Interview with Veteran House DJ Jay Tripwire Ahead of his Zutekh Appearance

Canadian house DJ and producer Jay Tripwire headlines the second instalment of Zutekh's outdoor summer parties on September 11th.

Here he talks about his youth spent as a vigilante crime fighter in Vancouver, treading the boards on the DJ circuit, his thoughts on the vinyl debate, and a helluva lot more besides. 

With a career spanning over 20+ years, let’s go back to where it all began. When did you first start getting into music, clubbing and eventually DJing?

I wasn't very good at school, I didn't even graduate and I grew up right in the centre of downtown Vancouver in an area that was full of crime, hookers, junkies and a lot of working class immigrant families. This was Vancouver's West End of the 80s. I was up to no good in those days and it was finding house music that got me off the wrong path I was on. As a teen growing up, a tough kid, I started to despise all the shit going on in my neighbourhood, all the crime and hookers getting beat up and shit, so I started sneaking out of the house as some kind of crime fighter. I even had home made body armour and weaponry. I used to train in a lot of various kinds of fighting styles, so I put it to use and tried to do my part in getting the neighbourhoods safe. I wasn't the only one tho, there was a crew of the Gay and Lesbian Community out there trying to move out the filth too and we also had the Guardian Angels group out there. I read too many comic books growing up and admiring the Guardian Angels (they wouldn't let me join cause I was underage) it inspired me to go make a difference.

I grew up really poor in a bad neighbourhood, I bought my first tech 1200s with rolled up pennies at a department store who special ordered them, it took like two hours to count all that change (laughs). Often I had to make the choice between food and new records, and new records always won. The scene was still in its early days at this point here, and l started producing events with a friend and building a reputation for changing the way parties and events were produced in Vancouver, with a lot of attention to detail on having good sound systems, exciting visuals, and larger scale events than the other promoters in the city were doing. Part of the reason - other than a love for the music -  for djing was nobody really wanted the opening slot, so I just played that slot, and then later on I was the guy who played last in the morning. My sets would start at 5 or 6am and it was there I developed my style of DJing -  that really ethereal cosmic bass driven house and Detroit inspired techno combination later to be redubbed “tech house”.

What was the scene like in Vancouver when you were growing up? 

I never went to clubs when I was growing up. It was not till I was like 16 did I start going to clubs etc, and it was the Industrial scene here. Skinny Puppy were from here and their scene was pre-house/techno, and kind of overlapped from one to another there.

Did you always want to pursue a career in music and what would you say was your big break?

I just fell into the whole scene and was attracted to the counter culture anti-establishment movement of the early rave days. When I first heard house it was like it was the music I was looking for my whole life, the only thing I had ever heard that kind of scratched that itch was Kraftwerk before, but a whole movement based on listening to repetitive instrumental music really sucked me right in. To be honest I had never given much thought what I wanted to be when I grew up and DJing and throwing events were just something that made sense to me. I never thought it would lead to anything long term but I didn't care, I lived in the moment from gig to gig, party to party. I started mailing mix tapes (on cassette) with flyers of parties I had played at out to promoters all over Canada and the US and started getting out of town bookings that way, long before I had ever even thought I would delve into producing my own music.

You have been described by DJ Mag as being “responsible for some the most exciting underground house music to come out of North America”, and your sound has inspired countless producers over the years. What has been your own major influence over the years?

I dunno, I just want to make interesting and engaging things… I don't even always make tacks for the floor, sometimes I make intricate listening pieces, and people end up playing them which is cool. I just make shit and it comes out a certain way. My first records were more tools for mixing that were tracky, because I felt a need for tracky records to bridge together more musical pieces. Now I combine the two. I am very inspired by all the early Detroit records, early Chicago records and European house, it kind of explains my style...

Production wise, with 200+ releases, four full length albums and more productions on the way; what inspires you when you’re in the studio?

I just kind of let it flow… I am just the vessel, kind of like automatic writing. No rhyme or reason.. I just make music. I don't think about how it will sell or who will play it, or what niche it falls into, I just make it and let it out there. It is cathartic, and the release from it is integral to my mental well being.

When did you first venture over to Europe/UK and how do you feel the scene has changed since then?

I think it was 1999 or so when I came over to the UK for the first time, it was way more advanced compared to the scene over here and there was a much larger demographic of people in Europe with much more refined taste in music which I was inspired by, because back in North America it is a very small pocket of people with refined tastes (on many levels.) I knew that what I was doing was meant for Europe and it did not make me feel so alone.

Tell us a bit more about your Fabric residency? How did that come about? I’m sure you have some stories from playing there.

I am not a resident at Fabric, I just have had the great opportunity to DJ there a lot. I would be a considered DJ on rotation or something. It is one of the best clubs in the world on many levels, and it has changed the music I play and the way I make records.

When you play out now you mainly use vinyl or CD but STRICTLY NO LAPTOP! What are your thoughts on the new era of digital DJs?

It is what it is I guess… I think Traktor with auto sync is lame, and if you can't even do the most fundamental part of DJing (beatmixing) then you should pick another hobby. If you are going to use a laptop then why not make your own creations and play live instead. Vinyl will always be the best medium, but there's nothing more annoying than the vinyl purist who thinks you need to play 100% vinyl, and nothing more annoying than the person who thinks vinyl sucks. I guess I am saying I hate extreme-ism. Vinyl does sound the best but it has some drawbacks. On Monday I go into physiotherapy on my back and shoulder from all these decades of abuse from carrying records and fighting crime, I am quite sad that I might not be able to bring more than a handful of records with me on my next trip if my back doesn't heal, as it is I can barely walk, I can't bend over and shit fucking huuuurts… but once I am better I will lug it around again.

So you have another European and UK tour just about to kick off.  What artists and music are you supporting at the minute and what can we expect to hear you play at Zutekh?

Me… I play a lot of stuff… depends on the gig and the timeslot. It's more that you can expect to hear a Detroit, classic Chicago, European hybrid that is a bit cosmic, a touch acidy, very rhythmic, laced with lesser known old school records that stand the test of time.

Finally Jay, aside from your tour, what are you most looking forward to in 2011/12?

Well isn't 2012 the big one? Nibiru/Planet X comes back and somehow zombies walk the earth and things get all Mad Max on us? So really we do not know what 2012 brings. All I know is I am excited about my new daughter and working on another new full length album. I have a bunch more vinyl releases coming out this year and nothing makes me smile more than hearing something I made in a tangible format and playing it home on my turntable. I am travelling a lot and life is good, I am very grateful to anyone who buys my records, goes to my shows, and especially to those people who book me and release my music.

Catch Jay Tripwire at Zutekh's second summer party on September 11th, in a secret outdoor courtyard location in Manchester. Tickets are available below but we warned - capacity is limited!

Tickets are no longer available for this event