He might not DJ, but MAN…. can Facing Jinx write some fine, fine melodies! Now head honcho at Peer Pressure Records, he’s got a whole load of exciting material coming up in the new year. And it starts with his Emotions EP. Out a few weeks ago, it lives up to its name in every way. We thought we’d give him a call…
Beautifully deep vibes on the EP! You’re an emotional fella, right?
“I am an emotional fella, yes. Some might say over-emotional! I kind of shy away from a lot of the techy stuff…”
Techy stuff has its place: the dancefloor!
“Yeah, you’re right. But I’m a little old school, and when I’m out I want something that will get me dancing but all the rest of time, like when I’m spending time with mates and chilling, I want something I really enjoy listening to. I want my music to sit in both. It’s so difficult! I play piano so I’ve always been drawn to the more melodic side of music. Some people say I’m a bit ignorant because I don’t like the more dancefloor stuff. It just doesn’t ring true with my personality and what I want to do.”
Does that strict policy affect DJ bookings?
“I’m not a DJ. Strictly. I never have been. I don’t particularly want to be a DJ to be honest.”
What if I offered you £5000 to play a set?
“If you offered me that I’d turn up with a full band and play live! But if someone offered me a couple of hundred to play tunes I wouldn’t do it.”
Fair play. Let’s chat about the EP… Lonely, Hungry, Consumed… They’re heavy titles!
“It started off as a project. I was in a certain mood and wanted to reflect that when I writing. I think I digressed from my project plan a little but I did want to write something that was really very personal and those were the emotions I was feeling when I wrote the EP.”
Wow, this is a deeply personal thing, then! And I’d imagine not written in very pleasant circumstances, if you don’t me assuming…
“Not at all. I’ve had a crap time. I’ve come through it now and I wanted to write about it. I couldn’t write this at the time but I wanted to reflect those times. I guess someone has to really experience something before they can tell a story.”
Definitely. Now enlighten me about Just Some Guy…
“I met him at Wreckless’s wedding. He was telling me about his poetry, how he used to be an MC then became a born again Christian and how he writes about the drug addicts he helps. We hooked up on another track which I wrote specifically for him. I loved what he’d done with that so we recorded Lonely, we work really well together.”
Nice. Tell me about Peer Pressure… How are things going at the label?
“Good thanks. I took over in 2010 from the guy who set it up in the US. He ran it for eight years and had releases from the likes of Random Movement, Octane & DLR, Ant TC1. Some really big names, but he lost his heart so I started running it and brought my production friends over. It’s really pushed them and we’ve got some new artists and signed some singers.”
We can expect some exciting things in the near future, then?
“Hopefully! We’re going through a big rebranding at the moment and we’re going to experiment across the whole plethora of bass music. Very musically oriented bass. Not just a bunch of dancefloor tracks but really interesting stuff which I hope people will enjoy.”
Can’t wait to hear it. Right, final question… Where does the name Facing Jinx come from?
“Haha! I get this all the time! Basically as a kid, and most my adulthood, I have a habit of breaking things that are really valuable to other people. Tripping over things that aren’t there. Things falling on me. All the time! My mum nicknamed me Jinx as a result and every day I face up to it!”
Unlucky!
Facing Jinx – Emotions EP is out now on Peer Pressure. Listen and download.