Flying High

Kristian Jackson is widely regarded as one of Western Australia's most successful dance music exports, after being discovered by Australia's leading electronic dance music label Vicious Recordings in 2006. Since then, his career has surged ahead with a prolific volume of productions, and it is this surge that has prompted his departure from our humble Perth to the big smoke of LA. “I'm going to Vegas to start off with, which is really exciting because it's straight to Sin City”, Jackson chuckles. “Just seeing how big the dance scene is over there and how exciting it is, it's crazy. Once you get a taste for it, you just want more, and to come back home, unfortunately it's just not the same. America's obviously a huge country, but also, going over these is like winding the clock back to '05-'06 when some of the electro-music stuff really blew up in Australia. It's kinda like that over there; the kids are really hungry. It was just a logical thing; you gotta go where the action is!”

A long-term visa in hand, Jackson believes he'll be journeying through the land of the free for quite some time. While he is extremely excited by the sheer vastness of opportunity ahead of him, he admits the move will be emotionally trying. “I'm gonna miss my family more than anything, they mean the world to me; both that and the amazing climate - just the simple things, really. I'm over the moon with the amount of producers in Perth making tunes at the moment too – five years ago, there were hardly any; just me and a couple of others, but now there's so many young guys coming up through the ranks, and they know that if they want to succeed, they have to make music. Some of the guys at the top end of it are doing extremely well, like Knife Party and Shock One; they're absolutely killing it. The scene's really starting to flourish and that in itself is really exciting, so I'm definitely going to miss Perth for that reason as well. Just being amongst it all though; the networking, the agents, the DJs – they're everywhere all the time. The opportunities are amazing. It's going to be worth it,” he says.

Being handpicked back in 2011 by one of America's biggest dance acts, Kaskade, to support massive DJ tours around the country allowed Jackson to experience the US electronic music scene first-hand. He believes that the scene has growing potential, and is excited by the prospect of touring once more with the guy who helped him get on his feet. “Kaskade's been the biggest help for me; he was the one who broke me into America back in 2011, and he's invited me to be a warm-up DJ for him”, Jackson explains, the animation clear in his voice. “I'd like to think I can get myself some pretty awesome gigs regularly with my agency, and hopefully do some collaborations with some quality producers over there, that'd be amazing. I'd like to progress in both areas, both the DJing and the production.”

The last year has been a massive one for Jackson, having to balance the most touring he's ever done with producing more music, both completely original scores and remixes of songs from other artists. He's certainly looking forward to having a bit of time off. “Last year I made about three original tracks and remixed roughly 15 other tracks, so I was pretty busy in that respect, but it was also the busiest year I've had to far in regards to touring, so they sort of went hand-in-hand. I definitely had to be more efficient with my time. This year, I'll probably slow it down a little. Funnily enough, I'm gonna try and focus more on the social media and branding side of things, because I'm realising just how important that is – if you're not on top of that, your talent can get overlooked. I've been investing a bit of money and time into getting graphics done and making video clips, so about a third of my time's dedicated to all the online stuff. I've also slowed down on the remixes this year too because there's just too many of them. As for what's ahead, until I get myself set up in the studio in America, I'll have a bit of time off. I can do stuff on my laptop, but I need a studio to do the proper mixes. I don't know how that's gonna happen; I'm moving over there in three weeks so I've just gotta find a place to live first. No idea what's around the corner!”

Being so heavily involved in the electro scene means that new subgenres are constantly trying to break their way into the EDM lexicon, and many artists find it difficult to adjust. Jackson reckons the electronic scene in the U.S was what kept him motivated and inspired to continue on with that style after almost changing direction. “I think that the way I make my music is based on how I feel at the time, so it changes a fair bit”, Jackson says. “I was getting out of the whole electro thing a few years ago – I was really over it, and I was trying to make whatever else I could, mainly more melodic, happy stuff, but then, the American electro scene began blowing up, and I think that's what made my sound revert back to electro. When I was over there, I was playing songs from five years ago that they'd never heard before! I'd play something and they'd be like, “What's this?!” and I'd tell them that's what we used to play over in Oz. So really, we're actually a little bit ahead of them over here. I'd like to think my music's progressed and I'm a better producer, but I don't think my sound's changed too drastically. You want to stay relevant with the scene's progression, but you want to stay true to yourself as well. You need to find that medium.”

Before heading off, Jackson's looking forward to having one final farewell show. He's pretty thrilled at being able to play some of his own tunes which, he confesses, he doesn't play nearly enough as he's like. “I don't play enough of my material live”, Jackson admits. “Sometimes I'll be playing in more commercial venues and the music I've made and know will clear the floor. I put my DJ head on first, always. I was a DJ before I was making this stuff, and if it's not gonna work, I'm won't do it. When the club's right and the vibe's right I'll chuck in some of my own stuff – in the bigger and better clubs you can get away with a lot more, but yeah, it's a lot tougher in the commercial clubs. I know lots of people coming along to the final show that haven't been out in a long time and have slowed down a bit, so I want to make sure I have some re-edits of my own tunes to get them back into the swing of things. The new kids coming into the club probably won't be familiar with them, but if I put a new mash-up in behind it, it'll be more relevant. It's definitely going to be a special night. I can't wait!” he concludes.