Jet Project - Taking off with Jackmode Radio

Pulse: For those not aware of what it is you guys do, tell us who Jet Project are JP: We are the two headed Belfast house machine, known to our nearest and dearest as Timmy Stewart and John McIver. We started the Jet Project around four years ago when after DJing together on a few occasions we realised we sparked off each other. We decided to develop things by getting into the studio to see what would happen.

Do the two of you have separate projects and how does it differ to that of your Jet Project moniker? Yes, myself as T-Bone and John as Yankee Zulu and we also record under our own names at times too. I think we both love so many sides of house music that having various projects gives us the chance to explore all avenues, deeper, tougher and more electronic sounds. 

Speaking of your discography, there seems to be a lot of vocal samples that layer your grooves. My favourite being in Message from Chi-Town, where do you find said samples? We find our samples all over the place, we are both constantly on the hunt for them. On Message From Chi-town, it was a stack of stuff from the usual sources all cut and pasted together, old vinyl, cds and the internet, that's generally the case every time.

Do you think it's more difficult to come up with something fresh when everyone has access to the same samples online? We are noticing more and more tracks popping up that have often used the same vocal, stab or percussion sample etc but there is usually a different feeling between the tracks, one you may like what they've done with it, another you may not be so keen on. Freshness comes from what you do with your raw materials, so that's down to the individual I guess.

Are there any tracks on your discography that really stand out for you personally or musically? Zuma, Tooth & Bone, Sa Punta, Message From Chi-Town and U Know and Understand This are tracks we feel we nailed what we were trying to achieve, but the best is yet to come we reckon.

Tell us how your signing to Get Digital / Get Physical and Snatch! came about. We met Philipp from M.A.N.D.Y. a few years back and kept in touch, we often send him bits to play or check out and he picked up on certain tracks for the label. We played on the same bill with Riva and he asked us to send him some new material, shortly after we sent him the U Know track and every time he played it out, he said the reaction was amazing. 

Speaking of Snatch!, I hear that there is a Jet Project album in the pipeline? Yes, we are around a third of the way through the album tracks now and it is all starting to come together really well. 

Following success of U Know [a revamp of the Donell Jones classic which featured Ben Westbeech on vocals], are there any more collaborations set for this album? We've just done a collab with Justin Martin which will be on there and we got some amazing vocalists working with us on tracks at the minute, some very well known, some not so but we want to keep that under wraps until nearer the release date.

Any plans for a release date, is it just one track or a full EP? So far just the one track and it will probably be the next single on Snatch!. It's looking like it will feature a full vocal version and possibly additional mixes from Justin and ourselves. It is presently scheduled to be released sometime before the end of the year. 

Who would your ideal collaboration be with? Derrick Carter would definately be cool as we've always liked his sound. One vocalist we have always wanted to work with is actually coming on board for the album on Snatch! which we are very excited about. 

Tell us a little about the label you run with Chris Duckenfield, Extended Play. We are just about to promo EP012, a new Bubba & T-Bone single which also features killer remixes from Rob Mello and OOFT!, so very excited about that one. Things are generally moving along at a really nice pace with the label at present. As well as Duckbeats and ourselves, the roster now includes local boys Bubba and Tabb who we have high hopes for, we just bring in remixers we generally like the sound of and sign demos that prick our ears up.

It's always great when you receive emails of support from people that you've respected for years and that seems to be happening a lot at the minute, so I guess we must be doing something right. We've known Chris Duckenfield for a long time and three house fanatics who are good friends seemed like the right crew to be behind a label. They say business and pleasure don't often mix well but so far so good.

What residencies do you currently boast under your belt? We are residents at Yello in Belfast which we love as it's easily the best club in the city right now. 

How does your residency work when you go back to back? We just play one tune each, back to back all night, Fom deeper stuff as the doors open through to peak time bombs and it really does seem to work, as we are both into a lot of the same sounds and feed well off each other. We've never liked a rehearsed style of djing, so this way is all about the vibe in the room on the night with the people right there in front of you.

What is your ideal set up? 3 CDJ 2000's, a decent mixer, maybe some effects, two fully working monitors and the decks at the right height (no back breakers please), that set up generally ensures you'll get the best out of us.

What would your dream club line-up be if you could programme all your favourite bands and DJs in two rooms? Metro Area, Basic Channel and Henrik Schwarz all playing live in one room with Andrew Weatherall, Derrick Carter and Chris Duckenfield djing in the other, would be pretty hard to beat we reckon.