A Conversation With Just Her

From deep house to techno, but always with feeling. Just Her’s trademark melodies and vocals have secured her releases with world class labels such as Get Physical, Anjunadeep & Global Underground, achieving a wealth of Beatport chart positions, an Essential New Tune on Radio 1 and gigs all over the world. Dance Rebels also had the chance to catch-up with the talent who is about to release an EP via Crosstown Rebels on March 1st, pre-order HERE.

Hey Just Her, welcome to Dance Rebels! Please introduce yourself properly, where are you from, and how long have you been in the music industry for? Hey, thanks for having me! I’m from Brighton – a small city on the South Coast of the UK. I’ve been in the industry for almost 20 years now, first as a Vinyl DJ, then as a lecturer in Music Technology, and now as a full time artist & record label owner.

What inspired you to pursue a career in the music industry? Also, what sacrifices have you had to make to enable you to pursue your career too?I have always been a music fanatic and started collecting vinyl records when I was around 12 years old. It was always something I dreamed of doing as a career but I didn’t really have many opportunities to pursue it throughout my education, so I taught myself to DJ as a hobby, and it gradually grew over the years into something I wanted to do full time. I then went back to University to study Creative Music Production so that I could have a shot at being a DJ/Producer. It was a big risk but one that I’m glad I took. I have made a lot of sacrifices over the years, especially with late nights, working two jobs, studying for a degree while working full time and DJing at weekends – I would always be the one missing from family events and friend’s birthdays. I guess I still am haha.

How would you describe your typical sound when people listen to your productions? Do you think it’s important producers have their own sound too? I would like to think I don’t have a specific sound. I think sometimes people assume my sound is purely deep and melodic because of the more popular tracks I’ve had so far, but actually I make and play everything from 115BPM Electronica to 126BPM Techno. The music I’m currently making is probably a little different from what people might expect, but I think that’s a good thing. I always want to be evolving and taking risks. I think the most important thing is not to follow trends and just make the music that you love.

You’re debuting on Crosstown Rebels via ‘Lay Down Your Weapons’ with Raw District & Fabrice Lig, how did you all initially connect? How many drafts of the track did it take till finished?Myself and Raw District actually worked on a collab project last year for Selador Recordings, as we both loved each others sounds and thought they would work well together, so that’s how we initially connected. That track was a production collab, but at the time we spoke about the idea of working on a vocal track together too. I initially wrote the vocal ideas over some short loops – which is the way I prefer to write – and then the guys took the vocals away and teamed up with with Fabrice Lig to develop them into a brand new track.

What is your favourite part of ‘Lay Down Your Weapons’ when listening to it? How would you describe Alex Kennon’s remix of the tune too?I like the fact that the guys went in a very stripped down direction with the track, allowing the vocals to sit at the forefront. Alex Kennon has delivered a killer remix though which is obviously the one for the peak time dance floors! It has been really nice to see the videos of Damian Lazarus playing Alex’s remix, hearing my vocals and seeing the cool reactions it is getting on the dance floor.

Do you have any exciting gigs planned for the summer too? What sort of DJ set do you prefer to play? The warm-up, peak-time, or closing sets? How would they vary for you too sound wise?I have couple of really cool festival slots coming up this summer. I’m heading out to Albania in June to play at the Anjunadeep Explorations festival, and then in July I’m back in the UK for the amazing Noisily Festival. I’m also heading out to the states for my second USA tour in the next few months. The kind of set I play will definitely vary depending on the event and set time. I don’t really have a preference, although I do really love warming up a room. I think there is a real art to a warm up that seems to have been lost in recent years. Whichever slot I’m playing though, I will always try to incorporate a few different styles into the set, and a few curve balls. Those moments of surprise and emotion on the dance floor were something I really loved as a clubber and so I always want to keep creating those as a DJ.

With career blessings from artists including Maya Jane Coles, Sasha and Joyce Muniz, what else motivates you to keep at being a musician? What motivates you for fresh ideas in the studio too? It is such a competitive industry right now and super hard for artists to earn a good living, I feel lucky to even have got this far and be able to do it full time. I am not hugely motivated by money – I would rather own less “stuff” if it allows me to do continue doing what makes me happy each day.. and there is nothing else in the world I would want to do for a job, plus I get to travel the globe and have so many amazing experiences, which is motivation in itself. Listening to a huge range of music styles is always something I’ve done and I think that definitely helps to bring inspiration in the studio. I have a huge CD collection containing everything from blues to classical, to hip hop, to pop. Also in the last year or so I’ve started to be more experimental with my production process and try to spend around 90 minutes every morning just in a creative flow with no end goal. Often it’s these experiments and happy accidents that then become ideas or foundations for a new track.

Finally, if you could collab with any other artist in the world on a new record, who would it be, and why? If I could literally choose any artist in the world, then I would have to say Bjork. She’s been a pioneer of electronic music for so long now and is still innovating. I would love to get the chance to experience and be part of her creative process, although I think she would probably blow my mind.. it would be great fun though.