically a hereditary phenomenon in which senses are mixed together. For example, when I look at letters or numbers, consistent colors are projected onto them. The number eight is a beautiful shade of teal. I also have colors associated with different types of music, depending on its emotional atmosphere. This influences the music I write, not just because I want to collect all of the colors, but also because it tells me when the feel of a piece that I'm writing has changed.
Q. Can you briefly walk us through what it's like to experience synesthesia while composing and how do colors and sounds come together for you in the most vivid way?
A. Unlike letters and numbers, the colors I perceive with music don't appear out in the world, just in my mind's eye. A very specific and consistent shade will come to mind, more vivid than remembering it but less vivid than actually seeing it. Only a relatively small subset of music has color, so if I hear a few colorful songs in a row on the radio, I get pretty excited. The most vivid songs have minimal drums and a strong melody and chord progression. They have to be in a sweet spot between too predictable and too unpredictable.
Q. The upcoming album Frozen Star is described as even more colorful than Singularity. How do you approach the challenge of making each track distinct and emotionally immersive, while also maintaining a cohesive album experience?
A. That's a tough question for me because any cohesion on the album is probably due to my choices of instruments or musical modes and not something I'm doing intentionally. In my mind, the "Chromaverse" that listeners are traveling through is made of completely distinct musical worlds. I plan out the track order carefully so the change from one track to the next isn't too jarring, but my primary goal is to produce a true variety of atmospheres to highlight the power of music to communicate different emotional environments.
Q. You’ve described Illusions of Amethyst as having "minor-key beauty" with visions of purple. How does the process of translating an emotional experience or color into musical notes work for you? Do you have a specific technique for capturing these moods?
A. Since my subconscious mind is a mystery to me, it's actually more of an ongoing data analysis project than anything. I have a collection of purple songs that I enjoy and then I start noticing musical elements they tend to have in common. For example, I'll notice that they're all in a minor key. Then I'll notice that they tend to be in a triple meter, like a waltz. Before long, I'll have a good idea about what defines purple and I'll play around with musical ideas until I see it.
Q. You’ve been invited to present your unique system of cataloging musical scales based on color at the International Fibonacci Conference. How does your approach to synesthesia help you organize or understand scales and modes in a way that differs from traditional music theory?
A. My method for cataloging musical scales actually isn't related to synesthesia. It's basically just a set of scale IDs that contain encoded instructions about how to play the scales. Instead of telling me it's a "lydian flat-7", you can just tell me its ID is 2742 and I'll know how to play it without any music theory. All I need is a decimal to binary converter.
But part of your question touches on an area I'm just starting to think about and try to understand: there's a strange connection between musical modes, emotional feel, and synesthetic colors. Someday I'd love to figure this all out!
Q. You often describe certain songs as being associated with specific colors. Is there a piece of music, whether your own or someone else’s, that you've always felt has an inherent color that matches its essence perfectly?
A. The first song that comes to mind is "I Will" by Radiohead. When I first heard that, it stopped me in my tracks with its vivid dark blue. Only later did I learn that Thom Yorke also has synesthesia and that many synesthetes have a similarly strong reaction to Radiohead's music.
Q. Do the colors and emotional worlds that you experience through your synesthesia ever change over time? For example, do certain pieces feel different to you in various stages of your life or creative career?
A. One of the strange things about synesthesia is that it almost never changes. I can't think of a piece of music my subconscious assigned a color to that later changed.
Q. In your music videos, such as the one for Illusions of Amethyst, how much of the visual world is shaped by your own synesthetic experience? Are the colors and imagery in the videos drawn from your internal perceptions?
A. Unlike some synesthetes, my perception of music doesn't have shapes or patterns depending on the timbre or notes of a piece. I just get a specific shade of color, but yes, I chose to have the walls covered in purple velvet to reflect how I see the piece.
Q. You list artists like Danny Elfman, Radiohead, and Trent Reznor among your influences. How have these artists shaped your approach to composition, and what elements of their work do you admire most?
A. For Elfman and Radiohead, what I admire most is the variety of colors they're able to produce. Their bodies of work span so many emotional environments. With Reznor, I admire how he uses unusual scales and modes in his pieces to create a unique atmosphere. All three of them have made incredible movie soundtracks.
Q. Your debut album Singularity has received praise for balancing academic exploration with emotional depth. How do you ensure that your music maintains its accessibility to a broad audience while still staying true to your academic roots and experimental side?
A. I'm so glad you asked this question because it seems like a lot of contemporary composers have opted to take the more experimental path, which I think leaves out a lot of musical language that communicates emotions to a broader audience. I'm a firm believer that there are still a vast number of undiscovered musical worlds, composed for the same traditional instruments and using the same musical modes and rules of counterpoint that have been used for centuries. We still have many more atmospheres to create with our traditional musical elements.
Q. With your background in digital art and writing, how do you see these other creative outlets influencing your music composition, if at all? Are there any specific projects where these mediums overlap?
A. Absolutely! This is why I can't wait to get back to creating more music videos. It requires me to come up with storylines like I used to do with creative writing and also taps into my digital art background as I try to clean images up in Photoshop. The overlap is that music, writing, and art all tell stories.
Q. You’ve mentioned a desire to become a full-time film composer. How has working on short film scores shaped your approach to music, and what aspects of storytelling do you find most inspiring when composing for visual media?
A. Working on short films has taught me how to create a dozen variations on a theme, each with slightly different timing or chords. Synchronizing music to picture offers a whole new set of challenges. You can't just come up with a piece of music you're happy with and call it a day. The aspect of storytelling I find most inspiring is the feel or environment of a film. Many stories have a distinct spirit and somehow music provides a vocabulary that can often communicate it better than words can.
Q. The music video for Illusions of Amethyst is captivating, with its stunning imagery and storyline that feels like a short film. The dedication of the puppeteer, who creates a likeness of themselves and then watches it come alive, is both exhilarating and harrowing. What inspired this storyline? How does it tie into the themes of your music?
A. Thank you, I love that you had that reaction! I just came up with the storyline by brainstorming for ideas that would match the feel of the piece. I have a 7-foot tall horror animatronic at home that kind of looks like a doll, so that may have nudged me in that direction.
Q. Were you the creator of this music video? Could you share the process behind its creation and how the storyline came to life? How does it connect to the emotional and artistic essence of your music?
A. I created the music video with Runway AI, but had to heavily edit it. Very few of the generated scenes made the cut and I even had to edit images in Photoshop to deal with “the six finger problem." But it’s all worth it; I just can't wait to share my visions with the world. Connecting the video to my music was like film scoring in reverse. I had to generate images that matched the timing of the music, rather than the other way around.
Q. At what point did you transition from being a student to composing music professionally? What was that shift like for you?
A. I got my first paid film scoring job from a mutual friend while I was still in college, so it wasn’t much of a transition. Also, I'm also probably going to apply to graduate schools, so my student years are definitely not behind me yet!
Q. When composing, what instruments do you primarily focus on? Has there ever been a time when you visualized a piece so strongly that it led you to abandon a song? If so, what caused that decision?
A. I mostly write for piano and strings but have tended to get more cinematic and orchestral these days. There have been many times when I've abandoned a piece because I don't think it's communicating the environment that I'm going for. Well, maybe "abandon" is too strong of a word; I put it back on the list of ideas to try again later.
Q. Looking ahead, how do you envision your music evolving over the next few years? Are there any new genres, techniques, or themes you’re excited to explore in future projects, particularly as the Frozen Star album sets a new tone for your work?
A. I've already started working on my third album, which will be a big departure from the first two. The genre will be much closer to alternative, and the album will actually be filled with songs that I and others will sing in English for the first time. I'm considering also making Japanese and Chinese translations of some of the songs and finally putting some of my language studies to use in my music. I will definitely be leaving my comfort zone, but I want to be an artist who crosses many genres, not just the one who makes spooky purple circus music. (Not that I’ll ever stop making spooky purple circus music).
Jacqueline Cordes, thank you so much! We appreciate you taking the time to talk to us.
End Interview
We’re happy to have shared Jacqueline Cordes’s exciting journey with you and uncovered such inspiring insights about their creative process.
