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Interview with Jonas Steur ( 11.04.2008 - 19:20 GMT UTC )
1. How were you discovered, and what steps did you have to take to show the world you were serious ?
Jonas Steur: The first release I signed was in 1999. I was 17 and just started producing regularly together with my friends Pascal and Kris. After a few weeks I made a remake of one of Pascal's older tracks (TS project - So deep, so precious, released in 1996 on Dance Opera, a Belgian label) and it got noticed by the guys at A&S records and released as 'Silvertear - So deep'. Mainly Christopher Chantzis and Erik Vanspauwen, known for their Ian van Dahl project, helped me out a lot in those early days. I even co-produced one of the tracks on the first Ian van Dahl album, the most underground track on the cd by the way, so don't worry hehe. I did some more releases on A&S but it never really took off so end of 2003 I sent an email with 2 tracks to Tiesto's Black hole recordings. 2 weeks later they got signed and since than I have been having regular releases. It is my second 'Estuera' track in 2004 which got me noticed in the trance scene 'Tales from the south' was on Tiesto's playlist for over a year and I also got lots of support from all the other people in the scene.
2. You produced a track entitled "Fall To Pieces" featuring the vocals of Jennifer Rene. Can you tell us more about this track and the order in which it was produced ?
Jonas Steur: In 2006 Black hole asked me if I wanted to do an artist album for them and I accepted the challenge. One of the first things I wanted to do is make a vocal track which also could be used as first single to promote the album. Jennifer contacted me on myspace once to give me a compliment about 'Second Turn', one of my hits at that moment, and I asked her very shortly after that if she wanted to work on a track with me. So I made an instrumental and Jennifer did these amazing vocals for it. I was really impressed when she sent me her first draft and I guess lots of other people shared this feeling. I still get regular compliments about this track, a year after the release.
3. Are you currently still working with Jennifer Rene or any other vocalists that you would like to mention ?
Jonas Steur: I am certainly going to do another track with Jennifer, she is quite busy but I am sure we will get something done this year. I also am in the process of working with some other vocalists but it is too early to drop names.
4. You currently have a radio show along with Simon Steur entitled the "Breakout Show". Can you please tell us your relation to Simon, and provide more information regarding the show ?
Jonas Steur: Simon is my youngest brother and since he started djing about 2 years ago I thought it would be really cool to have him on board for the new show. The whole idea of the show is to play whatever we think is really cool and share it with the world. I also use it as a platform to play out my latest own productions. I can assure you that you will hear every new Steur track for the first time on my own show! We don't give a damn about genres so that is why we called it 'breakout', instead of categorizing everything in boxes we throw it all together.
5. You just released an EP under the alias Evil Robot featuring the tracks "Call It Whatever You Fancy / Insert Title Here", are you running out of creative track names or was this meant to be clever ?
Jonas Steur: I actually called it that way because I wanted to make something which doesn't really fit into one sub genre of EDM. It is progressive house, a bit of 'neo trance' and a bit of trance... I don't care which box it belongs too so you can 'call it whatever you fancy'. 'Insert title here' was just me being lame, I though it fitted in with the 'Call it whatever you fancy' idea a bit though... The next Evil Robot EP has even more stupid names you will see, I like to give some less serious titles for once, dance music is about fun so it doesn't always need such 'meaningful' titles in my opinion.
6. You seem to be working with many rather popularly known artists at the moment, how did you go about networking to make these music connections ?
Jonas Steur: It just happens, I ran into most of those people at parties and some of them were friends of friends and of course you get in touch with loads of colleagues on the internet... I don't network deliberately but after a few years in the scene I know a lot of people. Some of them are also good personal friends of mine now.
7. Your track selection is very versatile with the genres of music that you play varying from house to trance, and techno. If you had to categorize yourself to a specific genre, which would it be ?
Jonas Steur: Very difficult to answer. At the moment I mostly play progressive house, progressive trance and techno but it evolves a bit all the time. I just play what I like and what fits in nicely in my sets.
8. Are you looking forward to working with any other artists on upcoming projects in the future ?
Jonas Steur: Yes, I am certainly going to do another track with Leon Bolier, Jennifer Rene, and I also have some plans with other colleagues.
9. Your recent track "Seni Seviyorum" is translated to English as "I Love You". I will try not to pry too much, but was this track made for a special person in your life ? Would you like to mention more about it? If not, that is completely understandable.
Jonas Steur: It is a present for my Turkish girlfriend Filiz. 'Seni seviyorum' is indeed Turkish for 'I love you'. I am really happy to have such a great and lovely girl, and that is why I dedicated this track to her.
10. Being that you are more experienced now as a DJ and producer, when you look at your past is there anything you wish that you had done differently ?
Jonas Steur: I think I would have done most things the same. The only thing I regret a bit is the quiet period I created while working on my album. It took a tad too long and it caused me to slip out of the spotlight a bit which had a negative impact on my dj bookings. I had to work hard since the album release to get it back to the old levels. Luckily at the moment everything is going really well again and I will make sure to always have regular releases and shows from now on.
11. Are there any countries or venues that you have not performed in yet, but would like the chance to ?
Jonas Steur: I still need to play in the USA, South America, lots of other countries... I still have enough terrain to conquer I think. I really would love to play in Ibiza and the Miami WMC to just name a few. I am pretty confident I'll be there sooner or later though.
12. For those that have not had the chance to see you live, what type of vibe would you demonstrate in your performances ?
Jonas Steur: Fun! I always enjoy myself a lot behind the decks, I really get into the music and dance a lot in the dj booth. I bring a mix of different genres but all of it is very danceable.
13. Do you have any closing comments for your fans or any other information that you would like to share ?
Jonas Steur: Thanks for the interview and to do some shameless promotion: For the readers interested in my sound, check out the breakout podcast, breakout.libsyn.com ! hehehe
Interview made by Zaneta Soroko aka Euphoria (TranceSound.net forum general moderator)
Links:
Jonas Steur official website
Jonas Steur @ MySpace
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