Alex Jones: From hype to Hypercolour

Alex Jones: DJ, promoter, producer, designer, collaborator and all round dance music lover.  The man who co-owns the ever impressive Hypercolour label has been on the scene since his days at Big Beat Boutique and continues to push the boundaries of what he does with his new N/A.3 project along with George Levings of Commix and Maya Jane Coles. Having just delivered an exclusive mix for the Join The Dots radio show, Helen S caught up with this restless soul to see where sound will push him next.

Alex Jones mix for Join The Dots and Pulse Radio

Pulse: Hello Alex, where are you right now?  Alex Jones: Chariots All Male Spa [laughs].

Why the fascincation with dance music and where did it start for you?  Fascination?  Unsure actually, it's annoyingly infectious. It all started with drum & bass I think, I used to go to parties like Desire, Slammin Vinyl and Dreamscape, buying tape packs.  Then I got some decks at about 17 I think, I was playing garage & 2step then & started putting on the odd event (poorly I might add) and then I moved onto playing breaks.  Somewhere along the line I got into house / Techno.  Oh and I might have gone to the odd trance night along the way too.

You've done everything in your time from production to promotion to Dj'ing to running a label- where does your heart lie?  D'jing is the most fun, but I enjoy the production side also, apart from the cabin fever. The record labels are dear to my heart because I also design the products, it's nice to get sent the new vinyls, especially the Glass Table picture discs, and see them turn out well, it also means I can write
daft stuff on the records to amuse myself.  But the best thing about it is making other people happy with the music I think, which is tricky as most of the music we release is pretty dark.

Your residencies in London and beyond read like a where's where of clubbing, starting at Big Beat Boutique and ending up at your own Retox night. What keeps you driving forward and changing your game?  It's easier than a real job [laughs].

Is there one of those residencies that has been a favourite for you and why?  Big Beat Boutique would have to be the most memorable- I was young and I was playing to lots of people with the biggest names in dance music at the time- and on vinyl!

Your production work began back in 2007. Tell us about your first release and how it felt to make that step.   The first release was on Hypercolour, it was the 2nd release on the label following Glimpse, Jamie jones remixed me on it. I guess once I had a release out I felt more involved in the scene.

You've since produced some epic stuff for labels like Vitalik, Playhouse,Glimpse, Kindisch and No.19. Why the desire to start your own label, Hypercolour?  I started it along side Jamie Russell because we thought we could do a better job than most of the stuff that was out there! Simple as that. We
would then be in control of who / what we release and try and do the best job we could.  Quality control is key in this game I think. We’ve had some hiccups along the way but our back catalogue is pretty solid in my opinion.

Who are you most proud of that has come from your label and what do you have coming up? No-one really, I hate them all equally. I guess our core artists are my fave 'cause they’re my friends. Maya Jane Coles, Kris Wadsworth, Shenoda, Tom Demac, Axel Boman, Glimpse.  We tend not to work with idiots. Coming up we have new eps from Maya Jane Coles, Christopher Rau, Mosca, T.Williams, Axel Boman, Glimpse, Tom Demac, Ste Roberts, Zumo, Fabio Gianelli, Kevin McPhee, Murphy Jax, myself and lots of others I’ve forgotten I’ve actually started a new label with Ste Roberts (who works with me at
Hypercolour) called ‘Initials’ featuring people such as Greenville Massive,Troy Pierce, Pedro, Jay Bliss, Ahmet Sisman.   So that’s exciting!

London has always been at the centre of your dance music world but where else gets you going?  Always depends- Berlin is always fun, Beijing is cool, Barcelona, Ibiza, wherever really as it depends on the crowd on the night!

N/A.3 is a pretty intriguing project involving George Levings (one half of Commix) and Maya Jane Coles- what plans for the future of that?  Watch this space!

To find out more about Alex Jones, head here

Listen to Alex Jones on Pulse Radio