Audiojack Interview: It’s a small price to pay for doing what you love

Image: Audiojack

Bournemouth's dance music lineage has a long and lengthy history, boasting the South's true superclub of the late nineties in Slinky and a constant presence of some of the most stellar names in electronic music. That heritage is still prevalent today, particularly with Listed's efforts bringing a house music swagger to the city on Saturday March 1st, with the presence of Huxley, Hannah Wild and Audiojack among the guests at The Old Firestation.

The latter, duo James Rial and Richard Burkinshaw, have started the year in great fashion. Their remix of 'Trust' by the sadly departed Romanthony (listen above) is a classic example of hi hat driven house music, with their DJ sets equally as anticipated. We caught up with James to talk shop ahead of the show.

Tell us about what first got started into music?

Listening to bands like New Order, Electronic, Depeche Mode and so on in the early 90s. Then bands like The Prodigy alongside early Kiss FM test broadcasts where it was 100% music. Hearing house tracks like Jaydee’s Plastic Dreams encouraged us to venture onto the 90s rave scene and affirmed our passion for the music and going to clubs. 

What artists inspired you as a kid growing up?

We weren’t making music as such back then, it wasn’t until the after the millennium when we started getting the bug to start making music properly. Artists like Martin Dawson under his King Roc moniker, Paul Woolford and Dave Taylor aka Switch making really fresh electronic sounds that inspired us to get involved and start writing ourselves. 

How did the label come about?

It was a desire to be involved in the sharing of music outside that which we make ourselves and being able to have control over how that music is presented and when. We wanted to put together a high quality platform to release music that looks after its artists and puts 100% into every EP we put out

What releases have you planned for this year that you can tell us about?

We’ve just released an EP from Italian duo Newbie Nerdz which is a really classy vocal house EP with elements of UK bass, which we feel could work as well on the radio as it does on the floor. We have remixes from Hypercolour’s Last Magpie and Music On’s Leon.

After that we have an EP from Berlin based Italians Black Loops who have delivered a more techy package, which includes a remix by the highly sought Sidney Charles (great remix too, check it out above). There's also another EP from rising star Dale Howard with a remix from New York’s MANIK, and in the pipeline we have an EP’s from Copy Paste Soul and then we take it up to the summer with an Audiojack EP.

You’ve been touring all over the world lately, what has been your favourite place to play?

It’s difficult to remember back more than a few months and especially when put on the spot but recently our tours of Brazil and Australia have been really exciting. Field Club in Papanduva was really special and Spice Afloat on New Years day was unforgettable too and could still stand as one of the best gigs of the year even though we’re barely into 2014. 

Any crazy stories whilst on the road?

There are plenty of crazy things that happen but the public domain isn’t always the best place to share them!  

What’s your guilty pleasure whilst listening to the radio?

Honestly, we hate any music that’s commercial or cheesy so unless it’s quality music it get’s turned off and we don’t feel guilty about any of the music we like.

Are you a ‘sport’ person?

Rich is into football but doesn’t play these days. We both play basketball and go running, where we live in the countryside in Ibiza there are some really amazing inspiring places to jog. 

What annoys you most about being a DJ?

Probably tough schedules, for example finishing your gig at 6am and having to go straight to the airport with no sleep to take two flights and then land and go straight to the next gig. It’s a small price to pay for doing what you love though. 

Any advice for up and coming Djs and producers?

Try to always be original rather than trying to emulate your piers because it’s hard trying to be the best at what you do when there are more people doing the same thing and you can’t stand out by fitting in. 

Head here for tickets to Listed with Audiojack, Huxely, Hannah Wild & more 

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