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You
can't make music if you don't love it.
And
you can't make great dance music if you don't love to dance. Even
now, with a well established DJ, production and remix career that
keeps Jason Jinx more than busy, you'll still see him out, taking
in new music and working the dance floor just like he would back
in the day as a teen.
Back
then in the late eighties / early nineties New York City was a
melting pot of various clicks and scenes: industrial, techno,
rave, hip-hop, house Kids from all over: Brooklyn, NYC, Queens,
Long Island they were all getting down. Jinx was one of them,
and in 1991 at 19 years old the beginning of his DJ career was
a natural extension of that partying experience. Jinx' first DJ
residency was for a night called NASA at the Shelter, NY. He also
went on to residencies at the Tunnel, Limelight and The Loft.
Early
on Jinx uncovered the break-beat sound that was coming out of
the UK, and
while
at NASA one of his two sets a night would be drum and bass - the
other, house.
Jinx
was the only New York DJ spinning full drum and bass sets at the
time and he
soon
gained the respect and support of UK labels and producers.
Some
of his first forays into production (released on Sm:)e Communications)
were drum and bass tracks, as well as house. Although now when
DJing, Jason's sets are purely house music and his productions
are house too, his openness when it comes to new music speaks
through those productions. Admitting he's 'not a purist' when
it comes
to
sounds and equipment - for Jinx the important thing is to 'be
innovative, use what's available, take the technology we have
- computers, digital audio - and use it to the fullest, creatively.'
That creativity extends beyond engineering, production and mixing
- all of which Jinx does himself - he will also pick up the bass,
guitar or keys to augment his work.
Over
60 singles and remixes have come out of Jinx' studio for labels
like Defected, Strictly Rhythm, Groove On, Moody, Subversive,
Ovum, and King Street to name a few. Recently a huge dance floor
buzz picked out the track 'Your First Time' on Fluential Records.
And under the moniker Joystick, Jinx has made a lot of noise on
the Yoshitoshi label with cuts like 'Go Insane', 'Spinnin Around',
and the 'Chelate Ep', as well as his remixes of Eddie Amador's
'Rise', Mysterious People's 'Fly Away', and PQM's 'The Flying
Song'. Creating tracks as a DJ crafts a set, Jinx plays with dynamics
that build and build on the dance floor. It's a warm sound, but
built around hard, supremely danceable beats - like 'When You
Know You're There' on Subliminal Records, which has been making
waves in clubs both sides of the Atlantic.
Jinx
describes his style as 'New School Old School' - employing new
production techniques but 'trying to keep the feeling of the old
school house I grew up on and loved - New York, vocal, piano-y
house. Although he admits he still loves to 'bang out tracks'
occasionally - for that certain special energy that can be captured
with fewer hours in the studio - Jinx's focus now is on producing
quality vocal house music - great dance floor records. The DJ
spirit still thrives too, and he continues to be in demand across
the US, Europe and Canada.
Whether
producing an original track, remixing someone else's or DJing
to a packed floor, Jason Jinx has an instinctive feel for what
is fun, and what the dance floor will respond to. It's that love
for music - and for house music in particular that makes his productions
work and keeps the faithful returning to the floor.
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