Hello Jonathan! Thanks very much for your time to talk to us. How are you today?
Hello guys ! Thanks a lot for having me on this interview. I am feeling very well. I have spent the whole day in the studio producing new music so I couldn’t be happier !
Please can you introduce yourself quickly to our Techno Station TV readers?
I am Jonathan, a 29-year-old French DJ, and producer living in Lyon, France. I started producing and playing music under the name of ‘The Reactivitz’ about 10 years ago. At the start, I was producing different sounding music, more like Deep House, House, and Electro. Therefore, it took time to find my own style as I have always enjoyed many genres of music. I am lucky to live in a city where a lot of underground events are organized, so I started to go to a lot of parties showcasing techno artists. From that moment, my style evolved significantly and I knew that I wanted to have my proper trademark style in the underground scene. For years now I have been releasing and playing Techno and Tech House.
Where are you answering this interview from?
I am answering this interview from my studio which is located in a small city near Lyon in France.
How would you describe your particular brand of electronic music?
I would say that my style is a mix between Techno and Tech house. I love creating dark and powerful tracks with melodic elements, peak time energy, and cool vocal samples. I am not putting up barriers, I produce what I feel when I am in the studio as I love to explore new things.
How has 2022 been for you so far? Any particular highlights?
The year has started really great and the best is yet to come! It’s been a long time since I had played because of the Covid-19, so it was great to be back on stage. I spent a lot of time working on a new project called ‘Slash Mastering’. Indeed, I am currently offering mixing, mastering and track engineering for a lot of artists so I had to implement everything during several months. Regarding my releases, I have decided to slow down a bit my schedule as I released my first album ‘The Uncertainty Of Tomorrow’ on Immersion at the end of 2021. But a few EPs and tracks have seen the light this year on Immersion, Agile, There Is A light, Unity and Form of course.
We’ve just checked out your amazing new ‘Back To The Groove’ EP on FORM Music. Can you talk us through the release?
I was in contact with Mauro Somm for months as I really enjoyed his recent releases. I asked him if he would be opened to produce something together as we have a really close style and then we started making this collaboration. It was so cool because we shared the same vision – we think that Modern Techno Music is lacking a bit of groove and most of the tracks are sounding identical. Bearing this in mind, we wanted to bring back what we both think is the main essence in Techno : the groove and the house vibes. After a month working on some ideas, we came up with a 3 tracker EP. We were really happy about the result as this EP perfectly represents what we had in mind and brings some freshness to the scene. I really enjoyed working with Mauro, he is a really great producer and also a good friend. Now, we are talking really often about music and life in general !
How does your creative process start when making a record like this?
This time, it was a bit different as we were 2 producers working on the projects. For all the tracks, I started the drums and added some elements such as percs, voices, fxs, etc. Then, I sent the ideas to Mauro who worked on them and he sent me back some new ideas after a few days for each. Mauro put the final touches on all the tracks and he did the mixdown and mastering. Normally I use to mix and master the tracks myself but Mauro has really good ears so we decided to keep his versions.
What was it like working with Mauro Somm? Was this your first collaboration?
Working with Mauro was amazing as he has a lot of skills in the studio and he’s producing really fast ! We were sending ideas to each other and each one just did his own thing. As we had the same vision for this EP, it was really easy to understand each other regarding the direction of the tracks.
It was not my first collaboration but I could say that it was one of the best because we were constantly speaking about the tracks advancement and we had so many ideas to share during all the production process.
More on production – what are some of your favourite pieces of studio gear? Are you big into hardware?
– Beyer dynamics DT700. This is the most essential element in my studio. These headphones provide an incredible sound and are perfect for my mixdown and mastering. I’ve been using them for years and I am still happy with them.
– Arturia MiniLab MkII. It’s a small but high quality midi keyboard which gives me hands-on access to the sounds in my music software. It’s solid, has a cool design and it’s easy for me to travel with it.
– Adam Audio A7X I’ve been using these speakers for a year now and I am really happy with the sound quality they provide. They are perfect for techno music !
I am using Vsts plugins such as Nexus 4, Serum and Sylenth1 to produce the melodies in my tracks. I work with them for a long time so I can exploit them at their best.
Are you planning some other new music and projects soon that you can tell us about?
Definitely ! Well I just had this release on Form Music that I am very proud about but I’m so thrilled to show you my upcoming tracks. Actually my schedule is full until the end of the year. I will release some tracks and EPs on my label Immersion and some other tracks which I hope will be signed soon. During the next weeks, I plan to keep producing a lot of new songs !
Any final words for our Techno Station TV readers?
As always, I would say enjoy life and stay focused on what you love. It’s important to remind that when you put a lot of effort in what you are doing, wonderful things happen… just be patient 🙂
The Reactivitz, Mauro Somm – Back To The Groove EP is out now via FORM Music.
