Jeremy Sylvester: A 5 Mag UKG Mix #37

Jeremy Sylvester is synonymous with UK Garage having put in hundreds of songs under multiple aliases to replenish and nourish the genre. His contributions don’t just stop with his tracks, but also with his world renown sample packs that have armed many a producer with a killer arsenal.

Jeremy has long been a favorite of ours, appearing on the cover of 5 Mag in December 2011, and Volume 07 of A 5 Mag Mix.

Here’s another mix – the first of many from our Garage issues – along with an update on what is happening with the UKG don.

Jeremy Sylvester: A 5 Mag UKG Mix

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So Jeremy what’s been going on with you lately? You never cease to amaze me how you’re constantly churning out new music and mixes nonstop!

Thanks for having me again. I guess I just love the music so much I just can’t help myself.

It’s been a busy couple of years for me and my company Urban Dubz Music, where we have now branched out into music PR and radio plugging/club promo as well. We’re still focusing on our digital record label operation. With the label, we have seen a number of digital releases from myself and other artists such as Belgium’s finest Dimitri Gatsau (Groove Riddim), Leanne Brown of Sweet Female Attitude, Netherlands producer Arie Mando, USA producer Ples Jones, UK based producer Jekyll and others. We’ll continue to look for new talented producers for the label in the aim to get them as much exposure as we can. Right now, I’ve been going way back to my House and Garage roots in the studio creating new ’90s inspired underground tracks ready for 2017. Look out for a string of new EPs throughout the year.

I’m also involved in new collaborations with some exciting new producers in 2017. Look out for my collaboration with French producer (but now based in London) Rude Jude, who is very talented producer/DJ. We will be focusing on brand new original 2 step/Garage songs featuring various artists from the UK and beyond. We will try to recapture the heyday of the early 2 step sound reminiscent of Club Asylum fame.

I am also involved with a brand new production outfit called Push Button Bang Productions with Christian Bailey (son of the lead singer from Delegation). We will focus on Electro Funk/Soul songs featuring an array of vocalists from the UK. Look out for more information on that in the coming months.

We are also planning on putting together our first digital album compilation of the year in Jan/Feb 2017 called GARAGE FUTURE, featuring unreleased and released tracks from our artists and others such as myself, Sweet Female Attitude, Hybrid Theory, Club Asylum, DX3, Groove Riddim, Ples Jones and many more. The focus as the title suggest will be new underground House & Garage tracks. This will be available in all digital stores including itunes, Beatport, Traxsource and others worldwide.

I’m also very excited to announce a re-release on vinyl of one of my old Miles Fontaine releases “Body Grooving,” re-pressed on USA-based label Plastik People Records. The release date will be in January 2017 on Marc Cotterell’s label.

There are a lot of new tracks out there sounding more authentic, which I think is fantastic. I can also hear a rawness in tracks built now which I never really heard before. I hear tracks not so polished and squeaky clean.

Where have you been playing this past year and where do you hope to be able to play in 2017?

It’s been a busy year with me playing at a number of events/festivals in the UK and abroad. I’ve been fortunate enough to play at some awesome gigs in the Amsterdam/ Rotterdam with Wouter S and the 44Bass crew alongside DJQ and many others. I’ve had my own events earlier in the year with RECORD BOX (REC:BOX) which saw the launch in my hometown Birmingham alongside legends in the game such as Noodles from Groove Chronicles, Nice’N’Ripe’s Industry Standard, with performances by Leanne Brown (SFA) and TJ Lewis. We are also planning further events in Birmingham/London in 2017 with awesome line-ups.

Look out for the huge outdoor event in the Midlands called Garage Xperience in March 2017 where I will be performing alongside some the biggest names in the House & Garage scene.

2017 will be an interesting year with plans in motion for a USA DJ tour with Plastik People Records’ Marc Cotterell which is very exciting and an Australian tour in the planning process with UKG AU. We’re still in working progress, so if any more promoters would like to get involved, feel free to get in touch with me.

In Europe, I have already lined up DJ gigs in Paris, Switzerland, Amsterdam, London and Germany, so check out my website jeremy sylvester.com for more information on the up & coming events. I hope to take my DJ sets globally and to places where I haven’t been before.

We are still trying to get you here in the States!

Yes that’s right, we’ve been talking about this for a little while now, It’s been a long time coming, but I’m very excited we are in the process of actually setting up a USA tour. At the moment we are looking at East Coast, so New York and DC, but we’re still open for any other requests. We’re currently looking at around April 2017, but it’s still very early days yet. Hopefully we can fit in other cities within the tour. Chicago is certainly a place I would love to play at alongside you guys at 5 Magazine amongst other cities.

What changes have you noticed in the way producers are making both House and Garage?

I think what I’ve noticed is some shift to adapt older production techniques/methods used back in the day to make these records. There are definitely a lot of new tracks out there sounding more authentic which I think is fantastic. I can also hear a rawness in tracks built now which I never really heard before. I hear tracks not so polished and squeaky clean. Obviously technology has transformed the way producers are making music nowadays. Its allowing you more options to experiment and try new things. I’m very encouraged and inspired by new producers on the scene today and I hope it continues.

Pretend the microphone isn’t working – that usually works.

You know what I’ve always wanted to ask? What happens when you’re DJing and the MC just won’t shut it? Is there a particular technique you do so he can let some of the music play?

To be honest I’m far from subtle, nothing annoys me more than an MC who won’t shut up or doesn’t know when to stop. I usually have a quiet word in his ear but if that don’t work, then I simply bring the microphone faders down bit by bit. Or pretend the microphone isn’t working – that usually works.

A good MC knows when to chat and when not to chat. Obviously if you’re playing a track that’s got a lot of vocals on it already, there nothing more annoying than an MC chatting over the vocals of a track that’s already playing.

Tell us about this mix you’ve done for us?

In this mix I decided to once again sex it up a little by fusing old and new tracks from our myself, my label as well as other releases currently out there in store or on promo… I usually start by dropping some Old Skool Garage and House stuff then gradually bringing in some of the newer releases and that’s exactly what I’ve done.

I like to create DJ mixes with a lot of energy and momentum all the way through and that’s what I’ve tried to do here. I also like to bring an early ’90s House/Garage feel to the overall mix which is probably one of my trademarks when I’m DJing and also when I’m producing underground music.

I like to create special dub plates/mash-ups which I’ve included in the mix. These mash-ups are usually a combination of my own older stuff and other popular tracks out there. You will hear these in this exclusive mix. I hope you enjoy my mix.

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