The name JES is synonymous with the highest quality and most beloved dance tracks of our time and with this new title, the singer, songwriter, producer and DJ will Unleash The Beat with the second volume of her fire-starting 2-disc compilation. With 28 tracks divided between an AM and PM mix, JES has compiled the biggest names in trance and progressive into a tightly knit package, with something for everyone.
It's been a little over two years since JES released the first volume of Unleash The Beat, a thirteen-track collection of originals and remixes that featured her unique and sultry vocals. This time around, Volume 2 displays a diverse group of producers ranging from Audien, Jochen Miller, Robbie Rivera, 7 Skies, Ost & Meyer and more. JES can be found on collaborations and remixes with TyDi, Andy Duguid, Christian Burns and Paul Oakenfold, along with her most recent single with Roger Shah and Brian Laruso, "Higher Than The Sun." The Dr K & Nii remix of "Unleash The Beat" gives JES' thematic solo an uplifting energy boost, while "Flying Blind," her joint venture with Cosmic Gate, closes out the compilation on another high note.
After three artist albums; Disconnect (April, 2007), Into The Dawn - The Hits Disconnected (January, 2008) High Glow (March, 2010) and touring throughout six continents and countless countries, JES added DJ’ing to her live show, often singing along to her tracks as she mixes. Her weekly radio show, "Unleash The Beat," launched in 2012 and has enjoyed runaway success syndicating worldwide on over 60 stations.
As one of the industry's most established artists, JES has remained at the forefront of the EDM revolution through her resonating lyrics, vivacious live performances and thoughtfully assembled mixes. Unleash The Beat Vol. 2 is another shining example of the devotion to dance music that JES has held from the beginning of her career, and continues to bring to fans around the globe today.
It’s always a huge pleasure to interview Jes because her answers are always thought-provoking and in a way really inspiring too. I’m glad she accepted my request for an interview, and here you can read her wonderful answers.
Ladies and Gents, the one and only JES!
Interview was written and conducted by Dimitri Kechagias, Music Journalist, Radio/DJ
Dimitri: First of all it would be great if you can tell us if you feel more comfortable with your decision to get behind the decks and be a DJ? What do you prefer the most - DJ’ing or singing?
Jes: I have to say I have really been enjoying DJ’ing and it’s been keeping me quite busy. Adding a new element to my performances has been like learning a new instrument, although it feels very natural to me after all these years of being around it. I like to try different things in my shows, so having the flexibility to change my set on the fly has added a whole new side to it. Adding in the effects as well really lets you be creative with the way you combine the tracks and create the flow. I will always be a singer first, but I love being able to create the journey at the same time.
Dimitri: Of course the DJ world is dominated by men despite the fact that behind them there is almost always a very strong woman as manager. Do you believe that it’s easy to get the respect and acceptance from your male colleagues, and do they give you some space?
Jes: It always amazes me when you look at the line-up of the major festivals, how few women are included. The trend of male domination is slowly but surely giving way, although I think in a few years it will become more obvious. With more women than ever DJ’ing, producing and singing I hope to see the balance evening out a little. I usually get a great response from my male peers. They are often surprised at first, but once they see you doing it well they respect you, and personally I have met with a lot of support from the guys. It’s been a great experience. You can check out my DJ’ing every week on my “Unleash The Beat” mix show [www.unleashthebeat.com].
Dimitri: The first volume of Unleash The Beat was very successful and included many exclusives that were released as singles. Are you happy about your fans acceptance of the first volume and do you remember the best feedback you got for it through facebook or twitter?
Jes: Unleash The Beat vol. 1 was the first time my fans really got a glimpse of my mixing skills, although it had so many exclusive tracks included it really became half an artist album. I received a lot of compliments on that album so that really inspired me to make it into a regular release. One of the other compelling factors was having started my own weekly mix show. I really wanted to have something to mark the progress of that as well. Unleash The Beat vol. 3 is already being talked about, so I’m not planning to stop them anytime soon.
Dimitri: Unleash The Beat vol. 2 is released this summer and we would love to go behind the scenes if you can describe the process of preparing this compilation. How long did it take you to finish, with what kind of criteria did you choose the track listing, and did you manage to include all the tracks you wanted to include?
Jes: Being a double CD “Unleash The Beat vol. 2” has 28 tracks. When I’m making the selection the album goes through a number of incarnations. Once I actually start mixing the music the whole process changes again, so it can easily start to become a time consuming project. I don’t like to spend too long on the preparation because you want the tracks included be as fresh as possible. I include some of my favourite tracks from the last couple of months that have been featured in my radio show. I also include some brand new cuts and a few of my own tracks and remixes. Quite often you can’t get all your first choice of tracks so you have to find another song to take it’s place and swap them around. It’s really a chance to be more creative because you have to find something that works in the same way and will fit into the mix you have been working on.
Dimitri: Did you mix the compilation with CD’s or did you use computer software? If yes, which one do you like to use?
Jes: For mixing I like to use Ableton Live with a custom LIVID usb controller. It has 8 faders, 16 knobs and a bunch of buttons and sliders so I made a template that works very much like a DJM900. I also use Pro Tools for some tasks like editing, but all the mixing gets done live in Ableton with the faders.
Dimitri: It would be great to choose your favourite tracks from each CD and give us a short comment about each.
Jes: It sounds a little corny but I love all the tracks on the “Unleash The Beat Vol. 2”. The competition was very hard! I started with over 100 tracks and slowly reduced it down to the final selection, picking the tracks that reflected the journey I was trying to make. I have a lot of respect for all the songs because they all worked very hard to get a place on that compilation!
Dimitri: Let’s talk a little bit about your collaborations and how these came about. First of all tell us how ‘As We Collide’ super anthem was done? Did Christian Burns contact you, and what is your opinion of him? On the production front is the legend Paul Oakenfold. Please tell us your thoughts about him as a producer.
Jes: I love Christian! He is one of the funniest, sweetest and most talented guys I know in the business. We spent a lot of time on the road together during the Tiesto “Elements of Life” tour. We had often joked about recording a song together. Some time after the tour finished I got the chance to be in the UK, so we got together at his studio and wrote a song called “As We Collide”. We had a great time working on it, but the song went onto the back burner until Christian began working on his album for Armada. We were both really excited when Paul Oakenfold expressed an interest in working on it. We knew it would be an amazing addition to what we already had. I love Paul’s work. He always manages to find what’s cool in a song and make it more commercially appealing without compromising the songs integrity. I love how he managed to keep the edgy energy of the original version.
Dimitri: Currently you are storming the charts worldwide with your collaboration with Roger Shah and Brian Laruso, including a very nice summery music video. Tell us who had the idea for that track, and if the lyrics came before the music, or the other way around?
Jes: In this case Roger and Brian sent me the track and I had the instrumental for a while and it really began to grow on me. I would put it on and dance around my studio to it while no one else was around! I wrote the song around the original mix, moulding it to the intricate build-ups and changes that were already there. Roger also had some great ideas about how to structure it, and we had a lot of fun going back and forth over the internet working on the track together. We were so happy with it, we wrote another song together shortly afterwards called “Glitter and Gold” which is featured on his new Sunlounger album “Balearic Beauty”.
Dimitri: Next question should be about your Unleash The Beat radio show. How is the radio show going, are you happy with its success? Do you have a nice story you remember from the recording of a particular show?
Jes: My weekly mix show [www.unleashthebeat.com] is going from strength to strength and I couldn’t be happier with how it’s developing. Being on a weekly schedule is tough because we have tight delivery requirements, so I have to be very diligent to stay on time. When I’m on the road it can be difficult to find time to record it, so often it gets made while I’m travelling to and from shows. The voice over’s also get recorded in the strangest places!
Dimitri: Can you choose for us your favourite club appearance of 2013? In which club/festival/country did you meet the best crowd that was responsive and loved to interact with you?
Jes: That’s a tough one because there have been so many! I just came back from a show in Seattle at “Foundation” Nightclub with USC events which was an amazing show. The audience were amazing and I had the best time performing, but there have been so many great ones this year it’s hard to pick. As I write this I’m on my way to rehearsal for this weeks show at Exchange LA with Insomniac – I can’t wait to play that because LA is kind of my home from home!
Dimitri: I wonder if in your career you happened to perform in front of an unresponsive crowd and if you managed in the end to make them move, groove and sing along with you.
Jes: Oh Yes - that is the hardest part of the job! I am lucky not to have experienced this too many times in my career. There have been some funny situations with early show times, or when the night wasn’t promoted properly. It can be quite frustrating when your fans on facebook [www.facebook.com/jespage]tell you that they didn’t know you were playing in their town. I just take a deep breath and go to work. It’s just another challenge we have to deal with as a performer, and in this business you have to be able to take the rough with the smooth.
Dimitri: EDM scene is growing really big in USA over the last two years. Do you feel that in your career you have seen the expansion of our scene and do you see this as healthy development and it’s something that will continue, or that the bubble will burst and the crowd will move back to R’n’B and mainstream pop?
Jes: I think the growth in EDM has been undeniable across the US in the last 3 years or so. There are so many festivals and clubs now that I think you start to get the problem of over saturation in some areas. There have been drastic changes in the way all musical styles are distributed and consumed in that time frame as well, so I don’t think there will ever be a return to the situation we had before 2000 with major label domination. I think a lot of the growth has been demand led which is good and sustainable, but where there is a big growth like that you always get less committed people trying to make a quick buck. I believe the scene will endure as long as we continue to give the fans music that matters to them and great events at a price they can afford.
Dimitri: Last question should be about future plans and if there is a new solo album planned to release it soon.
Jes: My diary is fairly busy in the immediate future. I have been working on some interesting collaborations in the last couple of months that I hope will be coming out soon. I have also been working on a new artist album that I would love to release early next year if the timing is right. There’s so many great songs on it I really can’t wait to get some of it out there. I also have another project that is more organic that I have been working on for a few years in the background and I’m moving into a new production space in Los Angeles that will finally give me the room to work on that as well. So you can look forward to a whole bunch of new material from me in the near future.
Dimitri: Many thanks for taking time to reply to my questions
Jes: Thank you Dimitri and 1mix Radio for all your love and support over these wonderful years! Xo JES
Unleash The Beat vol.2 Track list:
Disc 1.
01. Audien - Wayfarer
02. Dave202 - Straight Flush (Original Mix)
03. Sini - Untold
04. JES - Ghost (tyDi Remix)
05. Manufactured Superstars - Zombies In Love (Original Mix)
06. By Etienne Ozborne and Benny Royal - Can You Feel It
07. Robbie Rivera ft. JES - Turn It Around (Maurizio Gubellini vs. Nari & Milani Remix)
08. Jochen Miller - Cheer Up! (Club Mix)
09. LTN - Daylight (Original Mix)10. Conro - Axiom (Original Mix)
11. Ost & Meyer vs. 7 Skies - Dharma (Original Mix)
12. Simon Lee & Alvin - Count The Stars (Original)
13. Justin Prime - Revolt
14. JES & Andy Duguid - Before You Go (Pedro Del Mar & DoubleV Remix)
Disc 2.
01. Signum - First Strike (Juventa Club Mix)
02. Dan Stone - Drive (Stoneface & Terminal Remix)
03. Adam Szabo & Willem de Roo - Lego (Original Mix)
04. Jaco - Screw It (Original Mix)
05. Christian Burns, Paul Oakenfold & JES - As We Collide (Orjan Nilsen Remix)
06. Sander Van Doorn & Mark Knight V Underworld - Ten (Original Club Mix)
07. Roger Shah, JES & Brian Laruso - Higher Than The Sun (Club Mix)
08. Ost & Meyer - Take Off (Original Mix)
09. Abstract Vision & Elite Electronic - Alive
10. JES - Unleash The Beat (Dr. K & Nii vs. SHIHA Remix)
11. Eximinds - Mainbeat (Original Mix)
12. Beat Service - Metro (Original Mix)
13. Charlie Darker, Paris & Simo - Cairo
14. Cosmic Gate & JES - Flying Blind (Tom Fall Remix)
You can buy Unleash the Beat vol.2 on the following shops
itunes click here
beatport click here
amazon click here
spotify click here
Fine Night click here
Many thanks to Jeroen Polak and Mark Meeuwissen at Black Hole recordings office for their constant support.
Many thanks to Paul at 1mix Radio for proofing and publishing
Check the interview published on 1mix radio web site click here
Additional info: