Introducing: Jared Wilson

Talking about an artist’s home town can often seem like the easy, sometimes irrelevant, way to kick off an interview, but when that city is Detroit, it’s kind of a different thing altogether. The Motor City is a place of such creative magnitude that it really does have a huge part to play in the what, where, when, why and how of an artist that cut their creative chops there. It’s especially the case for Jared Wilson, our Room Two guest this Saturday; his Detroit upbringing and the sheer concentration of musical happenings surrounding him is what spurred him on to take to the turntables for the first time. His geography isn’t the whole story though, there’s a lot of points in play in Wilson’s output thanks to his passion for the 303 and the UK’s own acid warriors Neil Landstrumm and Ceephax Acid Crew. His exemplary command of acid basslines gives the Detroit originator his edge and also allows him to find more of an affinity with European record labels thanks to his machinic sound as we learn in our recent e-conversation which you can read in full below. Hey Jared thanks for speaking with us on the blog. It’s the first time for us so can we begin by talking about how you first got into music – when was that, how much did your upbringing play in your decision to start making music? My dad is a musician so I grew up with music as part of my everyday life. I started piano lessons when I was very young 3 or 4. Just learning notes and how to read music. I loved radio and listened to it all the time. My favorite was The Wizard on the weekends. I was fascinated with the music he was playing. I would just listen and try my best to breakdance. I started playing saxophone in elementary school and continued with it through high school. I started playing lots of jazz in high school and ended up quitting the symphonic and marching band. When I was 16 I went to my first parties in Detroit with my friend Jason who was into the scene. The first time I walked into a party I knew this was what I was looking for. The next day my friend and I went to Record Time and started buying vinyl and learning how to DJ. Obviously, you’re from Detroit but how much did the music in the city influence you? Hugely, and not just techno, I loved Motown growing up. And as I mentioned The Wizard on the radio was my first exposure to techno, house, etc. How do you feel about being labelled ‘Detroit’ today? Do you think it makes sense to denote your sound it to your city? I don't mind at all. It was a huge influence on me. Going to parties in the 90s in Detroit was great, it was such mixture of sounds. Chicago, Detroit, and all the European imports. Djs in Detroit play everything and that is what I associate myself with when labeled "Detroit". Jared Wilson – Unknown Desires I can hear a lot of UK rave kind of sounds in it, like Neil Landstrumm, and Ceephax Acid Crew for example. A lot of people in the UK back then when techno was emerging were buying imports from Detroit it seems this has gone the over way round for you to an extent? I'm a fan of the UK sound and especially Ceephax and Neil Landstrumm. When I started getting into techno/house the UK imports were just part of the sound, it's another example of going to parties in Detroit in the 90s where DJ’s were mixing everything together and you hear the Detroit influence in the UK sound so I think it's just part of the evolution of the music and why I like it. Jared Wilson's Studio The 303 really plays a huge part in your sound, do you feel that’s right to say? Can you give us a quick run through of what else makes up your studio? The 303 has played a big part in my music recently, I don't have a ton of equipment in the studio. I try to keep it simple, especially when making the acid tracks. It's funny I see people with these huge studios with gear for miles and then you hear their production and its crap. I've always tried to make as much as possible with as little as possible and I'm partial to Roland gear. Mainly in the studio I use tb303, Juno60, MKS50, SH101, TR808 and all the classic Roland drum machines and record into Cubase or Logic. How do you approach making tracks is it a lot to do with jamming on the machines with that live element at play? It varies depending on what I am working on. I make all kinds of music not just acid. In the past it was more of exploring and seeing what happens, now, when working I have the song in my head before I start and it’s just a matter of making it. I still try to keep things loose and let the song go where it needs to. And when you then go to play out live do you tend to play out your songs, or do you have more of an improvisational approach to your live set? I try to do both. I don't just want to play a song, but at the same time I want it to be interesting. So I set it up to be able to do both. I'll have a structure but within that structure there is room for improve. Jared Wilson - Fr. Face (Half And Half Mix) How would you compare how well you’re received in your home country compared to Europe? Do you think there’s more of a market for your sound over here? There is definitely more interest and more of a market in Europe right now. What’s your involvement now like in your home scene? You run your own label right? I'm less and less involved with the scene in Detroit, to be honest, I'm in the studio as much as possible so I go out very little. I run my own label 7777 and release my own music and friends. The next few release will be friends of mine. To finish off our chat can you let us know what you have coming up for the rest of the year? I have a song on the next 030303 various artists release. I will be part of a various artists series called Acid Arab on Versatile. Just finished up a remix for Bot'Ox out of Paris. I'll be getting the next 3 7777 releases out this year also. Todd Osborn will be first followed by Kel, and then a various artists release with songs from Henrik Burnquist, Gustof Wallnerstöm and others.