Canadian duo Adam Johan and David Luca, better known as Joluca, just dropped their latest EP ‘Welcome Back’ on Edmonton-based label, Night Vision Music. DMCWORLD caught up with the duo and had a little chat about the birth of Joluca, their times in the studio and their future ventures with the label and even it’s DJing academy…
Hey guys, what’s new?
We’re about to be reunited for the Holidays! We can’t wait to catch up and get back in the studio.
It looks like 2017 has been a pretty exciting year for you, releasing your EP ‘Welcome Back’ on your own label, Night Vision Music. How do you think the EP fits in with the label, compared to other releases?
Our ‘Welcome Back’ EP definitely took a stride in a different direction than our last few releases on Night Vision. We kind of knew going into this that we would be trying something that didn’t quite follow the last couple releases, but we were excited with the way this EP turned out and the team thought it would still be a solid fit for the label.
So how’d you get round to teaming up and becoming Joluca? What’s the story?
About 18 months ago, we started jamming together in the Night Vision studio. We had no intentions other than playing around with our new studio space but this first session is when we wrote our track “Like A Virgin” which went on to get released on Perfect Driver. A few months later, Night Vision booked Mikey Lion and Fritz Carlton to play in Edmonton and, after a particularly fun night filled with bangin’ tracks and new friends, we decided to go for it and create Joluca.
You guys also run the DJ and production school, Night Vision Academy over in Canada. Talk me through how you started it and your reasoning behind it?
After a particularly inspiring Summer a few years ago, we used our collaborative efforts to build out a multi-purpose space in downtown Edmonton. We turned a derelict basement into a classroom and two production studios. The studio serves as our headquarters, clubhouse, and, every so often, after party spot. It was a natural evolution of our own needs as a collective, as music makers, and as a business. We run music production lessons and DJ lessons in the space, acting as a creative hub for many of the city’s up-and-coming DJs and producers.
Do you think it’s helped you improve your own style of djing and production?
For sure. A big part of it was being able to collaborate in the space and interact with gear and a studio we wouldn’t have had access to otherwise.
What would be your biggest tip to up and coming producers for 2018?
Get outside the box and learn to experiment. Making music on the computer can be incredibly tedious, set yourself up so you can jam. For us, this means sequencing gear, turning knobs, and recording long experimental takes. The majority of the whacky and wonderful sounds in our productions are usually the result of happy accidents by way of jamming. That and get some nice monitors and a room that won’t lie to you. We struggled with that for a long time.
So, Adam, you’ve moved over to LA recently, why the big move?
A number of reasons, but the main one is that I was brought down to steer the ship at IO Music Academy, a new music production school in Hollywood. This gives me the opportunity to surround myself with music on a daily basis and focus on making moves for Joluca, Night Vision, and my personal pursuits. LA’s really popping right now and it’s rare there’s a weekend without multiple events going on that I’d be tempted to check out.
Can you see a difference in the electronic music scene in comparison to Canada?
Nearly every event or party in LA I’ve attended has taken place in a warehouse. The warehouse scene here is ridiculous and I’m hoping it continues strong for the foreseeable future. Lineup curation is top notch and the crowds are very down, I love it. It’s amazing what you can do with such a large audience. The scene in Western Canada is great too as its home to world-class festivals that we love but, as you can imagine, it can be hard to make certain acts and music happen in such a (comparatively) small and spread out market.
Let’s talk a little about the EP, they’re really hard-hitting, house groovers. Is this what you had set out to achieve in the studio, or did you just go with the flow and bounce off new ideas?
Joluca loves making rollers. It’s definitely what we set out to do and we’re happy that’s conveyed. It takes a crazy amount of time to hone your skills in the studio and tastes as a DJ to make club-ready tracks. No matter your experience, the studio is just so far removed from the club environment that decision making is usually skewed towards too many breaks, too many changes, too many layers — too much everything. Through this project, we get to explore a confident side of production that lets us work out one main groove for an entire track, in turn making it perfect club material for our sets.
Dakar’s remix has slightly darker and deeper feel. Was he always in mind for the remix?
Actually yes, we loved his EP on Yoshitoshi earlier this year and were lucky enough to be linked up courtesy of Nick Garcia, Yoshi’s label manager, our mastering engineer, and longtime friend.
Anything lined up for 2018?
We just signed a track to the new Desert Hearts compilation due out in January. It’s something that’s been on our list for a minute and we’re excited to join the family. Since witnessing them at Burning Man a few years ago, we’ve always been a fan of what Mikey Lion and the gang are doing with the whole thing and it feels like a fitting home for our music.
You can grab yourself a copy of their latest EP, ‘Welcome Back’… here
https://www.facebook.com/jolucamusic/
