Laura Jones Interview: It’s nice to be on home turf and around friends again

Emerging as if from nowhere in 2011, Laura Jones has quickly become one of the most talked about talents in house music. Her debut trajectory roped in releases on three of the genre’s most significant record labels, Visionquest, Crosstown Rebels and Leftroom no less, before becoming a regular at DC10, the club she credits with developing her passion for electronic music in the first place.

That continued rise will be augmented when she spends NYE at the O2 Academy in Brixton, alongside Sasha and his Last Night on Earth label (listen to her Boiler Room set at ADE below as evidence of her DJ acumen). We grabbed five minutes ion the blower with her to see how the year had panned out.

So 2013 is coming to an end. What are your thoughts on the year?

It’s been amazing. It couldn’t have started more perfectly playing BPM for the first time, celebrating my birthday in Tulum and afterwards touring South America (including a week in a jungle retreat in the depths of the Amazon - playing in Colombia for the first time).  

I didn’t think it could get any better than 2012 to be honest, but things just continue getting better and better. 

Can you pick out any favourite moments from it all?

To be honest, the past two and a half years have been one big highlight, I’ve seen some amazing places… As I already mentioned, the year started off with a bang. 

Playing for Circo Loco in Ibiza in the summer is a big deal for me, as it’s played such an influential part in deciding I wanted to pursue DJing as a career. The same for Fabric in London where I’ve raved and played on some amazing nights. 

I’ve really fallen in love with Brazil so it was great to be back there a few weeks ago, I loved visiting Bali for the first time in October. It was fun going back to Australia in September but I also just love touring in and out of Europe, one of my favourite places to play is Nordstern in Switzerland and I was back there in September with Ryan Crosson. 

What music have you been into this year?

I’ve been really liking people like Point G, Marcman, Amir Alexander, Rio Padice, Loshea to name a few. The LB Dub Corp album on Ostgut Ton is probably my favourite electronic album of the year. 

I really loved the Atoms For Peace album that came out earlier this year, closely followed by James Blakes’ opus as well. The new Arcade Fire is probably the most mainstream thing I’ve listened to very recently and enjoyed and I’m also liking the new Blood Orange album. 

We’ve seen you’re playing Sasha’s Last Night on Earth party for New Year’s Eve party. You excited?

Well before that I’m playing at Audio in Brighton along with Midland and George Fitzgerald, and will then be heading to London to play at Brixton Academy. The event is alongside the likes of Guy Gerber, Ellen Allien, Deetron, Nic Fanciulli, Sasha of course and it’s my first time playing Brixton Academy so I’m really excited about that. 

I’ve also luckily been UK-bound two years running now after playing Fabric last New Year’s Eve which is great. It’s nice to be on home turf and around friends again. New Year’s Day, I’m flying to Ibiza to play Circo Loco which promises to be one of the highlights of the forthcoming year.

DC10 played a big influential part in me deciding I’d like to give DJing a go eight years ago so it’s a very special place for me and it will be the first time I’ve played there outside the summer months. 

And finally; any plans you can let slip for 2014?

The priority for 2014 is getting as much original material made as possible, the last two and a half years have been pretty crazy touring-wise so studio time has been very limited but I’m prioritising that over anything else in the coming months. 

Release-wise, I have a three track EP out on Leftroom March time as well as a single track on a Visionquest VA compilation. I also have a remix of Todd Terry’s ‘Bounce To The Beat’ that I’ve collaborated with Gavin Herlihy on as well as some other surprises so watch this space.

Laura plays ‘Last Night On Earth’ at Brixton Academy this NYE, alongside Sasha, Guy Gerber, Ellen Allien, Nic Fanciulli, Hot Since 82, Ejeca and many more. More details here.

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