Jay Tripwire interview

Jay Tripwire interview

12 September, 2007 | 8.16AM

• Written by: Mazi Namvar
• Filed under: Music News: halo, jay tripwire, nordic trax

Part time robot and full time house soldier, the Vancouver native known in boom-clack boom-clack circles as Jay Tripwire has spent the last 16 years pushing his brand of dance music. You could call Tripwire a jack of all trades; he’s made brazen 909 techno romps, produced some of the most luscious deep house in recent years and during the late nineties was celebrated as one of the major players in the west coast dub house scene. 

He’s a favorite at London’s Fabric club and recently played a deep house set there alongside his old friend DJ Halo of H-Foundation fame. 

Fabric is just one of the stops on his current tour to support his first ever full length album entitled “Gemini Soul” out on Nordic Trax. Beatportal caught up with him in Bulgaria.

So you’ve just dropped ‘Gemini Soul’, your first ever full length album. You’ve been writing music for over 12 years. Why do the album now?

“To be honest I felt this yearning in my loins. Some people’s loins yearn for children at this age, but not me.

“My yearning was to create my first album.

“Now that I have that done, it’s gonna be less daunting to do my second full length which is going to be way less house based.”

Tell us a little bit about the music on the LP.

“I actually just finally listened to the full CD in the car driving around with some promoters and seeing as how it has been a while since I worked on it I had forgotten about details in some of the songs and how cool it is to listen to it as a whole.

“I guess I can equate it to directing a movie and then not seeing the finished thing until it goes out to the theatre and you feel a lot stronger about it.”

Tell us about the process of writing the album.  What was your aim with the project as a whole?

“My aim with the project was to do a modern take on the classic 90-95 true house sound, blending elements of everything that has inspired me about that time and how real it felt back then.

“Going through old records again and feeling the raw sessions and how you could tell they worked on these songs with their heart and not with any plan or formula in mind.

“This ideal is how I went about doing ‘Gemini Soul’, just creating raw music that made me feel emotion.”

Did you take a different approach to the album than you would have an EP or a single? If so, how was it different?

“Actually, doing the album has changed the way I plan on doing EPs in the future.

“I am going to lean towards more of a concept for each project from now on.”

Are there singles in the works from the LP?

“Yes there are going to be remixes and all that but we’re still deciding on everything as of now.”

The album’s just been released. How has the impact been so far? Any plans for a vinyl release?

“The sales on digital download have been really good and still going strong. The CD is harder to work but the label’s managed to get it into some very good shops and chains. The eventual remix EPs will be on vinyl as far as I know.”

Where have you toured so far in support of ‘Gemini Soul’?  Where else are you headed?

“I’ve done some South American dates and a few dates in the US. Right now I am hitting Europe for a six week tour.”

What’s your feeling on the current state of electronic music? Where do you find yourself fitting in the big picture?

“I think it’s the same beast as always just in a different form. 

“You move with the industry and stay cutting edge and as long as humans have ears there is always going to be people loving left of centre intelligent dance music…and I’ll be there doing my thing.”

Where do you see electronic dance music heading?

“It seems to be growing strong again and I’m seeing a huge resurgence in good house music.

“People want to go back to the roots of why this movement was so strong and back to the music that inspired many switched-on people of the world to come together, unite and dance to the same beat.”

• (1) Comments
• (991) Views
• Get 'Gemini Soul' on Beatport