[i:Vibes] i:Vibes Interviews JayB

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i:Vibes Interviews JayB

08:36 - October 7, 2010

by miles schmidt-scheuber

Up next on the interrogation table here at i:Vibes is another one of the new breed of Trance producers setting the scene alight with new music. JayB is another German born electronic music addict with a slight affection towards rock music as well as his Trance. He has been knocking up some very good releases this year with one we reviewed earlier in the year 'Eleven Thirty / Signals' on Fenology Records and his just released new track 'Desire' on Breathe Music. He is a talent that has been heavily influenced by the sounds of Anjunabeats and did not really discover the world of electronic music until 2001 when he first heard an ATB record. His blend of uplifting Trance and a nature for the progressive style give him a tasteful mix of variety that will surly give birth to some very exciting new releases next year. Ever the nosy parker, we went to ask JayB a little few questions on just what makes him tick.

i:Vibes: Thanks for taking some time to talk to i:Vibes. How has your summer been? What was the nicest musical experience that you had this past summer?

JayB: It’s a pleasure. My summer was not what you can call relaxing, as I spent the past weeks at boarding school near the Baltic Sea, but couldn’t spend some time at the beach. I tend to have many nice musical experiences so it’s rather hard to decide which one was the nicest. I was pretty excited when I got the Anjunabeats Vol. 8 and heard a new track by Super8 and Tab “Mercy”. I think I’m going to buy their album.

i:Vibes: You are a new light on the trance sky. You are from Dresden. How did you get involved with trance music?

JayB: That is not easy to answer. Until 2000 I didn’t really like electronic dance music at all. It was 2001, 2002 when my little brother heard a few rather good tracks by ATB, Lasgo or Sylver. That is when I first notice how the sound of this music had changed. At that time I was already making music myself, messed around with various electronic styles usually ending up with something experimental.

It was 2005 when a friend gave me the “No Silence” album by ATB. I instantly fell in love with that style, especially “Mysterious Skies”. I started to recreate these sounds with the few hardware synthesizers I had, trying to get closer and closer to that style. The first trance CD I bought was “Tri-State” by Above & Beyond, followed by “Anjunabeats Vol. 4”. I was so impressed by that sound so I told myself: you can do that too. It took me a couple of years though.

i:Vibes: Who were your early musical inspirations growing up?

JayB: I always listened to almost everything. When I was young my father made me hear the music he loved, so I heard Credence Clearwater Revival, Bruce Springsteen and other 70s and 60s rock and pop. These definitely influenced my musical career.

i:Vibes: What was the deciding moment where you knew that trance music would play a role in your life?

JayB: I guess it was finally when I heard the track “Alone Tonight” by Above & Beyond.

i:Vibes: You had a group called Pfefferminz. What kind of music did you play?

JayB: The group still exists, even if we have fewer performances these days then a couple of years ago. We play pop and rock music from the 60s to today as well as own compositions. I usually play the keyboards and in a few songs also guitar.

i:Vibes: You won a remix contest for Mr Sam in 2006. Were you surprised that you won?

JayB: Of course I was. Who wouldn’t be surprised having a mail by Mr Sam himself in his e-mail inbox, especially when it comes one week before the end of the competition?

i:Vibes: What made your remix for Lodestar so unique?

JayB: What Mr Sam liked about my remix is that it’s not trance like all the other remixes. When I heard the vocals I immediately had some ambient soundtrack-like music in my mind and during the evening the arrangement started to build up in my head – long before I thought about starting to create it in Logic. It ended up as an over time constantly growing arrangement with broken beats, low basses and a weird combination of electronic and acoustic instruments. I think it will take me some time to come close to this again.

i:Vibes: You recently released your first song “Desire”. What was your inspiration behind this song?

JayB: It might be my first vocal track under the name “JayB” but it is not my first release.

The track was composed already in 2005 as an answer on Tokio Hotel’s “Durch den Monsun” (“Monsoon”). My mother, who had a rather depressive time, wrote these wonderful lyrics for my melody. I recorded the vocals with Sandra because we wanted to use the song for our band. But then we thought it was too negative for the band and so it stayed unused on my hard drive for a few years. In 2008 I took the vocals and just for fun made a trance track from it. Breathemusic immediately loved the idea of a German trance track and so the whole project started.

i:Vibes: It is very uplifting. Is this your first taste in style?

JayB: No, I don’t have a *first* taste. It depends on my mood if I want to do uplifting trance or progressive trance or some harder rock music.

i:Vibes: Sandra Wagner was already singing in Pfefferminz. What makes her so unique as a singer? I guess you guys have a blind understanding.

JayB: We know each other for nine years now and the team work was awesome from the first minute. She’s a great singer and open to almost every style of music. It is really fun to work with her.

i:Vibes: Was Desire a difficult track to produce? What was the most difficult thing that you had to do in the studio to make the track perfect?

JayB: I had to reproduce the trance version a couple of times because it never sounded like 2010. Hook line and bass line were the worst problems. But for the last time I completely rewrote everything leaving only the piano the from the previous versions.

i:Vibes: Desire has had great feedback. DJ’s like Armin, Above & Beyond and Talla 2XLC have played it. Is Desire a track that could become an anthem?

JayB: I’m not sure if it could be an anthem but I hope the German version of the track inspires the producers in my country to create vocal trance in their mother tongue. It would be a nice change in the world of vocal trance music.

i:Vibes: How do you usually work in the studio? Do you have a certain formula how you go about producing a track?

JayB: Actually I don’t have. Sometimes it’s a bass line that makes the start, another time it’s a sound or an arpeggio I’d like to use. Many melodies develop during the programming of a sound on a synthesizer.

i:Vibes: What is your most prized possession in your studio that you could not live without when making a track?

JayB: I love all of my hardware synthesizers. Each one of them has its unique sound and strengths and I just love to play on them, even if my computer is turned off. They are a great inspiration and sound source.

i:Vibes: What other plans do you have in the next months with releases?

JayB: There are a few remixes on the way and also some more instrumentals.

i:Vibes: How did you come about joining the Breathe family?

JayB: I chose Breathemusic because Christian Stein already answered me to previous promotion e-mails and I kind of knew that he would reply to this one as well. The gladder I was that he was supporting me from the very beginning.

i:Vibes: How good does it feel having Daniel Kandi on the CD? How has his mix made the whole CD packet better?

JayB: Of course his remix is like the cherry on the cake. He did a really great job on it and it’s definitely a push for the EP. I love his tracks since I heard “Child” for the first time and it was one of my deepest wishes to once have a remix of him on a release of mine.

i:Vibes: With what artist would you like to be locked away with in the studio?

JayB: I prefer non-locked doors. ;-)

Actually I don’t know. I always thought I better work alone, but if I had the chance I think Suncatcher would be my choice. We know each other from times when both of us were unknown producers and he supported me by playing my track in guest mixes or remixing my previous release “Eleven Thirty” (Fenology). I think there might be some interesting tunes if we worked together, especially since he is still a better producer than I am.

i:Vibes: What German artists do you respect?

JayB: Speaking about trance there is of course Cosmic Gate and Kyau & Albert (their hometown is not too far from mine), but also Dennis Sheperd and Cold Blue and some more. On the non-trance side there are too many to mention like Silbermond, Tokio Hotel (yes, I do respect them!), Rosenstolz and Herbert Grönemeyer.

i:Vibes: What are your five current favourite tracks?

JayB: Super8 & Tab – Mercy
JayB & Sandra Wagner – Sehnsucht (Rock Mix)
The Ark – It takes a fool to remain sane
The Cardiacs – Is this the life
JayB – Leopard (still unreleased)

i:Vibes: What are your five all time favourite tracks?

JayB: Above & Beyond – Home
Filo & Peri – Ashley
Porcupine Tree – Arriving Somewere but Not Here
Porcupine Tree – Trains
JayB – Sententia

This list might change next week.

i:Vibes: Who will become #1 at the 2010 DJ mag poll?

JayB: The usual ones I guess. Paul van Dyk or Armin van Buuren.

i:Vibes: What are your hobbies?

JayB: I recently purchased a book about photography so I can improve my skills on that. Besides that I enjoy playing computer games that require patience and strategy and no bullet weapons.

i:Vibes: What was the last DVD movie that you saw?

JayB: It was “Alice in Wonderland”. I never saw it in cinema, but I like it somehow.