jackLNDN has been an avid artist here at WRR. His tracks have been featured on the site many times, serving up chill remixes and originals far before any chill/tropical/melodic house movements were bubbling up.
Today, jackLNDN can’t stop putting out music and fans can’t stop loving them. Take, for example, jackLNDN’s recently released Le Youth remix, which has garnered over 100,000 plays just on SoundCloud alone.
It’s easy for jackLNDN’s music to connect with people no matter where they’re from, his eclectic combination of all things chill makes his music an easy go-to regardless of what type of house they’re into.
During my experience at Hangout Music Festival, I was able to catch up with jackLNDN after his show on the beach, we crossed the white sands of the Gulf Coast and sat down for an exclusive interview. Read below as jackLNDN shares more about his new upcoming EP, his musical journey up to this point, singing over his tracks, and more.
Interview
How did your show go? What were your expectations going in and how do you feel now that you’ve done 2 shows [on Friday & Saturday] at the Malibu Tent?
I have to say, out of all the stages I’ve been to, it’s very unique. I mean, it’s right on the beach, everything’s opened up, you can see the sea from the DJ booth. So, ya it’s pretty awesome. I had a great set today, it was pretty fun! The tent was packed out, I threw alot of new stuff out, the crowd was very receptive, so lots of good stuff!
Nice nice, speaking of shows, how many festivals will you have played at by the end of 2015?
Haha, alot! Hangout, Mysteryland, Wakarusa and many more, there’s alot.
Was it like this last year?
No, I played a few festivals last year, but this year it’s like… it’s bigger and better.
How does that feel?
Feels great! Feels like progress. My stages ares getting more busy with more people are turning out. So ya, it’s nice to see that progression.
One thing, specifically about the music, I read your influence comes from classical music, jazz, and disco. In 2015, you’re seeing lots of chill genre movements occurring. For instance, you have tropical house, future house, this chill house/melodic stuff; you’ve been putting these elements into your music, at one time or another, over the years. Do you feel like your sound has been ahead of the curve or gives you a competitive advantage?
Haha, I don’t know, I feel like being from UK helps a bit, just because the genres have been in the mainstream [in Britain] a little longer. I’ve grown up my whole life doing music, I’ve always been one of those people who doesn’t shun any particular genre., I’ll give everything a listen, and I’ll make sure I keep a very open ear to the stuff I listen to, especially non-electronic music. But ya, there’s alot of future bass type stuff in the US that people are really involved in. Similar trends were happening, like wobble house and bass house, when I first started getting into DJing, like 5, 6 years ago. The trends aren’t totally the same today, but it’s a cool reminder to see sounds I loved back then coming back around. I get to showcase that I have a little bit of knowledge about it but, I’m never pushing only one of these elements, it’s never any one genre-specific.
Switching topics for a second, what your dream project be if you could do anything?
Probably, right now, some one like Snarky Puppy. There one of the best bands out there right now. There’s doing stuff with orchestras, their live videos are insane, I saw them in London, at Roundhouse in Camden. Technically, musically…they’re amazing.
So you would want to go bigger with more instruments or?
No I mean, just to be in the studio with them, making something, would be very cool.
Ah gotcha, do you prefer doing remixes over originals?
Remixes are easier to get something going quite quickly, because you already have something to work with. Usually when I do a remix I don’t take much from the original song, I just take the vocals and maybe one other part, and then start from scratch and re-harmonize. But an original, it’s a different process, you have to find that spark, that idea that you get to work around. I really like originals and I got alot that I’ve been working on, coming down the pipeline, a new EP right around the corner.
Can you share more about your new EP?
Not many people have heard it but it’s sounding pretty cool. It’s got me singing on it as well. Which is pretty cool.
Is that a first?
No actually, the track “Fooled Around” actually has be singing on it, but I didn’t really.. tell anyone haha. I was kind of sneaking it in under the radar. I can sing and I was trained as a singer my whole life, but I never wanted to come off as a gimmicky producer/singer. I kind of wanted to make myself known as a producer, in my own right, before starting to sing on my records. Now I’m in this phase where I’m writing original music and singing on it as well, and recording, the results so far are pretty cool. That’s definitely like the trajectory of where we’re going.
That’s awesome! What’s the main message or feeling that the EP will convey?
It’s quite varied. There’s a bit more progressive stuff that people will like. There’s some funky stuff,. Ya, I mean my tastes have sort of always been eclectic, not every song is so similar. I try to get a bit of variety in there, so I dont know.. “be happier than you were before.”
How would you say your sound has changed since you first started JackLNDN as a project? Has the production process changed or your music changed since you first started? Or even you as a person?
Before I started JackLNDN, I was also doing another project on the side with a bit more heavy element to it. As every producer should, I was exploring different genres – reggae, dub, d’n’b – just working out how it all works. When I did the “Get Lucky” remix, that’s when I started to slow things down a bit and not trying to do main-room house, chill it out just that little bit and add a bit of groove. That’s when I started coming into my sound. Having, at that point, done a whole load of other genres for my own education, I guess, these [chill] tracks started creeping in a well, especially disco and those type of elements, which were sounds that I knew and loved.
What first brought me into house was progressive house, the Kaskade stuff, the earlier Deadmau5 stuff, that’s where started getting into electronic music. So my hearts always in that progressive, melodic, big-thick chords, my heart’s there. I started there. Then went full circle through virtually every single genre experimenting and then came back with alot more picked up on the way from every other part of the spectrum.
Besides the EP, do you have any more plans set for 2015?
Ya, of course I am doing more vocal stuff down the road, singing on music, we are thinking more toward the live show idea, by the end of the year, a bit a live keys, Ableton, putting on live…what ever it turns out to be, haha. We’ve got a ton of remixes, as always, to come out throughout the year.
As we always do, we need consistently keep people happy, keep more music coming out.
There’s enough music for a few EP’s but I’m constantly creating more, constantly writing. Just found myself a really cool new creative space where I’m ganna unleash! Haha, so expect more soon.
Connect with jackLNDN:
https://www.facebook.com/jackLNDN
https://twitter.com/jacklndn
https://soundcloud.com/jacklndn
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