Australia's 100% magazine did a great interview with Jim in the latest issue...you can read the article below.
If dig your tunes and you're not familiar with Jim
Rivers, then today is your lucky day … cos' after a quick trip to Beatport to download any of this young Briton's wicked tunes, your life will be all the more enjoyable. No, seriously. After spontaneously lobbing in the middle of Digweed, Fanciulli and Sander K set-lists - and proactively landing an EP release with Satoshi Tomiie's Saw Recordings print – in 2006, Jim has spent the last couple of years knocking out quality tunes and cementing himself as one of the global underground House scene's brightest young stars.
From Deep House to Techy, Proggy little numbers,
Jim's genre-defying releases and kick-ass remixes
are capturing the hearts and minds of chin-stroking, 'up for it' purists the world over. On the eve of his next major release – for Dave Seaman's 'Audio Therapy' imprint, no less - we decided to have a chat with him to see what makes him tick and to fi nd out what's cooking in his studio at the moment.
Before the Restore/Future EP in 06', what were you doing, Jim? How long had you been knocking out tunes for?
That was the first ever tunes I sent out. Before that I had been playing around with stuff, but never really felt like anything was good enough. I was working for a charity at the time, teaching kids who were kicked out of school how to DJ or write music, ya' know, giving them a bit of
positive input.
How did the Saw Recordings deal come about? Did you approach them or vice versa?
I just sent out about 20 emails to some labels. I wrote a
stupid title to grab the attention and then made the email
as simple as poss with the music available to hear in a
click. Saw were the fi rst label to respond when Hector
Romero rang me from there offi ce in New York. I nearly
fell off my chair when I got the call, but we hooked up
and we have been working together ever since. I realise
now how much of a great start it was to have my fi rst ever
release on Saw.
Who were your fave producers/DJs when you fi rst started getting into dance music?
Thats a tough one. I grew up with trance really so at the
time Oakenfold was in his prime along side people like
Sasha and Digweed. I remember hearing Oakenfold play
'My Lexicon' by Sander K and that had a big impact on me.
It was so fresh then and still sounds great now
Which non-dance artists do you dig? Bands etc.
I really like Muse, the energy and sound they have is
amazing. Also people like Xploding Plastiks who are jazzy
and some more of the down tempo stuff like Air. I grew up
listening to stuff that my dad liked like Phil Collins, Elton
John, Joan Armatrading, Paul Simon - I still love to hear
that stuff!
People talk about your 'refreshing take' on dance music today – how would you describe your sound?
People always ask me this. I try and just do what sounds
good to me. I love to try and create a groove as that is key
- and yet so many records don't have that these days. I
think you can hear a lot of trancey and technoy infl uences
in my music, but the tunes don't sit in either category. A
lot of people have me labelled as progressive and I would
agree with that in my approach – I'm always looking
forward trying to push things, but I think that to call my
music purely progressive does not make sense. At the
moment I'm making all sorts from deep house to techno
and if you come and see me play that's how I view my
sets, a bit of everything if the mood takes me!
Where does the production process start for you? Do you write the bassline, beats or riffs fi rst?
Bass and beats were always the way forward, but more
recently that's been changing and I've been going with the
fl ow. Totally depends where the idea is coming from.
Describe your studio for us … what software and
hardware's lying around in there?
Well I'm pretty much a software boy now. I run a Mac with
Logic 8. I use Ableton as well for some of its excellent
tools. I have a big 23 HD screen, some Genelec 's
which are ace. Also midi keyboard and I have a Roland
505, but I very rarely use that now. To be honest it's not
really about what you have, but about having good ideas
and being able to get them down quickly!
How's your record label, Misfit Records, going? What are
some of the challenges of running your own label?
It's good to have my own thing. The best bit is being in
control. Some of my music has taken a year to surface on
other labels, and for me that's not good enough. I'm now
in a place where I can write a track and have it out on
vinyl and digital within 6 weeks. My manager does all the
boring label stuff, so I'm lucky in that respect!!
've done remix work for a bunch of big names
– Gabriel +Dresden, Quivver etc – how did these come
about?
Both of those were the same really. They just called me up
and asked me. It was great to mix both projects, although
the G & D one was a bit of a nightmare as I had one part
and 2 days to do the remix from scratch!!
Do you still enjoy remixing, Jim?
Yeah, I love it. I fi nd it a good change from coming up
with fresh ideas. I think some of my best stuff has been
remixes. The ones I really love are the Cat Out Of The Bag
remix, the Oliver Moldan one from last year and also the
Quivver one you mentioned.
You've started ramping up the DJ side of things … do you
enjoy DJing?
I was a DJ first, and I got into making stuff as a natural
next step. You can't beat playing in a dark sweaty club
with people going mad....especially if they are going mad
to your record! That's why I do it, makes sense when
you are there in the booth hearing your hard work getting
people all excited....
When can we expect a LIVE show from you, dude?
Well, that's in the back of my mind at the mo. Its def
something i want to do, but at the mo with being in the
studio and trying to establish my self as a DJ I 't have
that much time. I think once I have an album done I will
think about it a lot more seriously
Where to from here? What does the rest of 2008 hold for you?
Well more music for Misfi t. There will be steady fl ow of
stuff from the label. I'm also doing bits for other labels,
sometimes more on a deep tip. I’ve got a GU tour across
South America in July and most weekends I'm playing at
different clubs all over the world, so more of the same I
think!
And finally, complete this sentence: The best thing about
dance music is 2008 is Tigerstripes and the worst thing
about it is?
Everyone trying to pretend they write techno!
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Brett Johnson