The year 2002 brought us classic hits like Without Me by Eminem, Rapture by Iio and Hot In Here by Nelly, but for Jebu at the age of eight, the track that stuck to him like glue was Benny Benassi’s Satisfaction. Fast forward to today and he is playing shows all over the country and making his mark in the world that is progressive house. Steve Angello has signed a few tracks to his label Size, as well as dropped Jebu’s recent remix of Galantis’ You at the EDC music festival in Mexico. This support speaks wonders and is just a sign for things to come.
PEARL: What was it about Satisfaction that resonated with you?
JEBU: The track was different, especially compared all the popular music back then. It had a lot of energy about it and it stuck with me for ages. A few years later I finally figured out what genre it was.
PEARL: So how did DJ’ing and producing come into the picture?
JEBU: I got into DJ’ing ‘through’ producing. I used to listen to a lot of hip-hop, then one day I stumbled across a music production program called FL Studio. I started putting some beats together and at first it wasn’t any particular genre, but it eventually turned into house music. I always thought if I was going to DJ, I wanted it to be because of my music. From there a did a few house parties, finished year 12 and two days after my 18th birthday I played my first gig at Humpday!”
PEARL: You have collaborated and brought out a few tracks with Ivan Gough. How did you two start working together?
JEBU: I was at a writing camp where producers and singers come together and write music and I started working a track, which came to be ‘Kukatu’ (out now on Steve Angello’s Size record label). Ivan came in the studio that I was working in to collect a keyboard and asked me what the track was. We talked a bit more and he asked me to email to him. Then we decided started working on it together a few weeks later. For the last year, he’s been mentoring me and we’ve done a few tracks together. We work on a lot of records together now and do a heap of co-writing with other artists.
PEARL: How would you describe your sound?
JEBU: You could say the stuff I write is more of a festival house sound. When I wrote Kukatu, I made it with a festival setting in mind. I didn’t care if it didn’t get played anywhere else; I imagined it being played at Tomorrowland or Ultra Music Festival in Miami. That’s where my sound comes from. I always imagine the bigger picture when I’m writing tracks. Right now, I’m trying to bring back house grooves to the scene. Less loud EDM and more house.
PEARL: What else can fans expect from you this year?
JEBU: Fresh, different and interesting house music, as well as much more touring around the country.
Listen to Jebu’s tracks online now via www.soundcloud.com/jebu and for more information, visit www.facebook.com/officialjebu, www.twitter.com/itsjebu or find him on BeatPort.
JESSICA TAYLOR
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