909originals’ Emer O’Connor catches up with Joeski

Following the epic chat 909originals had with Danny Tenaglia during the summer, we were intrigued to hear that a fellow stalwart from the East Coast house scene and former Roxy resident, who boasts a similarly colossal discography (more than 400 credits to his name over the last three decades) has recently put out no less than three releases on his own Maya Records label.

That’s on top of a myriad of classic cuts on labels such as Hot Creations, Bedrock, Defected, Poker Flat, Higher Ground and more, a stacked tour schedule that has taken in events in Australia, New Zealand, South America and Europe – including Ibiza – this year, not to mention his monthly Yage night in Brooklyn alongside Harry Romero.  

909originals’ Emer O’Connor sought to discover the inspiration behind DJ/producer Joeski’s spurts of creativity.

Welcome to 909originals, Joe. Let’s begin by taking a deep dive into your most recent productions alongside several talented vocalists. Can you tell us about your recent track Aruma – a collaboration with vocalist Jackie Wells – which I believe means ‘happiness’ or ‘happy place’ in Aboriginal or Indian cultures?

Well, it’s to do with location. I was living in Queens – now I’ve moved back to Brooklyn since I’ve moved my studio here. I’ve connected with all these musicians and vocalists, so it’s been pretty inspiring to be here heading into this direction, an Afro sound, more musicality. 

Jackie Wells is based here in New York as well – she does more country stuff – so it was cool to get her in to do more electronic stuff. I love to bring people focused on other genres into my world and try to create something special. Jackie chose the name Aruma – I think it ties in well with my label, Maya.

Your September release, On The Line, features the shimmering vocals of Katiie. When you began to forge this musical alliance?

Katiie is a good friend of a bass player that I use a lot here, and basically, he connected me with her. I created this groove, then she came into the studio, and we laid it down. 

Katiie co-wrote it â€“ it took two writing sessions with John Young, her boyfriend and also the producer on this track. I wrote the music, and she wrote the lyrics, and of all the tracks that I’ve made recently, that’s one of those that I like the most.

It must be great to have such a fruitful connection with these vocalists?

Exactly, it’s energising. That’s why collaborations are so special, to be able to use different approaches and make something special.

Your latest release, Top Of The World, features melancholic male vocals, dark industrial vibes, and an almost military-sounding snare drum effect. What propelled you to produce this melodic house track, and who was the man behind the voice?

Well, I enjoy making all types of music, from techno or tech house, to afro house or house. I get bored sticking with one specific sound, so I’ve always liked to do darker stuff, a little bit more edgy. The vocal is actually a sample that I found; to be honest, I don’t even know where I got that…

And here’s me thinking that it was you behind the mic?

Haha, no. Sometimes I just flip and decide to go a different direction – I was feeling that kind of vibe.

So would you say you might have been going through a darker phase in your life, maybe, and that was reflected in your music?

I used to have a darker, techy style maybe 20 years ago – but I go through phases.

Yeah, it’s very much in vogue now, though, isn’t it, melodic house?

That’s true.

I really did like that snare drum effect; I thought it was class.

That is actually a drummer. He brought his snares into the studio, he created a pattern for me to use.

Oh, cool. So you also employ live musicians for some of your tracks?

I work with a lot of musicians in the building here, where I have my studio. There are something like 40 studios in there, and it’s all musicians. It’s pretty amazing to have access to so much talent – it really is a blessing.

A melting pot of talent?

Oh, 100%. That’s Brooklyn for you!

I’m dying to get over; I’ve heard so many wonderful things, and obviously, Danny Tenaglia told me all about it as well, so yeah, next year for sure! I understand that you had another partner in music – and life – who featured on several Maya tech house belters, such as Talk To Me, Reach for the Stars, A Story of Love and Be Free. Can you tell us about the working relationship with Rachel, and do you have any works in the pipeline together?

Yeah, she’s actually my ex, the mother of my son. Now we’re good friends, but she’s living in California, so we’re not really working together anymore, but she was the one who inspired a lot of those records. We made them when we were together, so…

Well, that must have been an incredible love affair, then, during that time…

And we have our beautiful three-year-old boy, who I see every couple of months because I work a lot on the West Coast. I try to see him as much as I can, or he comes here. I have two kids, Joaquin, and I have my daughter, Maya, who is 22 now.

Wow, she must be out grooving to your tunes now?

Oh yeah, she’s brilliant – she loves the music and gets out as much as she can.

She didn’t get into music herself, no?

No, she’s more into fashion and stuff, but I support whatever she does, as long as she’s happy.

So you named your label after her?

I had her in, I believe it was ’99 … and we started the label in 2000, so yeah, it was named after her.

You must have been a very young daddy then?

I was in my 20s. Yeah, time flies man, it’s nuts! 

I understand that although you’re Brooklyn-born and raised in Queens, you have deep-rooted ties with Latin American musical culture as the child of Colombian migrants?

My uncle was a guitar player, but we didn’t really have too many musicians in the family – my Dad was more of a businessman. Yes, our heritage is Colombian – I actually go to Colombia every year and record with local musicians out there; I’ve been doing that for the last few years. There are so many good, local undiscovered musicians out there.

I listened to a fair few of your sets over the last couple of weeks and noted the heavy influence of the Latin American style in your mixing.

Oh yeah, there is salsa there, for sure. I grew up on Latin American music – my mom was always blasting salsa as she cleaned the house when I was a kid. It’s funny that it holds such sway over me now.

While you were growing up in Queens, you were deejaying in Manhattan, is that right?

I was born in Brooklyn, and then we moved to Queens in the ’80s. I lived in Queens village, for maybe 15 years, I was pretty much raised there, then I moved to the city. 

At that time, New York was different; Manhattan was where everything was happening, all the best clubs. Everything was in the city. It’s so funny because it’s completely different now – Brooklyn is where it’s happening.

I know, Manhattan is all just table service now, isn’t it?

It’s just a joke – it used to be the mecca for clubs and everything, but it’s so crazy how things shifted.

I don’t know what brought about that shift in Manhattan – was it just stricter licensing laws or what happened?

I guess when EDM hit here in the 2000s and all the clubs in New York City mainly went a different direction, bottle service blew up within the EDM scene. I get it, it’s a business, so they put more importance on building the bottle service than into building sound systems.

That’s when New York suffered – we always had the best sound systems here in New York. It’s a pity those days are over.

I suppose they just wanted to monetise everything, and it was no longer about the passion for music?

It was a combination of a bunch of stuff – they implemented all these new licensing laws. You needed a cabaret license to have people dancing in your venue. That was a messed-up time, maybe 10 years of just shitty nightlife in the city. There were a few little bar things happening, but it was a far cry from the really cool big clubs.

We have longstanding licensing issues here in Ireland too, where DJs only get to play for a few hours before promoters have to pull the plug or face the consequences. But in the States, you can play as long as you like. I’ve read remarks about you missing the ‘storytelling’ of long sets and how nowadays you’re only getting 10 tracks in, before the next act is up or the night is over?

I come from a time when you played really long sets, and you get to tell a story, and I really do miss it, so I try to still do a long set every once in a while. I have a residency at Stereo Bar in Montreal, and I’ll do a 5- or 6-hour set there and play all night. There are just so many DJs these days – you gotta fit everybody in.

Yeah, you have to squeeze them all in because the kids of today have the attention spans of sparrows. They seem heavily focused on one genre and everything has to be labeled, so there’s no space for DJs to bring them on journeys?

Different times, right?

You have had the evolution of CDJs and Ableton and Traktor, and now you can travel around the world with a few USB keys. Do you ever miss the feel and sound of vinyl, or for you, is it all about track selection and the mix?

I really miss the culture of vinyl, going to a record store, and all your friends are there. I miss the social aspect of it, but I don’t miss lugging a 70lb record bag through Charles De Gaulle airport, trying to catch a flight. No, I don’t miss carrying those heavy records, man, those things are heavy. I actually have 20,000 records here in storage.

You’ve no plans to downsize like Danny Tenaglia, no?

Too many have sentimental value, but I probably should figure out what I’m going to do with them.

I have to say though that record culture is on the up here in Ireland and in Europe – there are a lot more younger DJs that I know who are actually specialising in vinyl, and there are loads of record fairs. Not only that, people at home are getting their own sound systems, and they’re really into the authenticity of that vinyl sound.

That’s cool – I’m all for that. I have this crazy collection of vinyl, but I guess you gotta kind of move with the times though, right? Life is just easier now – every aspect of it, I can do a 10-hour set with the USB stick. That’s insane. Do you know how many crates of records you would have to take to a club?

Yeah, you guys back in the day must have been bringing your own vans and trucks?

Yeah, hauling those things around was crazy.

I believe you like to dig through your back catalogue when you DJ, and no doubt you have some very interesting past, present, and future selections in that mix. Apart from your own label, you’ve also had past releases on Dave Seaman’s Selador and Poker Flat Recordings, along with Nervous, Dirtybird, and Hot Creations. Why do you accept invitations to work for other labels, instead of just keeping all the juicy stuff for your own?

It’s good to put my work onto labels that I like, that I’m into. I can target their audience, you know? If it’s a label I really like, I think it’s cool to throw stuff on it.

Then there are your versatile co-productions, including Rouse and Barbee with the inimitable Green Velvet, your HR & SKI stuff with Harry Romero – when did he lose the Choo Choo by the way? – not forgetting your work with Diplo on Higher Ground? Tell us about these collaborations?

I still call him Choo Choo! Ha ha. Collaborations for me are all about different minds coming together and creating something inspiring. I deal with people that I respect, people whose music I love.

Do you approach them, or do they approach you? Or do the record labels get involved?

Well, I did a gig with Curtis, Green Velvet, and we said, ‘oh, we really should do a track together’. So it was truly organic there, but it happens both ways. Also, working with people like Harry, he kind of brings something completely different to the table than Green Velvet or Diplo, which is really cool. 

Lately, I’ve been doing a lot of collaborations, but it’s inspiring. I mean, I’m always in the studio, I do a lot of stuff by myself. I’m always serious, so it’s refreshing to work with somebody else.

You must spend a huge amount of time in your studio. What does your average day look like? Do you get up at seven or eight and go hit the studio straight away?

I wake up, go to the gym, have breakfast, and then head to the studio every day. Then, on the weekends, I’m on the road.

So, how is your work-life balance? It seems to be very work-oriented.

Oh, all I do is work – it’s my happy place, my studio. I’m OK with that. I live alone, so it’s just what makes me happy.

You’ve got a vast array of solo productions in your arsenal. Just before the world came to an abrupt and lingering halt in 2020, you made the carnivalesque Traicion, meaning ‘treason’.

I’m sorry, I did what? Omg, you stumped me! I just work so much that I can’t even remember the things that I do; my workflow is just crazy. Sometimes I go through my collection, and I’m like, ‘Oh nice, this is cool – we kinda forgot about this one…’

So, when you’re going out gigging, it’s mostly all your own productions?

For the most part. I like to play a lot of my stuff because I’m testing tracks that I’ve made, and the market now is so saturated. Everybody has access to everything, so I ask myself what’s gonna make me sound different from everybody else? Making my own music and playing these tracks that nobody else has in their collection.

What future projects and destinations are on the cards?

I’ve got a lot of good stuff in the works, pushing the label forward. I’m currently working on an album for Crosstown Rebels, for Damian Lazarus – look out for that.

I also have this other label called Aztec Tribalism, and I haven’t really released many tracks on it, so I was thinking I want to focus on that label. So, I’ll continue the progression of both Maya and Aztec Tribalism.

Do you get down to Tulum to play at the parties down there?

Yeah, I love it. My Aztec vibes are perfect there.

Have you got any aspirations to come to Europe?

I usually come to Europe for the summer parties.

You should definitely get in touch with some promoters here in Ireland, because I tell you what, there is a huge South American base here. I have so many Brazilian, Venezuelan, Argentinian, Mexican, and Colombian friends here. You could definitely rock the dance floor here.

I’d love that!

Joe, thanks a million for joining me today on 909originals – I really appreciate your time and all the very best with all your future projects.

Thank you for having me!

Words by Emer O’Connor. Catch up with Joeski‘s latest releases and tour dates here.

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