Page 22 - Zone Magazine - Issue 033 - Jan Johnston

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ZONE-MAGAZINE.EU
Tell us where in the world you are
and what your plans for the week
and month ahead?
Well, like everyone else at the moment I am stuck at home trying to make the best of it! At least I am able to catch up with some stuff and finish off some remixes I have been working on. Also been working on a new original, so hopefully I can get that done as well.
Tell us more about you!
I grew up in the South west and moved to London in around 1991. That was when I discovered dancing and rave music, before that I had very little experience of dance music, as I lived in a small town in Devon. We didn't have clubs or raves, we used to have barn parties on my mates farm but that was about it. At that time I was mainly into Hip hop but got into the breakbeat stuff after hearing acts like The Prodigy and Moby. Then I discovered raving and went to clubs like Camden palace and Busbys in London and it was also at this point I started buying records and getting an interest in DJ culture.
At this point though I was mainly into hardcore and drum and bass but it was around 1994 when a friend of mine played a John Digweed mixtape in his car, then I discovered house music and in particular that progressive house sound that well all love so much. After hearing this I went out and bough the mix collection by Renaissance and my whole musical outlook was changed. I loved the deep hypnotic vibes and in the clubs I was going to at the time most of the DJ's were playing this kind of cheesy handbag house which wasnt really me. Progressive house was more my kind of thing!
How was the last couple of years for you?
Yeah 2019 was pretty good, I had releases out on Perfecto Black and Bonzai progressive which both did quite well. My track Future shock which I did with Chris Sterio came out in the summer. I also had a few remixes out so generally a good year!
First life - Be one of us
Radiohead - Street spirit (Fade out)
Can you name your labels top five tracks?
Thats a tough one, my old label (Segment records) had quite a few releases which were influential but the first five were probably the most memorable to most people, Eelke Kleijn for example has gone on to huge success and so he'd certainly have to be in the list, the others are also quite seminal in their own way, this is my favourite five though (in no particular order):
Eelke Kleijn - Deeper depths
ZGR - Zero hours
James Talk - Beef Curtains
Muzo - The Mack
Hook and Black - Lifecycle
Also worth a mention is the Baunder EP as he went on to a successful career and has worked alongside Hernan Cattaneo among others.
Can tell us about your musical development in the last year or so?
I think in the last year or so i have really been trying to focus on getting my mix-downs sounding as best i can so i have changed my working slightly. I have pretty much used Ableton since version 5 but recently i have started using Logic to do my mix-downs in as after taking some advice from Paul Nolan he suggested doing that so you separate the processes of writing and the creative side and the mixing side. The only pain is having to export the stems all the time but my plan is to eventually switch over to Logic completely which will make things easier.
Tell us about some recognized artist who are supporting your music.
Its always nice to get recognition from your peers and my last few releases have seen some support from some fairly big names. Of course, any support is nice but it's human nature that Guy J playing your tunes is going to be bigger than Joe Bloggs, but if people are enjoying and playing your music then thats the most important thing.
Tell us about how each new artist
release has influenced the music
you make?
I am always influenced by the music I hear. Sometimes I can be inspired after hearing a new release, either a sound they've used or a technique which makes me want to try it for myself. Of course, I don't go out to blatantly copy people, however a little help in the music making process is always good and I know many major artists have used tracks already made to help them to inspire their own creations.
Actually, 2020 was not too bad really. Had a couple of big releases on Krafted Underground and Bonzai, had my first Beatport top 20 track and was pretty productive in the studio. As for DJ'ing well obviously without gigs it was difficult but my shows on Proton and Frisky both went from strength to strength and I hope to continue that in 2021.
Can you name five tracks that influenced you Growing up?
Thats quite a difficult one as I have been into so many different musical styles over the years, but these are the five tracks that probably have left a lasting impression on me...
Heaven 17 - Temptation
Depeche Mode - Enjoy the silence
PKA - Temperature rising