London-based producer, DJ and instrumentalist musician Jakwob is no stranger to the electronic music scene. First making waves with his genius remixes for everyone from Ghostpoet to Lana Del Rey, the talented James Jacob is also the head of his own label Boom Ting Records.
With the new year comes new developments and for 2014 Jakwob has announced his signing to Shy FX’s label Digital Soundboy. If that wasn’t enough, there’s a new single ‘Somebody New’ featuring Tiffani Juno. Following on from last year’s hit ‘Fade’, he is going from strength to strength.
We caught up with him to talk about how he got started, balancing two labels and the secret to a great remix.
YOU’VE BEEN MAKING MUSIC SINCE YOU WERE 10. WHY DID YOU END UP BEING DRAWN TO DJING AND PRODUCING?
Well I have an uncle who is a DJ and parents who played electronic music about the house as well. The electronic side started when I went to uni, I didn’t know many people who played instruments so I just started producing in my uni room and uploading my stuff onto Facebook. It all kind of caught on from there!
DO YOU THINK THAT BEING IN BANDS AND BEING ABLE TO ACTUALLY PLAY INSTRUMENTS GIVES YOU ANY EDGE IN THE ELECTRONIC MUSIC WORLD?
I wouldn’t say it gave me an edge, but it is nice to be able to add traditional instruments into contemporary dance music. There is a juxtaposition in a lot of my music, between more classical elements and new electronic sounds.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE OTHER END OF THE SPECTRUM, SELF-TAUGHT DJS AND PRODUCERS WHO HAVE NEVER BEEN MUSICALLY TRAINED?
I think there are a lot of ways to look at it, I think it’s just as important to have a completely solid and straight electronic background as it is a classical one. If anything I think it’s better, I mean I’m not classically trained but I know people who are, they look at music completely differently to those who have absolutely no experience whatsoever with instruments. So there can be disadvantages to both really.
HOW DO YOU FEEL YOUR SOUND HAS EVOLVED SINCE YOU FIRST CAME ONTO THE SCENE? HOW DO YOU THINK THE NEW SINGLE DIFFERS FROM YOUR EARLY WORK?
What I learn from most of all everyday is being in the studio, I think the only way my sound has progressed is in the way that stuff might sound a bit cleaner and better engineered. The basis of all my production has been the same since I started but it’s just got a bit more complex, with the amount of things I have in a track. I think it’s always been electronic but never straight up, never one genre or another. Now I’m taking a route where I’m defining each record into one genre, whether it’s a house tune, a drum ‘n’ bass tune, garage tune. I’m trying to tick off all the genre boxes as it were, I don’t like making the same record twice.
A LOT OF PEOPLE ARE MIXING GENRES THESE DAYS. IS THAT A CONSCIOUS EFFORT THAT YOU MAKE OR DOES IT HAPPEN NATURALLY?
I don’t listen to a lot of music outside the studio, but the music I do listen to ends up creeping into what I end up DJing. But it’s usually unconsciously, because certain songs lend themselves to certain beats.
DO YOU THINK THAT BEING SIGNED TO DIGITAL SOUNDBOY HAS HELPED TO EVOLVE YOUR SOUND AT ALL?
Shy FX who owns the label has given me a lot of mentoring and taught me a lot through mixing this first single and the next few records. It’s a really great outlet for my dancier side, my more heavier club sound to come through, so I’m really looking forward to putting out some stuff through the label that I normally wouldn’t do.
IS THERE A GOOD ATMOSPHERE AT THE LABEL?
Yeah it’s very collaborative, very creative. Everyone gets involved at all stages, you get feedback from other artists. Breakage and Dismantle came in on the mixing session we had, which took a couple of days where they gave their advice and loads of pointers. It’s a rare opportunity actually, as what you do is usually quite a private process, because no one wants to give away their ideas. It’s quite a family label though, so you know that you’re getting the best advice and criticism – criticism that you can take as well, as you know you can give it back to them at some point.
WHAT’S HAPPENING WITH YOUR OWN LABEL ‘BOOM TING RECORDS’?
We’ve been setting up distribution actually, we’ve got about five records due for release by the end of the year. There are always new and unsigned artists, but all with music that is definitely capable of being played on the radio. Since I’ve signed to Digital Soundboy, I’ve had interest from people submitting dancier stuff, so it’s moved on from the folky electronic thing to more dancy club music.
HOW HAVE YOU BALANCED GOING BETWEEN THE TWO LABELS?
It’s great as I can just make my records and Digital Soundboy will put them out and help me with the release. I can concentrate more on Boom Ting stuff and who I want to put out in the next few years.
IN MANY WAYS YOU BECAME KNOWN INITIALLY FOR YOUR REMIXES. WHAT DO YOU THINK IS THE SECRET (IF THERE IS ONE) OF A GOOD REMIX?
Keep it as simple as possible, that’s it really, just don’t overdo it.
OBVIOUSLY THEY ARE TWO VERY DIFFERENT THINGS BUT WHAT DO YOU THINK ARE THE TRAITS OF A GOOD DJ AND PRODUCER?
For DJing it’s not just playing the biggest tune and most current tune, it’s working older records and more influential records into your set. I think that’s the same with producing, but the other way around. You don’t want to channel just the new sound into your work, you want to look into older records and not just stare at a screen all day. Think about how the instruments are played and work your record around that, but in a traditional way.
A LOT OF ARTISTS ARE CROSSING OVER FROM DJING INTO PRODUCING NOW MORE THAN EVER. WHY DO YOU THINK THIS IS?
I think it’s a lot easier to work through production techniques and hardware is a lot easier to come by now, it’s a lot more accessible than it was 20 years ago. It’s also an exciting world to be in and it’s constantly changing.
WHAT DO YOU THINK OF THE WAY THAT ELECTRONIC MUSIC HAS BLOWN UP/BECOME SO MAINSTREAM IN RECENT YEARS – GOOD THING OR BAD THING?
I think it’s a great thing. Electronic music is always prominent but in different forms. It’s a good thing because dance music is always very fast-moving and progressive, it escalates and dies down but at the same time it’s nice to see things evolving so quickly and more people getting involved in it. That will turn into more long-term producers and people collaborating with other artists, not just on dance music.
DO YOU THINK THERE’S AN ELEMENT OF PEOPLE JUMPING ON THE BANDWAGON NOW THAT IT HAS BECOME SO COMMERCIAL?
Yeah there could be that, but I guess those people won’t last very long if they don’t know what they’re doing!
WE READ IN AN INTERVIEW THAT YOU DON’T LISTEN TO MUSIC IN YOUR SPARE TIME…THAT YOU DON’T HAVE A STEREO. HAVE TIMES CHANGED?
Now I do have a record player in my flat, which is like a mono record player with a built-in speaker. If it’s not on vinyl then I don’t listen to it at home, as the last thing I want to do when I get in from 12 hours in the studio is listen to more music, so it’s like silence usually!
FESTIVAL SEASON IS COMING UP, WHAT HAS BEEN YOUR BEST/WEIRDEST FESTIVAL EXPERIENCE?
A few years ago in 2012 was Pukkelpop, which was one of my first big festivals playing to about 7000 people, so that was probably my best one. The weirdest was Glastonbury one year, where I played in a giant pineapple in the middle of the dance arena. It was the hottest day and it was pretty bizarre.
HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT PLAYING LIVE?
I love playing live, most of the festivals have been a live set where I’ve been playing drums and piano with some backing vocals. I feel like it’s really important to be able to be able to make a tune in the studio then perform it as well. With Digital Soundboy this year I think it’s going to be a lot more DJing, then get back to the live thing when I’ve got past my down stage – I feel like there’s a lot to get out before I go back there.
TELL US WHAT WE CAN EXPECT FROM YOU THIS YEAR?
I’m actually doing Snowbombing and my other love is snowboarding, so I couldn’t really have it any better really, with my two loves rolled into one. I’ve also got a few more releases on Digital Soundboy, lots more UK dates in the next few weeks and a lot of US dates. There will be a lot more of the same to come!
Find out more about Jakwob on his website. Buy ‘Somebody New’ on iTunes
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