Thursday Thoughts 027 – Jay Hardway on the Road to Life in Color: Manchester
Life In Color, “the world’s largest paint party,” will inject a sea of colour to the 5,000 capacity Victoria Warehouse in Manchester on Saturday 4 February 2017, with its unique mix of big room house and paint cannons. Featuring on the lineup, is Dutch superstar Jay Hardway, who stopped by Dance Rebels for a chat…
Hey Jay, welcome to Dance Rebels! How are you? For those who don’t know who you are, where are you from, and how long have you been working in the music industry for?
Thank you! I’m a DJ and producer from the Netherlands, currently living in Amsterdam. I’ve been making music for more than 10 years and I’ve been doing this fulltime for 3-5 years now. People might know me from my tracks with Martin Garrix and my solo tracks Electric Elephants and Stardust.
To date, you’ve had a great career, so, what’s the best piece of advice you’ve received musically, to ensure you stay inspired/motivated etc when it comes to music?
Never try to make a hit. Always make what you like personally. This is the only way to truly be creative in making music. In the end, this is way better for the music industry as well.
Throughout 2016 you’ve released solos, remixes, worked with #1 DJ Martin Garrix and also been the man behind the AMF 2016 anthem! What’s been your personal favourite highlight? Why?
Music wise, it was seeing my track Electric Elephants high up in the charts and supported in a lot of DJ sets. It is such a good feeling to hear it at big festivals like Ultra and Tomorrowland. Festival wise, for me my highlight was definitely Sziget Festival. What a great and huge crowd!
2017 now upon us, so, what will your goals for the year be? Do you have any tracks scheduled for release coming up soon too?
I currently have a remix and a solo track scheduled, and I’m working on at least 5 solo projects right now, which I might finish with vocalists. So there is a lot of new Jay Hardway music coming this year! Really excited about it!
On the 4th of February, you’re performing in the UK, at the largest paint party possible – Life In Color Manchester! Have you performed at one of these events already or is this your first time?
This is the first time I’m playing at LIC! Really excited about it, because I hear great stories from the other editions. People tend to go even more crazy when there is paint involved haha! Also a couple of my friends are on the line-up, so it will be a crazy night for sure!
If you had to pick from 2 choices; get paint attacked by another DJ during your set, or get in the crowds after your set and get covered in paint, what would you rather?
Well, I would love a paint fight between all the DJs haha. Because when I get paint attacked by another DJ I will for sure fight back. So that should be very funny.
What are your expectations for LIC? The UK crowds are always ‘up for it’, so as a DJ, does this encourage you more?
Yes for sure. I don’t play in the UK that much, so to be back in the UK combined with a LIC party it should be very crazy. I always love the crowd because they are up to date on music, so I can play a lot of new stuff. Can’t wait.
Finally, if you could go surprise b2b with any other DJ on the lineup at LIC, which includes Nicky Romero, W&W, Third Party, Chuckie and Dannic, who would it be? And why?
I think Chuckie; I remember playing b2b with him in Portugal, which was a crazy night. We played at least 1 hour longer than we were supposed to. But I would also love to play b2b with Dannic and W&W, all 3 good friends of mine!
Date: Saturday, 4th February, 2017
Time: 9pm – 5am
Location: Victoria Warehouse, Manchester, M17 1AB
Tickets: http://bit.ly/2fV7aWr
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