VIRTUS //

Thank you for taking the time to speak with us at Virtus, where are you in the world right now?

Right now we are at home in Northern Ireland finishing up last few bits n the studio before we fly to South Africa later in the week for one weeks Touring.
 
Tell us about how your interest in electronic music first came about & how you eventually pursued an interest in becoming a DJ?

Myself personally (Loco) got into electronic music very young because of my uncle. He was a mobile DJ doing the likes of Weddings, School Discos and local bars etc.. He give me my first set of Celtronic Belt Drive Decks when i was 10 years old and i started to collect and buy records since then. I started with Happy hardcore (cringing now thinking back but i was very young!lol) I then moved onto Trance and progressive house and then gradually i started to get into Techno. My uncle used to let me DJ at the local Under 18s Disco and i just new from back then that thats the only job i ever wanted to do on a full time basis.
 
Is producing music something that you gradually learnt yourselves or did you learn at a music school/university?

We gradually learnt ourselves. Never ever did any courses apart from online tutorials on youtube etc. We use reason and 2 / 3 times a year we make the trip over to Dave Roberston’s studio (Reset Robot) to learn new things and technique off Dave.. He is a genius when it comes to reason and he is always evolving and changing the way he produces and its always a massive help to us learning new things from him
 
You have such a great catalog of releases so far on labels such as Suara, Tronic, Terminal M, Octopus and many more, what’s next?

Next up we have 2 releases on Tronic including an EP and a Comp. Also we are waiting on news about a possible new Terminal M ep and we have upcomig Remixes for Uto Karen, Dave Seaman and Frankyeffe
 
What is your favourite track you have ever produced? You can only pick one!
 

Without a doubt it would have to be A Pinch Of Spice.. Its nearly 4 years old now and still getting smashed by the likes of Sasha, Digweed, Hot Since 82 etc
 
Can we see a record label on the horizon for Loco & Jam?

Yes we are currently in talks and will be starting our own label in 2018.. No date has been finalised yet but it will 100% be happening.
 
Tell us a bit about your creative process when writing music, do you always know how you want a track to sound before you sit down and work on it?

 

It depends. sometimes we will know of we want the track to be tougher and stripped and sometimes we will know if we want it to be more musical.. We will always start with a Kick, simple percussion then work on the musical part of the track. Once we have a hook its easier to build the groove of the percussion around it and less chances of hitting a brick wall in the studio
 
What is one piece of hardware/software/plugin that you just cannot be without when it comes to a Loco & Jam masterpiece?

I suppose it would have to be Reasons own synth Thor.. Its a synth we use in almost every track were it be for bass, the main hook, strings, pads, sirens, white noise! Its just a fantastic synth
 
Best bit of advice you can give to anyone just starting out in a career as a DJ/Producer?

Be patient. Don’t be in too much of a rush to send music to record labels until your sound is perfect as you will only get one chance for the label to listen to you and if the quality is not good chances are you won’t get a second listen. Also when your sound is of high quality try not and make your track sound like everyone else. Try and push boundaries and create your own sound. Also be nice to promoters who book you.. Your a DJ not a rock star.. If your a diva to the promoter he won’t rebook you.. Simple as.
 
Where can we catch you live next?

This Friday we kick of our South Africa Tour at ESP in Johannesburg with Oscar L, then Saturday Reset in Cape Town and next Wednesday Origin in Durban, 27th we gonna be at Chronicle in Goa, India and 31st we doing our own party at Jame’s hotel in Northern Ireland.

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Keep up to date with Loco & Jam's latest music here