The all swinging all dancing Munich music express
Do you like house music? Do you love sublime, intelligent and liquid vocals? If the answer to any of these questions is a yes then we think you are going to love Jean Claude Ades. JCA, as his fans call him, is an internationally renowned DJ, producer, songwriter and remixer originally from Italy, now based in Munich and Ibiza. His beloved label Swings Records has a policy of only bringing you the very best quality original work and his new release ’We All Are Dancing’ with Daniel Falkenberg featuring vocalist Yoav fits the bill perfectly. Here he tells us how he acheived worldwide success with Danni Minogue, which DJs he respects the most and why it’s good that Ibiza is changing…
Words: Toni Tambourine
JCA, welcome to DMCWORLD. So how did this musical journey begin for you?
“I am now based in Munich during the winter and in Ibiza during the summer. However, I grew up in Italy in a musical family with a French father and German mother. I started my career as a producer 1994 in Germany with a record called ‘The Colour Of My Style’ on Virgin Records. During this time I was also running my own club, so I had the right platform to try out my early productions every week. During this time I was producing many projects under different names for different artists until I found the passion for DJing, so I decided to produce my own records and in 2001 I produced my biggest track ‘I Begin To Wonder’ ft. Dannii Minogue that became a worldwide hit. From that time on I was really busy in the studio and also playing shows around the globe. Dance music has always been my passion and so I am extremley happy and thankful to be able to do this for a living.”
In 2005 you established your own record label SWINGS Records under the wings of Great Stuff Records in Munich. Why did you make the decision to set up your own label?
“Back then I wanted to create a label, which I could direct and I wanted to develop my own brand and realise my musical philosophy.”
So tell us about the label….
“SWINGS is a word composition of ‘swings’, ‘wings’, and ‘win’. Three words, the synonyms of ‘groove’, ‘freedom’ and ‘achieve’…as that is what the label has done for over five years. The first single release was a quick trip towards the top. ‘Someday’ featuring vocals by Niki Harris, the former singer of Snap and backing singer for Madonna, it reached #1 on the main Beatport charts.”
What have been your highlights?
“I love all of my ‘babies’ but tracks like ‘Someday’, ‘Fly Away’ or ‘Disco To Disco’ are still outstanding and I still love to play them in my sets.”
What other artists have you released on Swings Records?
“Swings Records also celebrated successes with artists and remixers such as Heartik, Rony Seikaly, Mason, Ramon Tapia, Telonious, Coburn, Whirlpool Productions, Vincent Thomas, Jerome Isma-ae, Mason and Les Rythmes Digitales, to name just a few and of course myself J.”
Who are the djs that you most respect?
“I respect DJs like Carl Cox, DJ Hell, Richie Hawtin, Villallalobos and Sven Väth, because they have being following their musical philosophy for many years without being effected by the commercial market like many others.”
What is your vision for the future?
“This might be a motto that many other label makers share: “Musical freedom and originality”. I love house, this is where I come from, but I also want to show a wider range with house tunes, still with soul and melodies. This is something I’m missing so I hope to fill a gap here.”
Tell me about you new release ‘We All Are Dancing’, what is its story?
“A friend of mine Daniel Falkenberg from Berlin came up to me one night during a party telling me he had an idea to remix a great track. So when he played me Yoav`s original version I fell in love with it immediately. I got in touch with his management to ask if we could have the acapella and vocal parts to make a dance track out of it. They also loved the idea and shortly after we went to the studio and made each mix. The original of ‘We All Are Dancing’ is from Yoav. He is a world renowed singer-songwriter who’s worked with the likes of Joey Waronker (the producer and drummer for Thom Yorke), Beck, Smashing Pumpkins and R.E.M. just to name a few!”
You built up a second studio to produce music in Ibiza and you also have your own radio show on Global Radio Ibiza every Thursday where you played at Amnesia, Blue Marlin and Lio – Pacha’s new venue last season: What are your plans for this year?
“I do have some Ibiza plans, but it’s too early to reveal them yet.”
You´ve been going to Ibiza for over 15 years, what are the big changes you’ve seen?
“Yes, the first time I visited was in 1994 and a lot has changed since then. Believe it or not, for me it has changed in a good way. You have to go with the progress, if something doesn’t change it gets boring. Ibiza has developed a lot of new hot spots like Ushuaia, Lio, Blue Marlin over the years and also now it has a bigger party crowd from all over the world. It has become the centre of global dance music over the summer in Europe and every big DJ hits the Island at least once in the summer. Its like WMC or ADE but this party goes on for almost 5 months. It is the perfect spot to connect and to feel the new vibes and sounds. There’s a bit of everything for everyone, which I enjoy being part of!”
Listen to ‘We All Are Dancing’ here:
http://soundcloud.com/swings-music/sets/we-all-are-dancing/s-DXl2O
JCA Ibiza Global Radio Show: http://www.mixcloud.com/JeanClaudeAdes/jean-claude-ades-ibiza-global-radio-show-77/
