The idea behind I AM YOU
We’re all in this together.
Music, art and the things we make together.
I AM YOU is an independent electronic music label and collaborative art practice, co-founded by Deer Jade and Ole Ukena. It grew where their practices met: electronic music and visual art, each giving the other something to respond to.
What might a drawing sound like? What could a room full of people make together? Our releases, artwork and gatherings give us ways to explore those questions. We bring our craft, listen to what someone else brings, and leave room for the exchange to change the outcome.
Two practices. Room to surprise each other.
Deer Jade brings an ear for discovery and a storyteller’s sense of how music unfolds. Her selections and productions move through playful samples, cosmic disco and futuristic sounds, with warmth and an energy that invites listeners into her musical world.
Ole Ukena creates I AM YOU’s visual artwork and leads its creative direction. Listening becomes a starting point for drawing—and for imagining how the music might take shape beyond a record sleeve, through a space, an object or something to wear.
How it began
Jade had been thinking about starting a label. The name I AM YOU caught Ole’s attention, and their conversations opened up an idea of what they could build together. They began shaping the label through its first releases, artwork and gatherings, learning what worked along the way.
A small beginning
Their exchange leaves room for unfamiliar territory. In Ibiza, Ole handed Jade an iPad and invited her to draw. She made a scribble. A small beginning, with somewhere to go. Ole sometimes steps behind the decks, too. Each brings a developed practice and the curiosity to try something outside it.
Art & music
Music becomes artwork
Each cover grows from listening to the music and exchanging ideas with the musician. Sound and image become part of the same release.
More from the collection
Explore all releases
From sound to image
How a cover begins
A starting point
The musician chooses from three visual starting points, then shares words, ideas or something about the track.
The track on repeat
The track stays on repeat while Ole draws, with the musician’s input shaping the image as it develops.
A work of its own
The image grows from listening. We also want to explore the reverse: an artwork becoming the starting point for a musician. Each practice can lead, and each can change the other.
Collaboration also means knowing when to stop. Sometimes another mark or another version would crowd out what is already there. Part of the craft is recognising when the work has enough.
Everyone helps shape the night.
A DJ brings a selection, skill and attention. The room answers with movement, stillness, surprise. Sometimes you become so absorbed in what’s happening that you stop keeping track of yourself for a while.
That possibility matters to us. We want gatherings where people look around, meet each other’s eyes and feel part of what is happening. Where the person behind the decks can become the person dancing beside you.
Around the table · Ibiza
Draw. Eat. Dance.
Before the I AM YOU label night at Nômade in Ibiza, guests sat opposite one another at a long, paper-covered table. Ole led a session of ping-pong painting: one person made a mark, the other responded, then everyone moved a seat and began again.
The drawings grew through the exchange. Afterwards came dinner and dancing. Art, food and music gave people different ways to meet.
Next gathering · Turkey
Come for the music. Bring your curiosity.
At Bonjuk Bay in Turkey, we’re planning creative and movement workshops, collaborative art-making and improv theatre alongside the music. Shared meals and time in nature are part of the week, too.
You don’t need to arrive calling yourself an artist. Come curious. Make a mark, move, listen, join in. We hope you leave with a few new connections and the urge to make something of your own.
What else could a release become?
Could a record become something to wear? Could a drawing become the starting point for a track? Could an object hold a way into the music?
We’re interested in finding out. Wearable art, embroidered responses and objects connected to recordings are possibilities we want to explore. We’ll share the experiments as they take shape.
Take part
Got something to bring?
A film, a performance, an installation—or an idea we haven’t thought of. If you see a connection with I AM YOU, we’d love to hear it.
Tell us what you have in mind, how it connects to the music or the gatherings, and show us something you’ve made. Let’s see what we could make together.