JANSONS

In this month’s exclusive Producer Masterclass video, Jansons takes us through one of 2019’s biggest house tracks, Switch. And over the next few pages, he discusses how he started out on his path to production success…

Jansons, aka Michael Jansons, had a massive breakthrough hit last year with Switch, a thundering house track which found its way to the heights of Radio 1’s major playlists. Jansons is also half of LoveHrtz – a production duo with releases on Knee Deep In Sound, Four Thirty Two and 8bit – and a DJ, with appearances everywhere from London’s Fabric to Watergate Berlin, and at festivals including Hideout and Snowbombing. In this month’s Producer Masterclass, he reveals how the track Switch came together, including details of how he recorded vocalist Nisha aka Dope Earth Alien, and weaved kick, percussion and bass around the results. Before that, though, it’s time to get a little background on the Jansons sound and production philosophy…

cm: So, heading back in time, how did you first get into dance music production?

Jansons: “I started going to raves in my teens and was so into the music that I got a pair of turntables. My mates and I would mix every day at each other’s houses, missing college classes; we were obsessed with it. I then started to get really interested in how records were made, so I did a music tech course up in Lincolnshire and basically spent every minute I had on my PC and Logic 5 Platinum at the time, learning the software and working on my techniques.

“I then moved back down to London and set up a record label along with two friends, started releasing music and then engineering for other artists, and my reputation began to grow, leading to me becoming the artist ‘Jansons’.”

cm: What would you say inspires your sound?