Zone Magazine Issue 033 - Jan Johnson

Tell us where in the world you are
and what your plans for the week
and month ahead?
Well, like everyone else at the moment I am stuck
at home trying to make the best of it! At least I am able to
catch up with some stuff and finish off some remixes I have
been working on. Also been working on a new original, so
hopefully I can get that done as well.
Tell us more about you!
I grew up in the South west and moved to London
in around 1991. That was when I discovered dancing and
rave music, before that I had very little experience of
dance music, as I lived in a small town in Devon. We didn't
have clubs or raves, we used to have barn parties on my
mates farm but that was about it. At that time I was mainly
into Hip hop but got into the breakbeat stuff after hearing
acts like The Prodigy and Moby. Then I discovered raving
and went to clubs like Camden palace and Busbys in
London and it was also at this point I started buying
records and getting an interest in DJ culture.
At this point though I was mainly into hardcore
and drum and bass but it was around 1994 when a friend
of mine played a John Digweed mixtape in his car, then I
discovered house music and in particular that progressive
house sound that well all love so much. After hearing this I
went out and bough the mix collection by Renaissance and
my whole musical outlook was changed. I loved the deep
hypnotic vibes and in the clubs I was going to at the time
most of the DJ's were playing this kind of cheesy handbag
house which wasnt really me. Progressive house was more
my kind of thing!
How was the last couple of years for
you?
Yeah 2019 was pretty good, I had releases out on
Perfecto Black and Bonzai progressive which both did quite
well. My track Future shock which I did with Chris Sterio
came out in the summer. I also had a few remixes out so
generally a good year!
Actually, 2020 was not too bad really. Had a
couple of big releases on Krafted Underground and Bonzai,
had my first Beatport top 20 track and was pretty
productive in the studio. As for DJ'ing well obviously
without gigs it was difficult but my shows on Proton and
Frisky both went from strength to strength and I hope to
continue that in 2021.
Can you name five tracks that
influenced you Growing up?
Thats quite a difficult one as I have been into so
many different musical styles over the years, but these are
the five tracks that probably have left a lasting impression
on me...
Heaven 17 - Temptation
Depeche Mode - Enjoy the silence
PKA - Temperature rising
First life - Be one of us
Radiohead - Street spirit (Fade out)
Can you name your labels top five
tracks?
Thats a tough one, my old label (Segment
records) had quite a few releases which were influential but
the first five were probably the most memorable to most
people, Eelke Kleijn for example has gone on to huge
success and so he'd certainly have to be in the list, the
others are also quite seminal in their own way, this is my
favourite five though (in no particular order):
Eelke Kleijn - Deeper depths
ZGR - Zero hours
James Talk - Beef Curtains
Muzo - The Mack
Hook and Black - Lifecycle
Also worth a mention is the Baunder EP as he
went on to a successful career and has worked alongside
Hernan Cattaneo among others.
Can tell us about your musical
development in the last year or so?
I think in the last year or so i have really been
trying to focus on getting my mix-downs sounding as best i
can so i have changed my working slightly. I have pretty
much used Ableton since version 5 but recently i have
started using Logic to do my mix-downs in as after taking
some advice from Paul Nolan he suggested doing that so
you separate the processes of writing and the creative side
and the mixing side. The only pain is having to export the
stems all the time but my plan is to eventually switch over
to Logic completely which will make things easier.
Tell us about some recognized artist
who are supporting your music.
Its always nice to get recognition from your
peers and my last few releases have seen some
support from some fairly big names. Of course, any
support is nice but it's human nature that Guy J playing
your tunes is going to be bigger than Joe Bloggs, but if
people are enjoying and playing your music then thats the
most important thing.
Tell us about how each new artist
release has influenced the music
you make?
I am always influenced by the music I hear.
Sometimes I can be inspired after hearing a new release,
either a sound they've used or a technique which makes
me want to try it for myself. Of course, I don't go out to
blatantly copy people, however a little help in the music
making process is always good and I know many major
artists have used tracks already made to help them to
inspire their own creations.