Interview: Milton Jackson

With an upcoming gig at the mighty Soltek in London’s ‘The Lightbox’, we had chance to catch up with Milton Jackson, one of Scotland’s finest exports, and firm favourite on the house scene. Now based in Oxfordshire, Milton has continued with his forward thinking approach to deep house, and with a raft of releases and awards under his belt, we wanted to find out more about one of house music’s leading protagonists.

How did you get into producing?

I got an MPC2000 for my 18th birthday from my parents, from there I did an EP wholly using that machine for Tronicsole and one of the tracks from the EP was picked up by Roger Sanchez for a Mixmag compilation, it all went from there.

What (or who) inspires you with your music?

Everything from everyday moods to artists like Miles Davis, Kerri Chandler or Les Baxter

What nights have you particularly enjoyed playing recently?

I enjoyed playing with Kevin Griffiths at a Tsuba party recently at Basing House, young yet knowledgeable crowd who were up for a party.

What are your top 5 favourite records at the moment?

Kneco Uqdah Jr - July 12 [Black Catalogue]

Nail - Optimus [Fear Of Flying]

Moon B - [Peoples Potential Unlimited]

Franck Roger - Don't You Know [Tsuba]

Flori - Dusty Shocks [AIM Germany]

Which do you prefer, DJing, or producing?

Producing mainly although sometimes DJing, depends on the mood and gig! I prefer doing the nice outdoor summer-ey gigs over the sweaty dark basement ones in winter.

How has your music evolved over the years?

Probably not enough for the amount of time! It probably sounds better but when you are younger you try weirder ideas, as you get older you're too afraid to step out of the standard sometimes which is a bad thing.

What can we look forward to with your set at Soltek?

I’m looking forward to playing a wide range of stuff from a-z, I like to keep it varied.

Are there any DJs or Producers that have captured your attention recently?

There's loads of young guys coming through all with great sounds, but i prefer the old guys.

What has been the highlight of your career so far?

Playing at Sonar Festival or winning the Beatport award was pretty cool and there was another DJ award which I picked up in Ibiza alongside the A-list of dance like Sven, Pete Tong etc... That was a bit surreal!

What does the future hold for Milton Jackson?

A new baby in August and then probably sleepless nights for 2 years.

And finally, if you weren’t a producer/DJ, what would you be?

We had a guy send up a Dark Energy themed homemade rocket in some American salt plain which had our label logo on it and he sent us the specs and it's trajectory relative to google maps. I'd quite like to do that every day.

Thank you Milton Jackson!

Catching him playing live at Soltek on the 19th of April. Get your tickets here.

Tickets are no longer available for this event