Just Her exclusive interview

Ahead of her set at Sabajaq on October 24th, we interviewed Just Her, where we talked about record labels, busy schedules, and the top three tracks doing it right now.

You have recently launched your own record label Constant Circles, tell us what you’ve been doing and what we can expect?

The idea of the label at its foundations is to release quite a bit of my own material, and music from artists that I respect, as well as new undiscovered acts and friends in the industry, with an emphasis always on moving, emotional music, or quality for the dance floor. But this is really more of a concept than just a record label. Each release comes with a custom piece of visual art that will be available as prints, and we already have a successful blog covering underground music and creative arts. In the long term it will be an even wider concept including music, art, fashion, lifestyle and education. I’ve been planning this for more than ten years so I’m really excited to see it all coming together. You can find out more about it at www.constantcircles.com

What type of skills does a person require to manage and launch their own record label? What were the most difficult times?

It’s actually a lot harder than I ever imagined. There is so much work that goes into a label behind the scenes and it takes a huge amount of dedication and organisation to really make it work. The hardest thing was probably finding the right music to launch with, as it is so important to make an impact with the first releases, but as a new label you need to convince people to put their faith in you. I was really lucky to have amazing artists like Pete Oak, Raxon, Martin Roth and Kris Davis on board from the outset, which has put the label on the map with the first two releases.

For DJs interested in setting up their own record labels, what advice can you give them?

The absolute key is to work hard; harder than you ever thought possible! There is so much competition now that you have to put the hours in to push your label to the front of the crowd. I think it is also important to have a unique concept and to make sure you put out music that you really believe in, and not just go with current trends.

How did it feel to land releases with such popular and world-class labels like Toolroom & Crosstown Rebels?

Amazing and surreal is the only way I can describe it really. People often ask me about my ‘overnight’ success, but actually signing to Crosstown Rebels was a result of around twelve years of really hard work and persistence to get to that point. Hopefully it was just one chapter in a much longer story!

With having a radio show on Proton and Deepin Radio, and trying to DJ at the same time, do you find things to get a bit hectic?

My life is literally crazy. Along with the radio shows I also need to find time to produce my own tracks and remixes, run the label, manage the blog, listen to promos and demos, search for new music, as well as a heavy touring schedule on top of this. I have gigs in Belgium, Greece, Russia and India coming up in the next few months, plus I’ve just added a new radio show on Frisky into the mix too! So yes you could definitely call it hectic, but I absolutely love it.

How do you handle mistakes during a set?

Well I’d like to say I never make any, but we all know that’s impossible! Although after 15 years of DJing I would say they happen pretty rarely these days. I have a simple answer to this though, which was what I always used to tell my students when I was a Music Tech Lecturer - “style it out’. All you have to do is pretend you meant to do it and 99% of the crowd would never know. I think its also important not to take yourself too seriously. The crowd are there for a good time and mistakes are what make a live performance real, so you have to just go with it and enjoy every moment.

What are your top 3 tracks at the moment?

Kris Davis & Yost – Relentless (Original Mix) [Constant Circles].

This was the second release on my label and it has been doing the damage in my sets for a while now. The Martin Roth remix is also heavy.

Ashworth – Puma (12” Dub) [Needwant]

Ashworth is absolutely on fire right now and this track is just so simple but so effective. A killer groove that sits somewhere between house and techno.

Allies for Everyone – When You’re Gone (Just Her Remix) [Blindfold Recordings]

A remix from me on Pete Oak’s label Blindfold. With beautiful melodies and stunning vocals, this track was a dream for me to rework into a techno bomb. Look out for Allies for Everyone’s EP coming soon on Constant Circles too.

Sabajaq: Sam Paganini, Luigi Madonna, Dennis Cruz, Just Her

October 24th - 11pm - 10am

Tickets HERE