Techno & Beyond: Jay Haze interviewed

Techno & Beyond: Jay Haze interviewed

16 June, 2008 | 2.14AM

• Written by: Lee Smith
• Filed under: Music News: jay haze

The archetypal boy from the wrong side of the tracks, wayward techno producer/DJ Jay Haze has come a long way from his “trailer trash” upbringing in rural Pennsylvania.

With three acclaimed labels, a slew of productions and collaborations, plus a globe-trotting DJ career to his name, he’s recently dropped what is undoubtedly his most ambitious project to date.

‘Love & Beyond’ is a sprawling triple album that veers from alien funk to leftfield vocal R&B, taking in plenty of unexpected twists and turns along the way.

As if that wasn’t enough, there’s also a further ten tracks of four-to-the-floor jagged minimalism, which are currently exclusively available for download at Beatport.

We caught up with Jay at his Berlin studio to chat about the making of ‘Love & Beyond’, his thoughts on electronic music in 2008, and the truth behind his occasionally controversial media reputation…

I think it’s fair to say that ‘Love & Beyond’ is a vast and varied album. How have reactions been to it so far? Surprised?

To be honest, all the people who are most important to me have been very supportive, or I wouldn’t have continued on with it.

So many friends said I should push that angle and explore a little more – people like Ricardo, my friends at the studio.

Some of the musical arrangements on the album are pretty complex. Did you have to learn music theory to make it?

Yeah, I had to learn all that.

It’s not easy to train yourself to make a harmony!

I just got in there and busted my balls.

You clearly love hip-hop, p-funk, and soul, but you’re arguably best known for your techno and house. Have your tastes always been this eclectic? What were your first musical loves?

Yeah, always eclectic.

What were your first musical loves?

Right from the beginning, I never really identified only with one sound.

I was never close-minded – there’s good music and bad music, and that’s how I believe it.

I even like country and bluegrass – I can find something I like in every genre, because there’s something good in every genre.

Do you think electronic music is closed off to that kind of open-mindedness?

Yeah, of course.

I’m taking a chance.

Especially with the electronic music scene, anytime you’re talking about a small scene, there are people like at high school, cliques, hanging.

There are people who are so close-minded that they’re happy to be in that place, they don’t wanna see anything else.

I guess it’s because you feel so special.

People who listen to pop don’t have that attitude.

People who go out on a normal basis, they’re not like ‘I love techno’ or blah blah.

So with techno, especially techno, and the sub-genres like minimal, the people are a lot more close-minded and don’t have a lot of history.

Is there a deeper meaning behind the album’s title?

Love is my main inspiration, despite what anyone might think of my…reputation.

With ‘Love & Beyond’, if you really get into what the lyrics mean it’s a deep as fuck album - deep as fuck!

There are songs on there for a friend who died from heroin, there are songs for my younger brother who’s been an addict since I was 14 years.

He’s been clean for four years, getting his life back to together, but he was in jail for 4 years, so there’s a song for him…

For me, in ‘Love & Beyond’ there’s love, and then there’s everything else, and that’s what I choose to focus on.

Do you think there’s love missing in the electronic music scene today?

Oh…well it’s hard to say, because if I go ahead and make a statement, I’m speaking for other people.

But do I think there is much positivity towards different ways of thinking?

Not really.

I think there’s not so much positivity in the music now for people who are doing things different - it seems like everyone’s a bit shaken and scared right now.

You’ve kicked up some controversy with interviews in the past, particularly your comments on Resident Advisor about Minus. Do you feel you have to be careful now? Do you regret anything you said?

No, of course not.

What would I have to be careful about?

In the end, if I could do things differently, well of course.

Especially questions about other people.

A lot of the time, the problem with interviews is that the people who read them take them a bit too seriously, or as being calculated on my part.

So they’re like, “You say this or that about Minus” - well, I don’t really sit around and think about Minus, truth be told.

When I’m sitting round with my homies, having splffs and enjoying good music, we aren’t talking about other record labels, or careers of other people.

This isn’t really the daily life of me and my friends.

Generally, I have nothing but respect for Minus, and that’s the truth.

Whether I like their music or not is another thing – who gives a fuck if I like their music or not?

Who cares?

Whats the big deal?

The only regret that I have is that the way I was portrayed by these interviews.

My friends see it to be the opposite of who I really am.

I’m just a playboy joker, making them laugh.

That’s what we do baby, just get together and have a good time.

You know, I’m not a negative guy.

Do you think you’ll be making club music forever, or do you see yourself moving away from house and techno in the future?

I will always have time for it.

I love it.

I love house music to death, it’s the rhythm that keeps me moving, its what I’ve always played.

And when it comes to club culture, I’m loving the traveling all over the world, and I don’t ever see myself being a one-two kind of guy.

Would you ever attempt to make a crossover hit like your buddy Samim did with ‘Heater’?

No, I don’t have any ambition to do so.

If it happened, of course I’d be happy, but someone like Samim didn’t know it would be a hit.

He made it as joke, you can tell from the production he didn’t know it would be so big, so you can never really know.

There are a few songs on the album that people tell me they could hear being played on the radio, if there was proper promotion done and everything.

But I’m not even gonna try and work that angle, I don’t wanna be a pop star, I’m much more comfortable with rocking a club.

That energy and journey is what makes me feel really happy, I don’t really wanna see myself in front of 200 people singing love songs.

You’re extremely productive. What drives you?

[Long pause] I think what drives me…is something really deep that I don’t yet understand.

I’m only 29, but when I’m older I’ll definitely figure it.

From observation, I know that my drive is quite uncommon in most people I have met in this industry.

That’s not to say that I’m slagging anybody off, but my drive is what brought me to Berlin from Pennsylvania.

I don’t know any other friends in the techno scene who have even a similar story.

I wish I did, so I could maybe relate to them a little bit more.

Generally speaking, the house and techno community, especially in Europe, is the privileged kids, you know?

It’s not a bunch a of poor people partying in Ibiza, you know…

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