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10 Questions with ... JES
May 24, 2016
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BRIEF CAREER SYNOPSIS:
Facebook: www.facebook.com/JESofficial Twitter: twitter.com/official_jes Instagram: www.instagram.com/officialjes
1) It's been a great year already for you. Congratulations on the Grammy nomination for your single with Shant & Clint Maximus "Hold On." Do you remember where you were when you found out that your song was nominated?
I was in bed. I got a text really early in the morning, because as you know I'm in LA, so people on the East Coast are always getting these things early, and it just said, Holy crap! LOL
2) What was the next line of the text?
It was nominated!
3) When you submitted the song for consideration did you think you would receive a nomination?
We had submitted it, but thought it would be a long shot. Of course I though the song was great, and you actually promoted the song for me, as it was our first release on my new label, Intonenation Records. It was an incredible surprise. That particular mix was really popular with the big DJs.
4) For people out there that don't know the song and the remix what can you tell us about it?
The song is called "Hold On," which also featured Shant & Clint Maximus and the remix is the Fatum Remix. Actually we have another song that was just released that we worked on together. It's called "Anything Can Happen.
5) You have also have another honor with me, in that at the Promo Only Summer Sessions, to date, you are the only artist that did a DJ set one day, and then performed the next day as a artist by herself.
Yes, that was sweet and I hope you'll have me back. I want to DJ again this year. I'm DJ-ing a lot these days. I really like it. I was just DJ-ing for a while and now I combine the two, I DJ and sing.
6) Do you come out from behind the turntables and grab the mic...
It depends. Sometimes I'm just in the booth, but if there's a stage, I'm out there.
7) Aside from being a DJ and an artist who performs, you also put together a weekly radio show Unleash The Beat, what episode are you up to?
I'm up to episode #185. It's a once a week hour-long radio show. It's a lot of work, but it's a lot of fun. Keeps me up to date for my live shows, just listening to new music, which I get a lot.
8) How much of the music in the show is music that you play out when you DJ, versus new music you want to expose to people?
It's interesting. Things I play in my live show are a little bit different than what I play on my radio show. I need a little different kind of energy, but I do always mark down the songs that I know will work better for a live show. You know with radio shows, you want to take people a little bit up and down more than sometimes needing really high energy all the time.
9) What else are you working on these days; you have a new single getting ready to come?
I just put out my Unleash The Beat compilation called Ultraviolet. I have a single with Austin Leeds Redhead Roman "Happy," a remake of "Dreamweaver" that Roger Shah did a great remix on and I have the new song with Fatum "Anything Can Happen," I also have another song with Bobina coming out called "I Believe," which is a much more mainstream pop song. It's beautiful. So I'm very excited about all that is going on.
10) With so many young people, trying to break into the music business, or trying to get to the next level, what's one piece of advice would you give to an aspiring artist, producer, DJ?
I'd say, one, you have to focus, and you have to follow through. A lot of people start things and they never finish them. You have to finish them to fruition. You've got to be focused. Find out what you're special thing is and your individuality, and work that. And you have to keep that determination. You have to keep going. Especially dance music these days. I never stop. You know, it's very quick, fast-paced and you've got to just really be very productive, and never give up. That's pretty much why people don't make it because they just can't do it.
Bonus Questions
You're back home in LA, where are we going to get something to eat?
O my! Well you know I'm a vegetarian. LOL, actually, I love Sun Café. It's on Ventura Blvd., or there are so many good ones, let me think, what's it called, oh, Nobu.
You are incredibly busy. Do you ever have any down time? If so, what do you do to relax?
LOL Well, I go to yoga, and I'll do that in the mornings. That's pretty much my relaxation time. I'm trying really hard to have more time because I pretty much don't have a lot of down time. But I love what I do so much it's very addictive. As you know making music is not really work, it's play.
They say when you love what you do it's not work...
It doesn't feel like work so I have to rip myself away from the studio.
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