Blake Jarrell – Interview for Poland Top DJ

Blake Jarrell

Interview for topdj.pl

Blake Jarrell sits down with the fine people at the Polish DJ site topdj.pl.

Here is the resulting interview.

Q. Hello Blake. First of all – it was very nice to meet You at Sunrise Festival. Tell me once again – after all – how it was?

Sunrise Festival was definitely one of my favorite big festivals I have played so far in my career. The weather was perfect, the crowd and vibe were amazing, and the stage setup was absolutely beautiful. I really want to play again next year!

Q. As we spoke after Your show, it was great, but I have a feeling, that Your music is better in the morning, than in the evening. You said, that it is more daytime music…?

I think it really depends on where I’m playing, the vibe, the setting, etc. At Sunrise Festival, like I said, the weather was perfect and sunny, and the crowd was very warm…so I ended up playing music that reflects those feelings. If you were to hear me in a small dark basement club or something, then I would probably play alot more techy and darker.

Q. Let’s say one more thing about Sunrise – in this year it was really great. I mean – there were many great Polish DJs, many great DJs from outside of Poland, huge stars like Armin and Tiesto and a huge legends, like Danny Howells or Pete Tong. And also – there was You, as John Digwwed said – someone to look out in future. What are You feeling, when someone talks about You things like this, when You are a hope for a new, fresh sound of music?

I think its an honor to be considered a part of a nubreed generation of guys like Simon and Shaker, Glenn Morrison, Jerome Isma-Ae, Gareth Emery, Ben Brown, Marcus Schossow, etc It’s always a good feeling to hear any of the legends like John Digweed, Pete Tong, etc say great things about the new guys. It means we’re making an impact on dance music.

Q. Blake tell me, one of the most important moments for Your career was the time, when You played as an opener for Armin van Buuren right? And now, in Kolobrzeg, You played also before him, but not as an opener, but as a one of most important artists. Was it difficult to reach this status?

It’s not easy. Im very lucky to have a great team of people working around me, and without that I definitely wouldn’t have made it this far. All of the people at Armada Records, David Lewis Productions (My booking agency) friends, family, and most importantly THE FANS that have been so supportive and working hard to help me are the reason why I am here.

Q. Since January 2008 You are also a host of Concentrate radio show. It was Your idea or rather one of the syndromes of Your growing popularity? And there is also residency at Amnesia, Ibiza…J

I always wanted to have a radioshow, but I felt it was never really the “right time” until January of this year. I found a home with the DI.fm guys and I was able to get my show played at a good timeslot once a month like I envisioned it. It’s important to have a radioshow for many reasons, but mainly to keep your fans up to date on the tracks you are playing and also give them an alternate means of hearing you without having to see you in a club. As for the residency at Amnesia, thats been great! It’s my second year now and Armada Tuesdays have really been a good nights. I recommend anyone who has the means to do so to check it out this summer!

Q. What is connected with Your Radio Show, is Concentrate Digital Mixed Series. Tell me something about it, please.

Concentrate is sort of, I guess I would say, my “brand”. Much like say Armin has ASOT or Steve Lawler has Lights Out, Concentrate is my answer to that. The digital mix series was a way to encapsulate what I was doing with the radioshow in a format that fans could actually download and burn to CD legally. I plan on doing a few volumes of the Concentrate Digital Mix Series each year, along with a few “Special Editions” …

Q. What now is Your main goal as a DJ and producer?

I have so many ideas in my head at the moment that sometimes I think I should just sit down and do an album. But I think at this point in my career, its better for me to release singles for now and wait for the “right time” to work on an album. For the moment I’m just going to continue building my Concentrate series and radioshow, making singles and doing remixes, and playing great gigs.

Q. You are young, but maybe You can tell me, which moment in Your career was for You the most… exciting? For example – Tiesto said, that for him, his breakthrough at big event – Innercity in front of 30 000 people Was the greatest feeling ever…

The one that still stands out in my mind the most was when I played at Nitzanim Beach in Israel. It was about 7000 people, It was still early in my career and it was the first time I felt like I was able to totally “connect” with a crowd of that size and feel comfortable on stage and it was the awesome feeling. I still compare the way I felt that night to each gig I’ve played since then and Sunrise Festival gave me that feeling.

Q. OK. I’m sure that You have already talked about it not once or twice, but I want to ask about the moment called by You the best and worst thing that has ever happened to You. Can You tell me now, was it more good or bad? Is it really possible to compare it?

Yes losing everything in Hurricane Katrina was the biggest change in my life, it was bad for obvious reasons, but alot of good came out of it as well. It forced me to move to Chicago where the dance music scene was booming and it made it very easy to continue making and playing music. I met Armin when I was passing out flyers outside of Crobar in Chicago. Now, 2 years later, I’m playing Sunrise Festival!

Q. It had an effect on Your music fascination, You discovered house, techno and trance then. But it looks good in Your tracks – they are not sad, they are quite friendly and cheerfull. So what influence You?

I always try to have a positive outlook on life, even when horrible things happen, but not all of my music is so friendly and cheerful. This past winter in Chicago was really harsh and cold, and because of that I wrote 2 of my darkest aggressive tunes “Kaupas” and “Vallely”. They are alot different than my normal sound, but I dont feel like I always have to put out happy music.

Q. As a DJ, You are playing mostly in North America and Europe. What is the difference between those two club scenes, between clubbers? Is there any?

There really isn’t a big difference anymore. Dance music in the USA for years has always been hip hop and now it seems to me that Americans are slowly moving more toward house trance and techno. Even the “secondary” smaller city markets in the US (like Tampa, Orlando, Dallas, St Louis, Charlotte, etc) have really surprised me. Chicago in particular has a huge polish population so playing at Sunrise Festival gave me the feeling like I was at home, playing for my hometown crowd.

Q. And the greates place, that You ever played at is…

It’s really hard to pick just one. Poland was fantastic and is definitely high up on my list. I really want to come back and play a smaller club gig there as a headliner to get a more intimate feeling as well. Israel has always been a favorite, as well as Dubai, Amnesia in Ibiza, Buenos Aires, and of course Chicago.

Q. In the end, tell me something about Your mix for TopDJ.pl

It’s alot darker and techy than my set at Sunrise Festival…but it showcases alot of the new producers that I’m into right now like Simon and Shaker, Jerome Isma-Ae, Ben Brown, etc.

Q. That’s all, thank You very much for Your time, thank You for great set at Sunrise Festival, I hope, that in future we will meet once again!

Thank you for the interview! I hope to be back in Poland soon!