Today we’d like to introduce you to Jay Hill.
Hi Jay, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
Thanks so much for taking an interest in me. To start I’m an electronic music maker, DJ & record label owner of People of the Light records.
I’m originally from Los Angeles, California where the start of my music voyage began around 2010 when I started taking DJ lessons. In 2012 moved to New York City to pursue my music career dreams and started producing my own music around 2015.
In 2017 decided it was time for a break from the NYC hustle and moved to Philadelphia so that I could better focus on my productions and have my own music studio.
From there as things continued to evolve, in early 2020 decided to launching my own record label called ‘People of the Light.’ And here I am . . .
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
I think an artist’s journey is always met with struggles and obstacles but what I’ve learned is that how we respond and react to these highs & lows are what defines our success or failure. . . In the earlier part of my career I worked so hard in NY to make a name for myself – throwing my own parties & working in freelance jobs by day. I burnt myself out paying my dues – yet it all lead to something greater and I’m grateful for every moment during that time.
I tend to be a more reclusive introverted person although my DJ life is what people see. They don’t see all the work behind the scenes in the studio that lead to that gig. The struggles I face are trying to put myself out there enough so people can connect with me & my music and then retreating when I feel I need to take space to nurture my creative /artist side.
I’m not at a place in my career where I feel I need to be out to be seen at parties or on the bill for a bunch of gigs. Until a few years ago I used to take it personally that my phone wasn’t ringing off the hook for bookings. But now I’ve come into acceptance of where the music scene is at this moment in time – in rebuilding mode. I know that I’m exactly where I need to be and things will fall back into place in the right time.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
The music that I love and have a deep passion for is high quality underground style electronic music – mostly house, techno with some breakbeats and other subgeneres. I hate to sound like a snoot, but I could never make or DJ commercial music I feel like it’s missing depth, soul & emotion that I look for when putting together my DJ sets. I continue to discover new artists & music that blow me away – this music is far more than “repetitive 4/4 beats. . .
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Great question. Yes, so many beautiful things transpired in my life in spite of a crap situation. I think the most important thing I learned is to value and cherish all I have in my life each & cherish everyday. They say you don’t know what you had until it’s gone” and that’s exactly what we experienced – in milliseconds all the normality’s of life were taken from us. As a result, I feel like now things like traveling to gathering with friends & loved ones and being able to play music to a crowd of happy dancers are all things I value much more. . .
I also learned to become a lot more comfortable with uncertainty and to embrace it rather than fearing it. I did a lot of soul-searching during lockdown and found myself to be a lot more resilient than I ever thought I would be. . .
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
I’m often shifting gears in my roles between producer/artist, DJ & record label owner. They all go hand in hand in many ways and have accepted this comes with the territory of being in the music industry today.
What I think that sets me apart is that I equally produce and DJ both house & techno. Often, you’ll see producers & DJs who really only do one or the other. Once they get pigeon holed in that category it’s really hard to break out of – so I strive to continually showcase that I do both as I couldn’t confine myself to only one. I love spinning chilled out, dreamy Balearic house music at beach clubs in Spain as much as I love fast, dark techno in warehouses of Berlin. . .
I also think that not many DJ’s & producers start their own record label. So I think this is something that helps round out my “package” and I’m learning so much with my label, People of the Light.
In fact we have our first vinyl release coming out late spring/early summer. It’s a pretty special release for us as it’s a tribute to Detroit legend, the late Mike Huckaby who sadly passed in April 2020.
Yeah, this career path is a marathon not a race and I’m totally cool with that. . . ☺ x jh
Contact Info:
- Email: bookingjayhill@gmail.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/lejayhill
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/ladyjayhill
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/jayneuf
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_m_NZH-kWMiAnE1sH50W1g
- SoundCloud: www.soundcloud.com/jayneuf
- Other: https://www.beatport.com/artist/jay-hill/398574
Image Credits
Khadija Bhuiyan
Brad Kingett
Moustafa Mazhar
Frank Weiss
