FIVE MINUTES WITH… JNR

Meet JNR,  Zouk's latest resident DJ who (luckily for us) decided to set up shop right here on our blessed shores! As a good old boy from Toronto, the statuesque producer plays music that takes its listeners on a magic carpet ride. CATALOG hopped on board and took the spin-master on a brief detour.

How did your DJ name come about?

Junior is a nickname some friends call me by... so it kinda stuck and somewhere over the last six years I dropped all the vowels.

How did you come to end up with a residency at Zouk?

Jeremy Boon invited me to play a one off night for House Community and it snow balled from there.

Could you tell us a memorable gig you played recently?

I've been given the opportunity to share the stage / decks with a lot of my musical heroes since joining Zouk so it's hard to say but opening for Osunlade, Tiefshwarz, Anja Schneider and Louis Vega immediately comes to mind.

Another memorable gig I did was a pre-Zoukout road show last year in front of Ion and I had a group of 5 to 8 year olds dancing and jumping around on the stage. That was great fun.

What’s it like working with Jeremy Boon?

It's great. I always held him with high regard as he's one of the pioneers of House Music in Asia and I followed him throughout my DJ career. So to work with him is great, now I feel like I am contributing to something he helped build.

Did he impart any words of wisdom?

Almost every time we play. But the best is his reference to a good DJ set being like a meal.

Make sure you serve a nice appetizer - warm up grooves. Then a little entrée - to build up the vibe. Followed by a main course - you must give them something substantial to keep them dancing. And finally dessert - end it off on a sweet note, keep them coming back for more!

What’s next for you?

I'm working on some of my own productions, and a new collab with an esteemed producer and label, though it's too soon to reveal anything about that yet.

Interview and image courtesy of Zouk.