Page 23 - Zone Magazine - Issue 033 - Jan Johnston

Let’s focus on your last EP
“Futureshock". What was the
inspiration behind it?
Well, Chris and I have been working together for a while now, originally he asked me if I wanted to make a track with him with him supplying the vocals and some of the synths and I would add my own sounds and arrange it all. We had had a couple of releases out already on Mystique music, Inertia and Mirabilis when I suggested that maybe we should try working with other vocalists. So, Chris put out the feelers and he got in touch with a guy called Simon Latham. Simon was already a successful artist in his own right having had music in TV series and also his track Soundsation - Do you feel it was a big Digweed anthem in the mid 90's. So, when Chris suggested we work with him I said lets do it and he sent us a vocal which we then created the music around and Futureshock was born. The lyrics are quite poignant as well with whats going on in the world right now.
What made Pro B Tech Music the right home for this release?
Well I've known Brent for a number of years and I know he had released some big vocal tunes on is label before and I have already had a couple of releases on there myself so I thought this would be the perfect home for it. Thankfully when I sent him the tune he really liked the track so we were more than happy to go with them.
The EP has also remixes by Silinder.
How do you feel about them. How
would you describe them?
The remix on the EP comes from Silinder and it's a fantastic remix. I have known Silinder (AKA Gavin Mulhall) for years anyway, he has had releases on my old label Segment records, and also done a couple of remixes as well and since then has gone on to have releases on labels such as Sudbeat. So, I think he was a great choice to do the remix. I thought his remix had a bit of an 80's feel to it, he chopped up the vocal a bit more and the backing track was really deep and moody and complemented our original mix well so I was delighted at how it came out.
Do you prefer writing originals or doing remixes?
I like doing both actually. Sometimes I prefer remixes as the main idea is already there so you can just reinterpret it to suit your own ends. Writing an original is a blank canvass where you have to start from scratch. Having said that though a lot of my tracks originated as remixes or bootlegs where I have ended up removing all the elements that weren't mine and just adding a few of my own to create an original track, or if not I can always use my elements in a future production so its always best to keep them just in case.
Recently you also debuted on
Perfecto Black with 1994. What was
the experience working them?
They were very good. Olli the A&R guy was very professional and kept me updated throughout and the release was very well promoted. I have been with certain labels where you only find out about the release when it's actually viable to preorder but Perfecto Black were great and I really enjoyed working with them.
Which other labels would you like to work with in the future?
Well, I could say all the usual suspects like Bedrock, Last night on earth, UV and Sudbeat, but I have projects forthcoming on some exciting labels which I am really looking forward to in the future.
Apart from music, what makes you happy?
Spending time with my wife and family, a good movie or a TV series or just chilling at home making music.
What else can we expect from you
for the remainder of 2020 and into
2021?
My latest release is my remix of Sean McClellan - Strike zone which is out now on Salt records. Salt is the new label which is run by L.A. based Chris Grim and myself and we have tons of good stuff coming up over the next few months. I am the main A&R guy so will have more involvement in the artist development side of things, keep your eyes peeled for more releases from us in the future.
Any releases or special dates we should be looking out for?
Yeah got quite a few things coming up. I have a new track coming up with Chris Sterio called Progress which is out soon on Mirabilis with remixes from Micah Paul Lukasewich and Monojoke which are great. Theres also another track i did with Chris this time featuring the vocal talents of Daniela Rhodes. We've done a couple of tracks with her and the first one is called Out of the dark which is due out in May on Krafted Underground. Other than that theres a few remixes plus some other stuff which i cant really talk about right now but keep your eyes and ears out over the next few months.