Interview: Jon O’Bir

Interview: Jon O’Bir

30 July, 2008 | 7.42AM

• Written by: BeatportElef
• Filed under: Music News: jon o'bir, vandit records

Godskitchen DJ and Radio 1 resident Jon O’Bir has been steadily making a name for himself, garnering support from the likes of Paul van Dyk and Tiesto from the outset.

Beatportal chats with him about his seminal debut, ‘From Within’, just released on Vandit Records, and discusses what the future may have in store for this young, talented up-and-comer. 

What inspired you to name your album ‘From Within’?

It always seems to take me longer to come up with the names of tracks than its does to actually produce them!

Basically It is named this way as the music on this album is produced ‘from within’ me, to you the listener.

Can you explain why you chose to release an artist album on Vandit Records rather than your own label Conspiracy Recordings?

It was originally meant for Conspiracy, which was a good thing as there were no deadlines to chase and no pressure involved, so the process of the album went very smoothly.

Once it was complete, I decided to see if any of the ‘big guns’ would be interested in it and amazingly for me, Vandit came forward and offered to sign ‘From Within’.

I could not say no, as it’s one of the biggest and they had so much more experience compared to us at Conspiracy.

Did you work with any other producers on the album, or was it produced solely by you?

I worked closely with my friend Rob Stevenson, also known as Activa.

Without Rob this album would not be here!

The only collaboration on the album is one with Rob’s Solar Movement guise, the rest are solo productions.

How many tracks did you prepare for your album, and how did you decide which 14 would make the final cut?

I originally wanted ten tracks on the album, but then the ideas just kept flowing and six more appeared from nowhere!

The two that did not make the cut were two of the earlier productions put forward for the album that sounded not as strong as the final 14.

Out of all the tracks from the LP, which one is your favourite and why?

I go through stages of liking different tracks more than others, at the moment my favourite is ‘I Need You’ - a short but sweet production that always brings a smile to my face.

If I was pushed to choose a favourite, I’d say it would have to be ‘Ways and Means’, in my opinion the strongest track on ‘From Within’ and very special to me as it was my first Vandit release.

What kind of equipment was used in producing the album? Digital or analog or both?

The album was produced with both software and hardware.

We used software called Sonar for the whole album, while backing it up with other software’s including Reason and Cubase and plug ins such as Atmosphere.

Why have you remained so faithful to trance after all these years?

I love the melody and emotion in this music!

It always puts a smile on my face when I hear a killer riff, even more since when I heard it for the first time it seems.

There are new trance sounds evolving all the time and it’s exciting to see new up and coming producers breaking through.

Is there any ‘From Within’ tour planned for this year, and do you expect to receive any DJ support from Paul van Dyk?
Yes, we’ll be touring the album, please visit my website for tour dates.

I will be doing a number of dates with Paul as well, namely two dates at Cream, Ibiza -the 7th and 21st August.

I’ve wanted to play this event for many years, so I can’t wait.

You can be still be considered a youngster at the age of 25.

It’s great to hear I’m considered as a youngster still!

Do you have any visions for the future?

I hope to be still doing what I’m doing now, producing and playing the music I love to venues worldwide.

I’d also love to work on more albums in the future, as it was great fun producing ‘From Within’.

As a DJ, are you still playing vinyl, or have you moved to digital?

When I first started I never thought I’d leave vinyl, but it became impossible to play vinyl as over the years the number of promos I received turned from vinyl into CD and digital download.

So now I’m a CDJ. I say I’ll never turn to the laptop, but you never know.

Is there any advice you’d like to share with all the up and coming producers out there?

Just keep doing what you love doing, if you keep at it things will come good, you may need that little bit of luck, but I believe you make your own luck.

Quick questions / quick answers

Favourite place to be: Home

Favourite track: Sinatra – I’ve Got You Under My Skin

Favourite artist: Paul van Dyk

Favourite drink: Whisky & Coke

Favourite food: Pasta

Favourite Animal: Dog

Favourite download portal: Beatport, and of course my home base VANDIT digital

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