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From clubs in Ibiza and festivals in America to music production seminars and radio appearances around the globe, Australian DJ/Producer Jaytech has done just about everything. Cultivating his own progressive house empire through his much loved Jaytech Music Podcast and label Positronic, he’s also no stranger to the trance world, featuring regularly in the sets of the likes of Armin van Buuren, Tiësto and, of course, Above & Beyond, who are dropping a new track of his on their latest mix compilation this week.
Your new track Ultramarine is appearing on the upcoming highly anticipated Anjunabeats Volume 17. If you were to put ‘Ultramarine’ in a room with your first album ‘Everything Is OK’ (released on Anjunabeats back in 2008), what would they have to say to each other?
Ultramarine definitely takes its roots in the sound that I first became known for, so I’m excited for it to be on the compilation. When I wrote ‘Everything Is OK’ I had yet to get out into the world and experience it (something that the release of that particular album helped make possible for me).
Ultramarine, on the other hand, is the kind of progressive house that I can play at festivals whilst still keeping that original ethereal mood that has been in all my tracks. Nowadays, I have more of an understanding of making things work on a dance floor, not to mention sound goodon a big sound system!
Regarding your recent releases on Positronic: Atmo, Omni, Helius, and now Ageha. They feel less like singles and more like a deliberate, interconnected chapter of your sound. With Ageha specifically serving as a throwback to your Japanese debut at the superclub of the same name, how much of this current Positronic era is a conscious effort to channel your past production and journey into your current production?
I think there are some aspects of music that are timeless, and while progressive house is often about forward-thinking ideas, even the most upfront music benefits from taking some of its wisdom from the past. When we revisit these ideas, they get brought into the present with the help of modern production techniques, so we get to experience that sound on a new level. That’s exciting to me. This year, my aim for Positronic has been to have a regular, episodic series of releases from me amidst everything else going on, whilst bringing a few new artists into the limelight along the way. It’s been a very rewarding chapter for the label this year.
What’s a production rule or habit you stubbornly refuse to give up because it just inherently sounds like you?
I tend not to do many stripped back arrangements. There’s definitely a “less is more” crowd out there who want to tell the story with as few elements as possible, and there’s a definite benefit to doing things that way. In my tracks, though, I generally like to have something simple and straightforward for the listener at the center of the track, but to fill out the sound space with other elements for them to find if they want to.
When you’re deep in a tune, everything sounding the same or you can’t really nail a unique element, what’s your weirdest or most unhinged studio ritual to reset your brain?
I never really struggle against a project anymore, and I think a big part of that is knowing when to step away and go do something else. I’d rather sleep on a project and come back to it with fresh ears in the morning from a different perspective than bang my head against a wall all night trying to solve it.
Within an individual session, if I do want to switch things up I’ll usually just find something else that needs doing that’s using a different part of my brain. For example, if I’m struggling to get a particular synth part to sound right I’ll turn the sound off and do a bit of work on filling out the song’s arrangement, using my eyes rather than my ears.
As for unhinged rituals, I know it sounds weird, but listening to bad music is sometimes more of an inspiration for me than listening to good references. Of course, “bad” music is subjective, as everyone’s tastes are different, but somehow whenever I listen to music that I personally can’t stand, it reminds me of the music that I do want to make and why I make it.
If you lost all your backups, something erased your library and you could only salvage one synth or one effect, what is it?
Omnisphere – It’s got such an absurdly massive library of instruments. I’ve been using it for over ten years and still find new and interesting sounds.
When you’re finalizing a track like your recent single ‘Helius’, what makes you think ‘This is for Positronic’ vs sending it to other labels?
It’s often not a conscious decision, and is more about looking at the pool of music and figuring out what belongs where. I am always writing new music so there tends to be a bit of a production line of tracks to work with.
If I sign something to Anjunabeats, their A&R team will tend to give (very good) feedback on how to take what I’ve written and inject a bit of what is currently trending into it. This is something I don’t really think about as much when releasing a Positronic track.
Tell me about a gig where the tech, the room, or the vibe completely fell apart, but you somehow managed to make it epic.
On one of the Above & Beyond North America tours, we were scheduled to play in Reno and were on the way there in a tour bus. There was heavy snow and an accident on the freeway that was holding up traffic, and the promoter made the call to pull the plug on the show because we couldn’t guarantee we were going to be able to get there in time. The traffic cleared up and so we got into town with time to spare, but the show was unfortunately already called off.
The promoter asked if we had any interest in attending an open decks night at a local club that was happening down the street. As we didn’t have anything else going on anyway, we said “Sure, why not” and brought our USBs just in case.. anyway, word got out that the whole crew was going to be there, and people started showing up in droves. I ended up playing an opening set, and Above & Beyond ultimately played their set that night to a packed club, just not the club we were expecting. It was a night to remember for sure!
When you look out at a room, what’s the subtle tell or body language, or vibe you look for that helps you work out the next 15 minutes of your set?
There are so many! I am helping up-and-coming DJs with this all the time. Sometimes it’s a technical thing – if the crowd is standing a little further back and not coming all the way to the front of the dance floor, it often means the main house speakers are too loud. If it’s early in the night and people are still arriving, standing around and chatting on the dance floor, that’s a good time to play groovy tunes rather than blowing them away with the big hits. Once people are jumping up and down at the drops and going “oo oo!” (people still do that to this day) that’s a good sign you can start to play some bangers!
We take away music producers, what is a piece of media that is not progressive house or trance (film, video game soundtrack, book etc) that has directly influenced a Jaytech release?
I’m a big science fiction and space nerd, and that finds its way into my music all the time. Many of my releases are space themed in one way or another, like my second album “Multiverse”. Sometimes it’s a more direct reference – my track “Rocinante” is named after the space ship in the “Expanse” book / tv series.
If you could send a USB drive back in time to yourself just as you were starting to figure out your signature progressive sound, what one piece of advice is written in the text file on that drive? What music is on that drive?
I’d probably troll myself honestly. Maybe include a Yacht Rock playlist and a text file that says “Call your mother!”. After all, I wouldn’t want to spoil the mystery!
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