In Volume 4 of the Your EDM Mix Series we have something special for you. Jay Cosmic, a story of true inspiration, has provided a thirty minute mix and taken the time to answer several questions I had about his back story and blow up. If you are unfamiliar with the name, he released a free download remix of Tsunami by DVBBS & Borgeous just three months ago that has reached nearly 320,000 hits on Soundcloud.
An orchestral and hard-style genre bender, it has been played out by some of the biggest acts in the world at some of the biggest events in the world. From Carnage to DVBBS‘ main-stage Ultra Music Festival performance, this track has generated a massive following for the boy wonder.
Jamie, aka Jay Cosmic, is exclusive to no particular genre. He proves that in all of his productions and in this mix as well. Not only can he produce and seamlessly mix literally anything, but it all sounds amazing. I can’t wait to watch this kid blow up even more in the coming months. Check out the mix below and his incredibly inspirational story revealed in this exclusive interview:
Exclusive Interview:
Tell us a little bit about yourself
Gooood evening, I’m Jay – 20 years old, and from Manchester, which is in the upper middle left bit of England.
Can you tell us about your childhood and how you first got involved in music?
Well, like most music making people, I was surrounded by music from when I was young. In the house/in the car or wherever. This is thanks to my Dad and his love of rock music, and thanks to his endless drumming on tables/tapping on steering wheels etc, I picked up a good sense of rhythm early on. So of course, for my childhood I wanted to be a drummer in a rock band.
What about more recently?
Well, I doubt you could class this as recent, but it was when I was 12 that my Dad decided I would enjoy a Trance compilation album. He was definitely correct. From there I got into UK Hardcore, and quickly decided I wanted to be able to move people the way that music moved me. So that was when I was 13, and I’ve been making electronic music ever since.
Can you tell us about what you do right now?
You told you work at a newsagent to pay the bills.. how has that effected your music?
Yeah sure, right now I’ve got to work to pay the bills rather than do music full time – I have a job I dislike purposely to drive myself more to succeed in music. I’ve left myself no ‘parachute’ in life other than music, so it’s pretty much all or nothing. So yeah I’m stuck in there a lot of the time, and of course, when you’re working on music until 1am, and have to be up at 5am for work.. that definitely affects your music. i.e, you’re working on something the next day, and wake up on your computer keyboard two hours later with ‘qwerty’ printed on your forehead.
In Manchester it’s much more about underground music, i.e deep house/techno/minimal/dub/drum n bass –
as opposed to ‘EDM’. So there’s not as many places I can play out regularly, as say in America where ‘EDM’ is really huge.
This just means that producers making ‘EDM’ in the UK have to get further along with their careers before they’re able to play shows/tour constantly.But yeah, you just have to laugh about it – for instance last weekend I spent Friday night on stage with DVBBS at Ministry of Sound in London, then I was straight back to Manchester behind the counter, serving old people for newspapers/cigarettes etc. Music is all about peaks and troughs…
What everyone wants to know is, what happened with your Tsunami remix? We all know how huge it was, but tell us the back-story: what lead you to create it and what initially blew it up?
It actually started out as a joke/for fun… but I guess that’s how all the best songs start though, because when you’re having fun and it’s completely ‘organic’ – that will come through in the music… as opposed to sitting there straining your brain, trying to come up with a #1 in whatever formula/trend is currently popular. That’s why I always say: Magic > Mixdowns. But yeah, I started just messing with an orchestral version of it – then decided it would be fun to just make the most anthemic/epic/ridiculous version I could.
As for how it blew up, I literally just uploaded it. I didn’t send it to any blogs beforehand etc, I think the fact it was such a huge song already, and remixed in a style people either love or hate is what did it. The plays were flying up from the minute I uploaded it, then as more blogs posted it, and DVBBS posted it on their Facebook page, I literally couldn’t keep up with my Twitter – which was insane.
How has your life changed since that remix?
Well it definitely proved to me that when you’re doing something right, things will start to revolve around you. I was emailed by all kinds of people about it, and had twenty management offers in two weeks after the upload.
What is your next move?
I’m currently working on a bunch of originals, and have some great collaborations lined up – as I’ve only been doing remixes, I think it’s definitely time for a proper release. So I’m taking my time to make something I’m really really happy with.
When do you think your next release will be and can you give us any hint as to what it will be?
I believe it’s out in May. As for hints; it’s probably going to confuse people, it’s taken over a year, and it might be a collaboration with one of the worlds biggest djs.
His story is just as incredible as his productions, and we at Your EDM can’t wait to see him grow as an artist. Follow him on Facebook and Twitter!
Tracklist:
1. Maison & Dragen – Colosseum
2. Estiva – Boxmeister
3. The Prodigy – Smack My Bitch Up (Noisia Remix)
4. DVBBS & Vinai – Raveology (Hunter Siegel Remix)
5. Askery – NaOH
6. Tom Fall – E18
7. Jay Cosmic – To The Rhythm
8. Aruna – Reason To Believe (Steve Kaetzel Original Mix)
9. Sunnery James & Ryan Marciano, Ariyan – Circus
10. Gaia – Empire Of Hearts
11. Dannic – Lion
12. DVBBS & Tony Junior – Immortal
13. DVBBS & Borgeous – Tsunami (Jay Cosmic Remix)
14. Darren Styles & Gammer – Tom Riddle
15. Petruccio & Modulate – Missing (Gammer Remix)
