Tim Parker: I guess seeing as it's almost the end of December it's fitting to ask what some of your highlights of 2014 have been, both musically and personally?
Jay Scarlett: Uberjazz Festival in Hamburg was really special, I got to Dj/moderate the KMH Stage for Bilal, Fatima, Taylor Mcferrin, Shabazz’s Palace & The Dorian Concept Trio, in the same venue that weekend it was the Blue Note 75th Birthday celebrations and had the pleasure to meet Don Was (Head Of Blue note) , Jose James, Richard Spaven & a few other that weekend which was a very nice affair.
The BASSart Festival here in munich was a memorable one, djing along side two of my best friends Dj Explizit (58 Beats/EgoFm) & Danny Scrilla (Cosmic Bridge) artist.
Dimensions Festival meeting up & Catching up with Floating Points, Tall Black Guy, Seven Davis Jr, Flako, Jonny Dub & Dj Gilla was a really nice coincidence all happening a round a backdrop of a 2000 year old ampitheartre & overlooking the istrian sea in the second instance was pretty grounding stuff.
At the beginning of the year myself & Dj Explizit put a project together called Prototype Excursions parts 1 & 2 in which we took 2 camps we liked one being the Project Mooncircle camp Gordon Gieseking, KRTS, Submerse & Deft, Part 2 came in the form of Cosmic Bridge Label bossman Om Unit ,Moresounds Danny Scrilla & Boxcutter which were really great teams to work with.
Tim Parker: Do you have any tips for 2015 and will the world be hearing any new Jay Scarlett productions in the new year?
Jay Scarlett: Tips for 2015, keep building that love & understanding humanity needs it more than ever right now. Productions from me is a very distance dream as of now, but you can catch a track on the new Reggie B “soul - O - Funk - Aquarian” Album out soon.
Tim Parker: I see you are very active on Soundcloud and are always putting me onto great new music, mainly from reposts on the Beat Dimensions account. I guess there have been a few rumours circulating that potentially there will be future additions to the Beat Dimensions series, maybe one final compilation. Can you shed some light on what the future holds for BD?
Jay Scarlett: Soundcloud’s a great Platform for unearthing a treasure trove of music & new talent, Its been a great source of vital music for me, it may be running into some problems over the next month with the new pay system they going to implement shortly but still a great place to stream & find music at the moment.
The Beat Dimensions project, there was an intension to release one planned for this year compiled by myself & Laurent Fintoni, but seems to be on the back burner due to certain skizims at the moment.
Tim Parker: What is your favourite part about having a radio show on Puls and what stations or shows (if any) do you listen to on a regular basis, be it music, talk or sport?
Jay Scarlett: Radios a great tool for exposing music you wouldn’t normally be able to play in clubs and just to link the past & present together without feeling its unfashionable to do so. I don’t listen to other programs & haven’t had a Tv for 9 years since leaving London. I try to live in the immediate surroundings of my life with as less influence to it as possible, (I’m a hermit in fewer words).
Jay Scarlett: Is there any parts of the music calendar you look forward to most & why?
Tim Parker: Hmm, no real part really stands out in particular apart from the Summer months in general when you can walk out of a club or event in a tee shirt. I must say I really look forward to the DoOver when it comes to town, especially when it's outdoors. There are not many outdoor events so it's great to have the sun shining overhead (or not) and it not be some huge busy festival, there are some great intimate vibes.
Jay Scarlett: Any new Artists myself & others should keep an eye on for 2015 & Any releases your anticipating this year, and will the world be hearing any new You’ll soon Know releases.
Tim Parker: Well for me, I'm sure most people will have heard of them before - but I'm excited for of The Range's album which will drop at some point. He has really excited me with his previous output for many years and I think this will be his best yet, he's very unique. Dizz1 has some releases and I think an album coming, and from what I've heard it's phenomenal. I think it will be one of the strongest things to come out in 2015 and I'm anticipating that highly.
Other than that Touchy Subject is currently on fire, Tehbis is creating some absolute gems, The Ivylab guys are taking that weird 85 halftime to some new places and I'm also excited for new JD Reid output. This list could get crazy so I'll try and leave it at that before I ramble.
As for YSK, we haven't really put much out. We did a couple of Bandcamp releases a while back but I wasn't really the driver for those as at the time I was really busy. It's something I'd love to do more of, but I care too much about the artwork and the whole package to just drop things online randomly without a lot more thought. Ideally I would love to wait until I can do it with a bit more of a serious concept, maybe even something physical or at least put a bit more time into it.
For now I'm working on a compilation for ParExcellence which will hopefully tide me over with being able to get some music I'm really feeling out to the world. So yeah, keep an eye out for that at some point in 2015 if I ever finish picking the songs.
Jay Scarlett: Whats your opinion on the amount of music actually trading the internet these days & is it easy for yourself to stay on top of it all without haven’ a complete mind melt or is there a certain sonic route you take to sifting through music
Tim Parker: Man I can't keep on top of it at all, there's just so much and it's overwhelming. I think I live in a little bit of bubble to be fair. I love new music, I love finding new artists but I just can't sit on Soundcloud and dig, it's just boring to me and I don't find it enjoyable at all. I still listen to a lot of radio shows online and most new artists or music I find I stumble across randomly or get put onto by friends or from hearing them at shows, and occasionally from being hit up by the artists themselves. I'm sure a few things slip through the cracks and I miss them, but overall I don't mind - it feels a bit more organic to not force it, there's plenty of great music out there so I don't need 1000 new songs a week. The YSK gmail inbox is just a horror show, I can't even open it anymore, haha.
Jay Scarlett: Same question to you also whats is your favourite part about having a radio show on NTS and do you actually have time to check other stations or shows (if any).
Tim Parker: Tim: Well I love your radio show, haha. Obviously it's easy to say but you've been putting me onto great music for many years so I always love to dip into SS each week on Mixcloud. I work on the internets and sit at a desk in the day so I have a lot of time to have my headphones on and listen to things, so I spend most of my week doing that. I love Paul Pre & Raminski's movement radio show, MIMS, SGNLF, BTS, plus I love many other people on NTS such as Kutmah, Chris P Cuts & Wriggly Scott. Juan Epstein has got me covered for the hiphop chat, it's good switch up to some talk from time to time. I'll always be dipping back into old Stretch & Bob also, I can't say I listened to it at the time but it's great to listen back to and very inspiring.
My favourite part about having a show is obviously playing new / old music that I love and getting to share it with people. There's no pressure to make people dance and no visible audience, and luckily NTS is very accommodating and there aren't really any rules or restrictions. There's something special and fun about just getting a couple mates in and enjoying what's basically a bedroom jam but in a little studio with some people listening in. Definitely appreciate anyone who takes the time to listen in.
