One plan to get past it has been to try out new styles for remixes, and sometimes it works like wonders, but sometimes it doesn’t. Either way, I’m trying to save up the remaining inspiration for original material as that’s where my heart really is (after I have completed these last two remixes), even though remixes are great fun.

On the other hand, when I started out I usually started doing remixes of tunes I know and step by step, they turned into original material. “Explanations” being the first example of a tune that went down that way. It’s a good way to overcome the lack of inspiration you sometimes face, and it’s a good motivator too.

Take care,
Joni

Love,

Joni

In good spirit, I thought I’d provide you with my own top 10 here. I must say though, regarding how many tracks I had to leave out, this top 10 is dynamic enough to look quite different next week already. Either way, here are my votes:

01. Solar Stone - Solarcoaster (Original Mix)
02. Bedrock - Heaven Scent (Original Mix)
03. Astura - Emotion
04. TasteXperience - Tantrix
05. Airwave vs. Rising Star - Sunspot
06. BT - Flaming June (Original Mix)
07. Holden & Thompson - Nothing (93′ Returning Mix)
08. Tillmann Uhrmacher - On The Run (Ocean To Shore)
09. Ferry Corsten - Kyoto
10. Yilmaz Altanhan - Eighties (Original Mix)

Also, I’ve rambled on and on but Ferry Corstens compilation is now out so go get a copy!

Love,

Joni

Check it out here, I hope you like it:

From the official announcement:

“Paul Tarrant must have been sat on a beach or at least looking at one when he crafted this absolutely beautiful, sundrenched record!  Those currently residing in the northern hemisphere can be forgiven for thinking it’s actually peak time summer when listening to this brilliant record.

Remixes fall to one of our favourite producers, Joni ‘JPL’ Ljungqvist, who crafts a quite brilliant remix, if anything even upping the temperature further! New Enhanced signing Audien warms us up for his impending release with yet another stunning rendition of the original, adding his own unique 80’s tinged synths.  Gery Rydell, another new Enhanced signing takes the track and makes it his own with a superb progressive house take on the original.

A real all round quality release.”

You can grab the release here: http://bit.ly/9iPS9m

So on friday, I went through my CD-case, knew I would have to bring some more banging stuff than usual, and then set sails (hah) for the train station. It takes me about 3,5 - 4 hours by train to get across the border down to Copenhagen and the airport there. It’s still the easiest way for me to get places and it’s usually not as bad as one might think (different on the way home though). A few hours later Bjorn came on board and we socialized for the first time in real life, much fun. We discussed music, gigs and what not and had a brief beer at the airport before heading to Vienna.

We were picked up by the promoter, Milan, a really nice guy and a good DJ as well. We went from Vienna to Bratislava, which is only a few miles in between, and suddenly I had set foot in four countries in less than a day (random sidenote!). Checked-in and then met up with Marcus Schössow and his girlfriend Nifra who both live there. We had dinner, socialized about random facts which remain unknown etc etc. While having a beer later on Marcus was “assaulted” by two fans who seemed to think he was god, which was really fun! Bjorn remarked that “that would never happen in Sweden”, I agreed silently. We said goodbye and moved on to the club.

The club wasn’t too crowded but the setup was nice, and we had some time before our turns to have a few drinks and talk to people, so we did. Random conversations eventually fell through, most of them about music, while the drinks kept pouring. Bjorn eventually played a nice set and tested some of his new material, while I played a fairly banging set, track of the set being “Riff” by Sander Van Doorn - it always works. Bjorn got a “special” back-to-back set up so we dropped a few more tracks and went frenzy, both on the decks and the crowd. The crowd had a really nice time I’d say!

The day after me and Bjorn took the opportunity to see central Bratislava and had a coffee as well as lunch. Bratislava has some of the nicest and friendliest people I have ever meet, I have to say. After a long walk back to the hotel we got out, met up with some of Milans friends and got served dinner by Pizz@dox at his place. Nice. Then we had a good time out in the clublife of Bratislava.

Sunday was a pain though, as I had to sit around for two hours at the airport in Copenhagen to wait for my train. The train back is a killer when you’re tired, weary and you know it’s going to take almost 4 hours. Plus there was a heavily drunken swede on the train, who wasn’t sure of were he was heading, causing everyone on the train to be slightly nervous. I made it back eventually though and went straight to sleep when home, it welcomed me with open arms.

Thanks to  Milan and his friends, and everyone else involved in this, I had a great time!

- Joni

This will be the first part of a “how to produce“-thingie I’m going to post here. It might sound somewhat cynical, but I thought I’d hit the old “how to produce” from a different angle - it’s basically a love letter to producing.

A frequently asked question in interviews, is wheter I have any good tips on how to produce and such. My usual response is something like “if you’re heart wants it bad enough it, just keep doing it”, perhaps less or more cheesy though. But that about sums up what (making) music is to me. If you strip it of all those technical and physical aspects, the soulful and emotional values are what strikes me the most. Carl B, being badly hungover from the vodka indulged after a gig in Poland, described making music as ’self-therapy’. And that’s what producing is to me (and many others).

My point is that like with everything, if you’re passionate and your heart is in it, it’s a great start. And I am certain most people did not start producing because they saw success on the horizon - I think they started because they needed it themselves, and thus, making other people understand/feel them. That’s why it’s so great.

Hope you enjoyed reading, I’ll be back on the same topic with more technical aspects later on!

- Joni