You are on the Desktop website, Click here to go back to our mobile website
We use cookies to offer you the best service possible. By using our site you agree to the use of cookies.
ARTICLE
By and Jordan Tilstone, Peter Holding.
Q: How did you get into music?

A: Through my mum and dad. They brought me and my sisters up telling us all about the 90s rave scene. They described raves in our area that would come down from Manchester and up from Birmingham, featuring all the iconic names including Carl Cox, Sasha, Digweed – the biggest artists of the day. They also played a lot of CDs at home and in the car with all the big dance tracks. I’ve got friends whose parents are into the usual classic bands like Queen, whereas my parents were just fans of dance music. From the age of about 16 I became conscious that I was continually hunting out new music, always looking for new dance tracks. And once I had completed my GCSEs, I started to put together house parties and field raves. At the time my grandad, who was a mobile DJ, would lend me proper PA systems and T-bars with lights, uplighters…I would turn my house into a club! I’d programme a set of music and would time it to include warm up tracks, then all the big bangers, followed by a wind down.

All the other kids in my high school started to take notice and would ask me to organise parties for them – that was how I spent my whole post-GCSE summer. I didn’t realise it at the time, I was working as a promotor – for free! That was also the time that my grandad approached me to help out at his gigs.

Q: So you became your grandad’s roadie?

A: This was the first time in my life I started to think about what it would be like to be on the other side of the decks. I had always watched DJs and I knew a lot of all the best ones, but that was my introduction to being an actual DJ myself. My grandad started by asking me to take over so he could take a break; he would tell me what to play and leave me to it. Then we played at a prom at Alton Towers and he invited me to just play whatever I wanted – they were all my age, after all.

I can’t remember exactly what I played, but that was the first time I got a feeling of what it was like to be a DJ, to be in control of the energy in a room and to be that person in charge of the soundtrack of the night. It was then that I realised this was me, this was what I wanted to do, and that I needed to start researching, finding out everything I needed to do to, to make a living through music. I haven’t looked back since.

Q: How did you progress from there?

A: I knew I needed to get my hands on a set of decks. A mate of mine got himself a very small set and I thought they were mint! We started going out with these decks, creating our set lists beforehand, getting out into fields where we would play in a gazebo with two of the biggest speakers we could get our hands on. We used a laptop, these tiny decks, the outside speakers – and that was us, playing for around two hours each in rotation until the very early hours of the morning. We kept that going until the end of summer, before I went to sixth form college.

Q: You mention researching how to make music your career, how did you approach this?

A: I started to study all the people who were where I wanted to be, looking at each and every little step they took by reading all the artist and DJ interviews. There was a theme: they all insisted that in order to make it as a major DJ, you had to produce your own tracks. This is what sets the biggest names apart from the majority. There is a saturated market for dance DJs, and not all of them produce music. And of those that do, most don’t produce enough. The very best are consistently putting out tracks and learning from the experience, continually. These are the people that make a career out of it.

I knew that I had to make a start, so I got myself a DAW (digital audio workstation) and FL Studio, which was ideal as a beginner’s software. FL has since grown to be much more professional, hence I still use it. I started to learn all the sounds and effects I needed to make my own sound.



Q: How did you develop?

A: After sixth form, I went to university to study music production at the Academy of Contemporary Music in Surrey. I was already learning a lot from YouTube tutorials but I knew this move would speed things up. The tutors there were people who had an endless list of massive artists they had worked with – for example, the Head of Production was the producer on ‘Bohemian Rhapsody’ and the guy who did the tour module was U2’s tour manager! I knew that I would learn from these people; what they said couldn’t be questioned.

At the time I learnt that I was on a constant journey. No matter what I did, and however good I thought what I recorded was, I discovered that I would look back on it at some point and realise that it could have been better. Whilst most of my fellow students would go out and socialise, I would finish whatever course I had that day, and go and sit in front of my laptop applying what I was learning.

Q: And after university?

A: After leaving university I got a day job with the sole purpose to enable me to put everything I earnt into developing my career. I did a lot of networking and obviously spent as much time as possible developing my craft. I managed to get myself backstage at Ministry of Sound, where I met Paul Oakenfold and his A&R guy, Tariq Ahmed. He asked me to send him what I had and the second track I sent him, in October 2018, was ‘Words From The North’, and that lead to my fist signing.

Q: So what are you aiming at now?

A: I’m really conscious that I don’t want to sound arrogant or big headed. I’m really focused on one day having my own label, and playing on the biggest stages across the world. My absolute top of the mountain goal is to play the main stage at Tomorrowland. I want to follow in the footsteps of all my trance idols like Above & Beyond. They’ve played Madison Square Garden, the O2 Arena, they’ve reached unbelievable heights and also have their own record label, which is one of the best dance labels going.

Q: Who else are your heroes?

A: Armin Van Buuren is a big one and, of course, Paul Oakenfold who is the Godfather of trance. These guys have got to where they are because they are brave enough to bring something new. They haven’t done anything massively spectacular, but brought new sounds that no one at the time was doing, often as a fusion of two different sounds.

Q: What advice do you have for young artists starting out?

A: I can only repeat the great advice I have had from all the guys I’ve met. I’ve spoken to all the biggest trance DJs and their advice is always the same: you are never at your peak. No matter how good you think you are, no matter how great your latest track sounds, you need to keep working hard, making new sounds and perfecting your music. It’s a never-ending journey and there is no let up.

Also, be unique – don’t fall into the trap of copying others, make your own unique sound. For me this has been working with funk and soul vocals over trance and so far I’m unique in doing this. I’m always looking for someone else but haven’t found them yet! This sound goes back to my mum and dad, the records they would play when I was young. These tracks were mostly dance music that sampled older 80s tracks, and applying that principle to my own music has resulted in a unique sound. If you want to get into the scene, you have to be yourself, and you have to really, really want it. You need to start from the other side of the decks – are you on the dance floor and enjoying the music?

I’m nowhere near where I want to be, but I realise I am asking to be part of a very tiny percentage of people who make it. It’s like being in football’s Premier League or the Champions League – you’re going to get big setbacks, you’ll get knocked back and doubted, and you just have to have the bottle to work hard and get ahead.

Check out Jordans website here and his signed label here
The full review can be found in Pro Mobile Issue 107, Pages 44-46.
UPCOMING EVENTS
BPM DJ Show 2024
12 / 10 / 2024 - 13 / 10 / 2024
Photo Booth Expo London
13 / 10 / 2024 - 14 / 10 / 2024
VIEW THE FULL CALENDAR
BOOK STORE FEATURED PRODUCT
HOW TO PRICE YOUR PLATYPUS

BY DAVID ABBOTT

£5.00 (INC P&P)
More
VISIT THE BOOK STORE