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The Guestlist Network Interviews Alex Jones
House | Thursday 1st September 2011 | Annalisa
Ahead of his next Croatian festival, the founder of record label Hypercolour talked to us about his new label project, Maya Jane Coles and secret collaborations...
Welcome to The Guestlist Network, I’m here with Alex Jones from Hypercolour, how are you doing buddy?
I’m good, you?
Not bad, not bad. What have you got going on right now that’s exciting?
I’m doing a couple of secret collaborations at the moment, and some not so secret collaborations with Glimpse. I’m working with him a lot in his studio because I’m quite lazy and he makes my life easier [laughs]. He can make things sound really phat and he is technically pretty decent! There is a Glimpse and Alex Jones project happening separately, a new EP we have just done that could be going somewhere nice. Then I’m doing a collaboration with Axel Boman...I’m doing work for his label Studio Barnhus. I’ve got a new label actually that I’m starting up.
Ok, so what’s this new project about?
Well Ste Roberts (who does the A&R for us at Hypercolour) and I are starting a new label called Initials, the first EP is from Greenville Massive. I started speaking to them through Maya Jane Coles and I’ve got Tory Pierce remixing the record... Then we’ve got a Jay Bliss EP with a remix that I can’t confirm yet and a Christopher Raoul EP coming up on Hypercolour; he’s flying over for our next date at Fabric which is at Hallowe’en - Hypercolour in Room 3 with Chris Raoul and Tom DeMac headlining!
Do you remember what you were listening to when you started listening to music?
The first thing I bought was Turtle Power [laughs] 10” vinyl. I remember being given a Bobby Brown cassette.
So how did that lead to you making Deep House and Techno?
I used to play Garage and Drum and Bass when I was 16 at places like Po Na Na’s and I ended up playing a lot of Breakbeat... When Fabric first opened I lived in Buckinghamshire and I would drive up to London every Saturday to go see Tyrant, they were my favourite. Their first CD, Tyrant, was what really got me into doing what I do today. I was listening to a lot of global underground stuff, things like Northern Exposure, Sasha and John Digweed... I was at college then so I would have been 19 or 20.
So when did you move to Shoreditch?
I must have moved here about nine years ago, maybe ten. I became a resident at Big Beat Boutique down in Brighton and I used to do parties at Dovebridge Studios around the corner on Kingsland Road. I remember I was resident at the Spread Eagle and my friend Steve Smith took it on as a new project. He was managing Simian Mobile Disco at the time so it was us and Simian and a couple of others... Badly Drawn Boy as well. We used to play in there and then I would do parties across the road afterwards at Dovebridge Studios called Synth Nymph.
Maya Jane Coles released the Hummingbird EP on Hypercolour, how did you meet her?
She sent me a demo. I was still awake after coming back from a club and I checked my inbox and came across an email from this girl. She actually sent me ‘What They Say’. We didn’t sign it though because it wasn’t the right time for us to get her release out. To be fair, I think it worked out better for us that it went through Real Time. Maya’s really talented and I know she’s trying to get out of the whole House and Techno game at the movement. Trying to branch into other stuff... She told me she’d do another EP for us so that’s booked in. She’s got a lot going on but she’s a good friend of mine so it shouldn’t be too hard for me to track her down!
Cool, ok. So when is your next gig?
I’m playing Croatia at the Stop Making Sense Festival in a couple of weeks, so that should be good. It’s me and Steve Roberts, we’re doing Hybrid Life.
Is there a Hybrid Life party?
Potentially... The wheels are in motion but recently I’ve been trying to avoid holding my own parties, trying not to be involved in that because I’ve got a lot of music that needs writing. I’ve got a lot going on musically at the moment and I’m thinking about writing an album.
Right, I’m going to change it up a little... If you were banished to a desert island, which three famous people (dead or alive) would you take with you?
Kung Fu badman Eric Roberts from Best of the Best, Julia Roberts’s brother. You never know when you might need protection! Also mostly because of his hair. Who was the cowboy in Best of the Best? I’d take him too.
So you’ve taken two guys, who else are you going to take?
I’m tempted to take my girlfriend.
You can’t take your girlfriend, they’ve got to be famous.
Stephen Davis who played Paul from Eastenders.
Ok that’s different! Well thanks very much, man.
No problem, this is Alex Jones and this is The Guestlist Network.
I’m good, you?
Not bad, not bad. What have you got going on right now that’s exciting?
I’m doing a couple of secret collaborations at the moment, and some not so secret collaborations with Glimpse. I’m working with him a lot in his studio because I’m quite lazy and he makes my life easier [laughs]. He can make things sound really phat and he is technically pretty decent! There is a Glimpse and Alex Jones project happening separately, a new EP we have just done that could be going somewhere nice. Then I’m doing a collaboration with Axel Boman...I’m doing work for his label Studio Barnhus. I’ve got a new label actually that I’m starting up.
Ok, so what’s this new project about?
Well Ste Roberts (who does the A&R for us at Hypercolour) and I are starting a new label called Initials, the first EP is from Greenville Massive. I started speaking to them through Maya Jane Coles and I’ve got Tory Pierce remixing the record... Then we’ve got a Jay Bliss EP with a remix that I can’t confirm yet and a Christopher Raoul EP coming up on Hypercolour; he’s flying over for our next date at Fabric which is at Hallowe’en - Hypercolour in Room 3 with Chris Raoul and Tom DeMac headlining!
Do you remember what you were listening to when you started listening to music?
The first thing I bought was Turtle Power [laughs] 10” vinyl. I remember being given a Bobby Brown cassette.
So how did that lead to you making Deep House and Techno?
I used to play Garage and Drum and Bass when I was 16 at places like Po Na Na’s and I ended up playing a lot of Breakbeat... When Fabric first opened I lived in Buckinghamshire and I would drive up to London every Saturday to go see Tyrant, they were my favourite. Their first CD, Tyrant, was what really got me into doing what I do today. I was listening to a lot of global underground stuff, things like Northern Exposure, Sasha and John Digweed... I was at college then so I would have been 19 or 20.
So when did you move to Shoreditch?
I must have moved here about nine years ago, maybe ten. I became a resident at Big Beat Boutique down in Brighton and I used to do parties at Dovebridge Studios around the corner on Kingsland Road. I remember I was resident at the Spread Eagle and my friend Steve Smith took it on as a new project. He was managing Simian Mobile Disco at the time so it was us and Simian and a couple of others... Badly Drawn Boy as well. We used to play in there and then I would do parties across the road afterwards at Dovebridge Studios called Synth Nymph.
Maya Jane Coles released the Hummingbird EP on Hypercolour, how did you meet her?
She sent me a demo. I was still awake after coming back from a club and I checked my inbox and came across an email from this girl. She actually sent me ‘What They Say’. We didn’t sign it though because it wasn’t the right time for us to get her release out. To be fair, I think it worked out better for us that it went through Real Time. Maya’s really talented and I know she’s trying to get out of the whole House and Techno game at the movement. Trying to branch into other stuff... She told me she’d do another EP for us so that’s booked in. She’s got a lot going on but she’s a good friend of mine so it shouldn’t be too hard for me to track her down!
Cool, ok. So when is your next gig?
I’m playing Croatia at the Stop Making Sense Festival in a couple of weeks, so that should be good. It’s me and Steve Roberts, we’re doing Hybrid Life.
Is there a Hybrid Life party?
Potentially... The wheels are in motion but recently I’ve been trying to avoid holding my own parties, trying not to be involved in that because I’ve got a lot of music that needs writing. I’ve got a lot going on musically at the moment and I’m thinking about writing an album.
Right, I’m going to change it up a little... If you were banished to a desert island, which three famous people (dead or alive) would you take with you?
Kung Fu badman Eric Roberts from Best of the Best, Julia Roberts’s brother. You never know when you might need protection! Also mostly because of his hair. Who was the cowboy in Best of the Best? I’d take him too.
So you’ve taken two guys, who else are you going to take?
I’m tempted to take my girlfriend.
You can’t take your girlfriend, they’ve got to be famous.
Stephen Davis who played Paul from Eastenders.
Ok that’s different! Well thanks very much, man.
No problem, this is Alex Jones and this is The Guestlist Network.
