Written for my 'ICU: Net Neighbours' series on ACCLAIM, published in 2013

Groundislava. Say it with me now, “Ground-is-lava”. Don’t you dare, not even for a second, deny that you trashed your living room at least once in your youth whilst dressed in white dungarees and pretending you were in the castle level of Super Mario Bros. Maybe you didn’t own white dungarees and it was actually Lava Reef Zone in Sonic & Knuckles. Hey, maybe you didn’t even own a video game console and just had a wild imagination. Regardless of your situation, it happened. But we’re probably all too over the hill to be hopping from couch to couch in a state of ecstatic delirium. (Hall pass for those bumping uppers though.) Fortunately, Groundislava has taken on a new meaning these days. Game turnt gamer – Groundislava is the alter ego of Jasper Patterson, a producer birthed by California and sacrificed to the clutches of the professionally unprofessional music collective, Wedidit.

So, a couple of bragging rights: he’s done the rounds at Low End Theory, Boiler Room and he’s toured with Giraffage, XXYYXX and oOoOO. He released the TV Dream EP and the Ground is Lava and Feel Me LPs through FoF (Friends of Friends), along with punching out a few on his own – including this year’s Treasure Chest compilation. Oh, and how’s this for a fun fact? Mami and Papi Patterson are the pair responsible for the animation in the clip for Take on Me by new wave legends A-Ha. Not to mention clips for Paula Abdul, Sting, and X. Well slap a perm on me and call me Horshack! Mini geek-out moment.

Now I could sit here trying to explain the mesmerising sonic elements of his music, maybe drop in some adjectives with heaps of syllables. Or you could just listen to some of his tracks and play his Boiler Room session on repeat.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> A/S/L?
<Groundislava> 23/M/LA.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> What’s your real name, not your cyber name
<Groundislava> Jasper Patterson.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> When did you first join the online community
<Groundislava> I first joined the online community in the late ’90s on stupid AOL chat rooms and then a little later on gamefaqs.com.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> Be honest, what was your first internet handle
<Groundislava> sooshicat.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> Preferred net browser?
<Groundislava> Chrome.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> How many hours a day do you spend online
<Groundislava> A lot.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> Favourite social media network and why
<Groundislava> YouTube.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> To hashtag or not to hashtag?
<Groundislava> I don’t like hashtags.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> What do you think a selfie says about a person?
<Groundislava> I don’t think I know the answer.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> Who is your biggest online influencer?
<Groundislava> My biggest online influencers are on YouTube. I love videos about drum machines, video games and people showing off their synth presets. It’s like television, but better.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> What was the last thing you looked up on Wikipedia?
<Groundislava> I was reading about Korean food and I think the Sega Saturn before that.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> Where is your favourite place to shop online
<Groundislava> Craigslist, Amazon, Footlocker. (The Nike site is kinda hard to navigate.)

<ACCLAIMmagazine> How does your online identity compare to your IRL identity?
<Groundislava> My online persona isn’t really any different from my IRL self. What you see on my Instagram is usually just shit I wear or stuff I think is cool or funny. It’s a nice outlet.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> How has the internet helped to develop your creative endeavours?
<Groundislava> Back in like 2008/2009, Myspace helped me, Shlohmo, Juj and the rest of us really get our start. We met a lot of people and created a lot of networks.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> How do you keep up with the constant evolution of online tastes and trends?
<Groundislava> I dunno… I just wear Jordans, foamposites, Nike and shit. I wear what I find at Footlocker, Nike and the swap meet. People always ask me about that one neon underarmor hoody I wear in photos – that was just some clearance rack shit at Champs Sports. I provided like the surplus store too.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> Best GIF going around ATM?
<Groundislava> I dunno where GIFs would be going around, haha. They should add that to Instagram and Vine though.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> Can you show us a meme that best represents you
<Groundislava> Fuck, I don’t know dude. Probably some YTMND shit from when I was an idiot kid.

<ACCLAIMmagazine> Final words to the haters?
<Groundislava> Fuck.

/END CHAT

GROUNDISLAVA

GIRAFFAGE

SUICIDEYEAR