Jason van Wyk is an exciting new talent emerging from South Africa. At just 19, he is one of the youngest starts to enter the Trance industry, and with some exciting releases coming up, TrancePodium caught up with Jason for a quick chat.
Hello Jason, how are you?
Hey, doing well thanks!
I see that your latest song Oceanblue in combination with Vast Vision has received excellent support from DJ’s, as well as your new remix of Javah’s One By One being played on ASOT. It must feel pretty cool to finally get your music out onto the scene?
Yes, Oceanblue seems to be doing quite well. I’m really glad people like it!
The original instrumental mix was actually produced about 2 years back… Nice to see it finally released
As for the Javah remix, I’m very surprised at how well that’s doing, the response has been great!
So Jason, what first got you into Trance music? You must get asked this question a lot, but what was the first real track that got you into the genre?
Well I was brought up in a musical home, my mother being a classical piano teacher and most of my family being musicians, music has always been a big part of my life and something I’d always been interested in. But as for Trance, I got into it quite early, someone gave me some cd’s for my 7th birthday and that was it, I was hooked! That year I got into DJing, doing house parties and that kind of stuff…
Writing and producing only came a few years later.
I don’t think there was one real track that got me into it though, it was more of the genre itself, not so much “Trance” but just electronic music in general. Stuff like Faithless for instance really had a major influence on me growing up.
And how did you get into music production itself?
I got into music production when I was about 11. Nothing serious back then… A friend of mine gave me a copy of EJay, a VERY simple sequencing program, which I got tired of very quickly. Then I started dabbling with other programs like Rebirth, FL, etc. I actually put together an album and sent it to a label. I got a reply back from the label manager at the Dance division of the label saying he was very impressed with what I was doing and encouraged me to keep working. That was probably the best thing at that time to happen in my career and I started taking it more seriously from then on. He suggested I get hold of Reason, which I did, and a few years later I signed my first single with him.
Tell us a bit about your music style and direction.
Melodic, emotional and atmospheric… That’s usually what I go for. Weather it be Trance or any other genre. I also really like using live instruments as well, like pianos, strings, guitars, violins etc… It’s all about emotion though… For me, if a track doesn’t have emotion / feeling to it, its got nothing. I’ll try only to write a track if I have something to write about. I’ll never put a record out just for the sake of putting one out.
What sort of setup do you use for your production and do you have any tips for any new producers trying to break out onto the scene?
I’m running an Intel Quad Core PC with 4gigs DDR800 Ram, 2x Dell 20”displays, Behringer Mixer, KRK Monitors, Sennheiser HD25 Headphones, MAudio Soundcard, Midi controller keyboard, some electric guitars and a couple of hardware synths… Software wise I’m using Reason, Cubase, and Ableton Live.
As for advice… Just do your own thing, work on it everyday, develop your sound… Practise makes perfect! Also, remember that anyone can learn how to produce, its making music that really means something to you that you should be aiming for. And have fun, if you aren’t enjoying what you doing then there’s really no reward at the end of the day. Learning music theory also helps a lot. A lot of new producers I’ve spoken to don’t understand how much of a difference it makes… But it really makes things a lot easier!
What can we expect in the form of your new upcoming single “Far From Me”?
Far From Me is probably the most personal track I’ve done so far.
It’s got the classic Trance sound to it with a big emotional break and very deep melodies. It will be released on Redux Recordings in March, with remixes from JPL, Sunny Lax and Pierre Pienaar.
What about your side project “North Star”? Any new singles or remixes we can expect from that?
Actually, North Star and all other aliases I was working under have now come to an end. I was never 100% happy with the result of any of those tracks. Releasing under aliases was a way for me to get my music out there while I was still developing my sound. Now, releasing under my actual name just makes more sense, and I can make the music as personal as possible. There are one or two North Star remixes I did last year that are still to be released, but after them, that’s it!
I may start a new project sometime in the future, but right now I’m just focusing on releasing music under my actual name.
Do you also DJ and if so can we expect any gigs from you in 2009?
Yes, I do DJ. There are few gigs here in Cape Town lined up for this year, but I’m really looking top play abroad more. So if any promoters would like to invite me, please feel free to do so!
What other tracks or collaborations have you got lined up soon? Any big name stuff we can look forward to?
There are few new originals I’m busy with… As for collaborations, at the moment there’s some stuff coming up with Digitalis, Emotional Horizons and Pierre Pienaar… Don’t ask me when though, but hopefully later this year. Keep checking my MySpace for updates.
What are your other interests and hobbies aside from producing/DJ’ing?
Well music takes up pretty much all my time… But I enjoy the usual things, going out with friends, watching TV, movies… Also, I’m starting my diploma in Audio Engineering this year, so that’s going to be taking up a lot of my time I’m sure.
Thank you for your time Jason ! Good luck for the future!
No prob! Thanks for having me!
Jason van Wyk on MySpace Music - Free Streaming MP3s, Pictures & Music Downloads
