Jaytech Interview + Anjunadeep Vol 4

Posted by Middy on February 27, 2012

We have a lot for you in this post. We have an exclusive interview with the Australian Dj / producer, James Cayzer, better known as Jaytech, one of the mixers on Anjunedeep Volume 4, which just released today, as well as an exclusive download of one of Jaytech’s more popular songs “Djembe”. As Jaytech explains in the interview, Anjunadeep is the sister label of Anjunabeats, the label run by the trance super group Above & Beyond. Anjuandeep deals with everything melodic house and this can be seen on this mix compilation. The first CD was mixed by James Grant and the second was mixed by Jaytech. The first CD has more of a techy, deep house feel with some great groovy tracks from guys like Tom Middleton (no relation to me), Andrew Bayer, Dusky and more. There are old releases and new including Andrew Bayer & James Grant’s remix of Above & Beyond – Prelude, Two songs from Dusky, Andrew Bayer – You and many more.
The second CD is more of the melodic house signature of Anjunadeep with some heavy trance influences in some of the songs. The second CD is chock full of quality tracks from Solarity, Suspect 44 and their uplifting track “Neon Feel”, Oliver Smith, Andrew Bayer and more. Jaytech premiers some new tracks on here with “Synergy” and “Atlantic”. The entire compilation send us on a journey of sounds and emotions with the music through a variety of tech, deep, and melodic house songs with different sounds and styles from groovy and funky rhythms to songs with more trance influences. This compilation has something for everyone who likes EDM and after the jump check out the interview with Jaytech that has been in the works for a while but just came to fruition. Also below are two mix previews, buy links, social media links, and the exclusive song from Jaytech, “Djembe”.

Buy it via: Anjunadeep Store | iTunes

Jaytech – Facebook | Twitter | Anjunadeep – Facebook | Twitter

Jaytech Interview

1. You are one of the big contributors for Anjunadeep. For many people the difference between Anjunadeep and Anjunabeats is quite confusing, can you explain to difference or similarities between the two?

Anjunadeep is all things melodic house, whereas Anjunabeats is trance. They overlap sometimes, as there’s lots of trancey house out there and, well, housey trance.

2. Going off of that, how do you see the evolution of trance continuing into the future as the line between house and trance becomes more and more blurred with “Trance 2.0”, as Above and Beyond calls it?

I would imagine trance will get stripped back and become more simplified, just as the same thing has happened with house music. It’ll undoubtedly get mashed up with whatever new musical trends emerge as well.

3. How much of an advantage do you think being classically trained in piano gives you with your productions and can you still play some of those classical pieces?

While it’s definitely good to have an understanding of the traditional concepts of music I think nowadays it’s possibly to make do without them. So much of music composition nowadays is about sonic construction and sampling. I do find it very useful in my productions though. I’m thinking about getting a full size electric piano in my studio so that I can start to relearn some of those old pieces, as I can’t play any of them anymore.

4. What equipment/programs do you use for production and live setup?

I use Logic and Ableton Live for studio production. I just kinda sail back and forth between the two actually. I feel like neither one has really nailed it as the mother of all sequencer programs, although Ableton does comes pretty close. I’ve heard good things about Pro Tools and more recently FL Studio – maybe I should give them a shot some time. I know Hybrid moved from Logic to Pro Tools and the sound quality of their productions seems to have increased a lot lately. I just recently bought some new Neumann KH 120 monitor speakers and I love them to bits, seriously want to marry those things. As for DJing, well, I just rock up with my trusty USB drive and away we go!

5. You toured the US over the summer and have been here before, mostly as the opener for Above & Beyond, as well as on your own playing festivals such as Electric Zoo. How have you seen the evolution of EDM in the US as someone on the outside looking in? And do you see it lasting?

It’s been loads of fun rocking out in the USA and seeing so much of what the country has to offer. Truly an amazing place. I guess there’s this big pop-dance movement happening over there which doesn’t really do anything for me musically, but even the big events still make room for the underground stuff too, which I appreciate. Can’t wait to rock out in the sun this March in Miami.

6. You released “Overdrive” on Anjunabeats Vol. 9 with your single “New Vibe” and recently released “Overdrive” on Anjunadeep. How is it different working on compilations with Anjunabeats and do you have to cater slightly your sound for the album?

The compilations serve as a showcase for the label’s releases that year, so rather than catering for the compilations we cater for the overall sound of the label itself. We get quite a lot of of freedom in the style that we produce though, so it’s never really felt like much of a limitation.

7. You are one of the mixers for Anjunadeep Vol 4. How is that looking, what are a few of the songs going be on it and when will it be released.

There’s two new tracks from myself, as well as some excellent new releases from the likes of Suspect 44, Soundprank and Answer42. On James Grant’s Disc there’s excellent new remix he’s done with Andrew Bayer of Above & Beyond’s “Prelude” as well as some cool new tracks from the likes of Martin Roth and Tom Middleton. It’s hitting stores on February 27th.

8. A. How was playing at TATW 400? Awesome!
B. You said you hope your album will be out by mid 2012. Is it still looking that way? Yep!
C. Best show you did this year? Gotta be the Hollywood Palladium
D. Under the radar guy from Anjunabeats, Anjunadeep or somewhere else we should be looking out for. Matao

Tags: Above Beyond, Anjunabeats, Anjunedeep Volume, house, James Grant, label, Tom Middleton