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Interview with Jeff Berger by Ryan Nance

Jay-J’s crossover into more mainstream audience territory over the last 2 years is something I have been avidly following. It began in late 2004 - Jay-J, alongside vocalist Latrice, was booked by Heineken to be the musical element for the Australia-wide ‘Thirst’ tour. Then, in 2005, I was interested to read that Defected Records would be launching a new cd series, called ‘Connected’ – a project aimed at showcasing house music’s best kept secrets. Who was the DJ/Producer at the helm for the 1st cd in the series? You guessed it – Jay-J. And, when I read that Jay-J would be the official DJ for the 2006 Australian MTV Video Music Awards at Easter, playing records on the red carpet whilst the celebrity guests did the paparazzi strut, it finally clicked - there must be someone very switched on who was orchestrating the booking of these forward-thinking gigs which were getting Jay-J and his music to a much wider audience. This person is Jeff Berger.

I thought the best way to get a fresh and interesting perspective on Jay-J would be to question Jeff Berger… about his relationship with Jay-J, what’s been happening recently with Jay-J, and where he plans to take Jay-J and his music in the future.

So tell me Jeff, when did you first hear of Jay-J’s music?

Jay-J and I met at a mutual friend’s wedding in 1996. Afterwards, he took me club hopping. As we entered one of the clubs, the resident DJ was playing a track by Jay-J. Not sure which track it was, but I was hooked. That was the first time I heard Jay-J’s productions and the genre of House Music.

And how did you first get involved working with Jay-J?

In 2003, I was on tour with LeAnn Rimes. I was transitioning out of 13+ years in film production working for various top-end producers, actors and directors. Jay-J and I met up in San Francisco during the northern California portion of the tour. He told me he was celebrating his 10th year and 100th release in the business. We started chatting about ideas to showcase his achievements and career. The idea for a DVD called ‘Project 10/100’ came about. After LeAnn’s tour finished, I jumped on a plane with a colleague to Spain and toured with Jay-J filming his shows and events along the way. As we put together this DVD, Defected Records asked Jay-J to launch a new series called CONNECTED for them. During the negotiations, Project 10/100 got incorporated into the idea and was included as a bonus CD-Rom with the 2 CD compilation.

In May 2005, Jay-J decided to relocate to New York, leaving behind his highly regarded studio and record label in San Francisco. Why?

Jay-J's always wanted to live in NYC. After ten years in San Francisco’s dance music industry, Jay-J accomplished all he could while making a name for himself as one of the most prolific and respected producers in the industry. Wanting more both professionally and personally, NYC was a logical choice to expand his creative endeavours in ways other than dance music. When a private group of music investors made him an offer to purchase Moulton Studios outright, he now had the means and opportunity to make the move.

Has it been a difficult move for the Jay-J camp?

Jay-J prepped for one year before making the move to NYC. Finding a new apartment and studio was the easy party. Being the new guy in NYC’s music industry was another story. However, his strong ties in San Francisco’s dance music industry translated into numerous introductions to a wide variety of players in NYC’s music industry. As a result, Jay-J has quickly surrounded himself with an arsenal of musicians, engineers and collaborators to expand his deep, sexy, soulful sound to another level.

Jay-J recently formed his new record label, Shifted Music Records. The releases so far have been from Jay-J. Is Shifted Music strictly an outlet for his productions and remixes, or will he be releasing work from other artists as well?

Shifted Music will be more than just an outlet for Jay-J’s productions. Ironically, when Jay-J launched the label, he unexpectedly signed a deal with Ultra Records to co-produce with Kaskade three artist albums for Latrice. In addition, Ultra offered Jay-J an option for an artist album. For the time being, Shifted Music will be co-branded with Ultra for the next couple releases. But audiences can expect a wide variety of materials in the future by artists other than Jay-J.

When I met you in late 2005, on Jay-J’s last Australian tour, I was quite taken back by your enthusiasm in regards to really pushing to expose Jay-J’s profile on a much larger scale. It seemed like there was a significant rise in the urgency of this drive not existent previously. Did you both decide that the time was right to take Jay-J’s music to a wider audience?

If I had the skill to predict the future, I'd be playing Lotto and Wall Street. Truth be told, the decision was made 2 years ago when Jay-J and I formalised our professional relationship. We've had a clear plan to get his music to the ears of people world-wide and have remained steadfast to our goal. We’ve also tried to create an identity so fans can empathise with the DJ/Producer and with their help raise the profile of dance music into mainstream. If house music is going to be a viable mainstream genre, then it’s going to take unorthodox methods to expose all music lovers world-wide to these productions to get it jump-started. With the increase in gigs, particularly the 2006 MTV Australian Video Music Awards (AVMA’s) that was broadcast to a projected 1 billion people world-wide, I think we are reaching our goal of awaking new ears, young and old, to our sexy soul contemporary brand of R&B.

Have you found such ‘new ears’ are warming to Jay-J’s music?

Yes! Over summer in Ibiza, and earlier in the year at the Miami Music Conference, we tested more MTV friendly tracks, still rooted in Jay-J’s deep, sexy, soulful style - everyone was bobbing, tapping and full on dancing to every beat of every track of every set Jay-J played. They had drinks in one hand, an ear-to-ear smile on their faces, and a vibe about them that they are lost in the music and loving every minute of it. And at the end of the day, both the converts and house heads were left wanting for more.

Exactly how far do you think you can take Jay-J’s music?

I’d like to see Jay-J’s tracks, and other productions in the genre, in movie soundtracks, video game soundtracks, television shows, sporting half-time shows, television commercials, ringtones, playing on DMX (subscription-based digital music company in USA) in every fashion store, hair salon, spa and even in front of the 7-11’s, to keep restless teenagers entertained. Bob Sinclair’s LOVE GENERATION broke into the national pop charts in Australia and around the world. I believe it’s only a matter of time for more productions in this genre to make names for themselves and slowly infiltrate the mainstream and eventually become reclassified as the new, contemporary R&B style that it is. The bottom line is, yes, house music will become a mainstream genre. As people grow up, their tastes mature. Fortunately, house music not only bridges the gap of all worlds musically but it’s a lifestyle that is positive and helpful to achieving one’s personal career goals.

Final question - most memorable experience traveling the globe with Jay-J?

The most memorable show that comes to mind has to be Oasis Nightclub in Zaragoza, Spain. The club was packed to double its capacity and rocking. There was not an inch of space to move. The crowd was under the music’s spell. Jay-J was performing on a stage in the centre of the dancefloor, completely surrounded. We had a 10-foot diameter around us to perform and film, with only a few security guards and barricades keeping the crowd at bay. All of the sudden it dawned on us that if something were to happen, we are dead. End of story. Nowhere to run, no exit, and most likely, we will be the first to be trampled by a stampeding crowd. We both looked at each other and realised the same thing – is there any better way to go than this???

Ryan Nance 2006

www.shiftedmusic.com
www.dopedenproductions.com

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