Introducing: Jordan Peak

In the first of a new series, we introduce you to house talent Jordan Peak...

Brit talent Jordan Peak already has a number of worthy releases on Robsoul, Raum...Musik, Saved and Tsuba to his name. His vibe takes in plenty of old school house aesthetics but pairs them with a future vision that makes them some of the hottest joints out there right now. Ahead of his next releases on One Records and Tsuba (with a Steffi remix, no less) respectively, we get the lowdown from the man himself...

Introduce yourself…

I'm Jordan Peak, i'm 24 years old, originally from Portsmouth now based in London.

How and when were you first infected by electronic / dance music?

My first exposure to dance music was through my dad, he wasn't a DJ but he loved house music. He collected lots of US house, stuff like Masters At Work, Kerri Chandler, DJ Sneak, Todd Terry, the early Armand Van Helden stuff and loads from the Strictly Rhythm label. I guess I caught the bug through hearing his records.

How and why did you get into DJing and producing?

I tried to learn to play instruments when I was younger, about 10 to 12 but I knew that I didn't want to just "play something", I wanted to be able to make songs. I grew up listening to my mum's disco, funk and soul records and the house stuff from my dad and I wanted to make my own music with those influences. I brought a cheap pair of decks when I was 13 and started to work on my own tracks at 18.

What are the most important things for you when making music?

Personally for me its all about the groove. A track can be really simple, not have too much stuff going on, be very stripped back and very, very repetitive but if it has that right kind of swing then it can make me want to dance for hours on end. Thats something I try to capture with all my music whether I make more main time bits or deeper stuff.

Same question when DJing... what are your goals?

To move the crowd with my take on house and techno. I'm always looking for records, trying to find rare stuff that other people might not have. I love it when you get someone ask what the record your playing is and there shocked to find that its from the 90's or even the late 80's. I think thats the way people really stand out now as everything that comes out today is available online for everyone to download.

Who or what would you consider as your main influences?

The list goes on and on (and on!). I get inspired by so many people, all of them in a different way to the other. The most notable I suppose are Adam Shelton, Craig Richards, Ricardo Villalobos, Dyed Soundorom, Raresh, Onur Ozer, Kerri Chandler, Todd Terry, DJ Sneak, Phil Weeks, Mark Farina, MK, Halo & Hipp-E, DJ W!ld, Rio Padice, Agnes, Azuni . . . I really could go on and on.

What makes you, you?

Hmmm, tough question. I don't know really, I just try to play the music I want to play and make the sounds that I want to make. I try to take influence from the artists and sounds that inspire me and put my on stamp on it.

Musically, what got you most excited recently?

So much stuff, like I said before i'm always looking for records and theres so much good music out there. I found this record by Cajmere recently that I have been searching years for (Cajmere "Horny" (Sing It Mix) [Cajual]), looking forward to getting that through my mailbox from discogs. The new ep from Hector on One Records is off the hook, that should be out soon and ive also been playing loads of stuff from Nikola Gala, John Dimas, GummiHz & Tom Ruijg recently.

What are you working on?

Ive just finished my debut ep for Robsoul that i'm buzzing about. As a massive house fan its great to be involved in the label as lots of house legends have released on there, Sneak, Derrick Carter, Mark Farina, Inland Knights, Mike Dunn, David Duriez etc and of course Phil Weeks. Theres also my debut ep on Tsuba which has a remix from the super talented Steffi, a release on Area Remote thats a collaboration between myself and Mark Fanciulli and some more stuff on the excellent One Records. Theres also a few remixes on various labels and also some edits ive done under the guise of Odd Terry, they will be vinyl only though.

Who are you outside of music?

Apart from music my other main hobby is movies, i'm really into Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, Luc Besson and Chris Nolan films. I like to go to the gym but that doesn't happen as much as it should do if i'm honest.