Interview with Jaymo & Andy George

Can you give me an insight into how your successful BBC Radio 1 show came about and the first few chapters of the Jaymo & Andy George story.
We were asked to do an Essential Mix after our club night Moda started becoming really popular. It was recorded live at Moda (infront of 1600 people) and we got to know a lot of the Radio 1 crew from there. We made a joke about covering for Pete Tong the very first time we met someone from Radio 1 - and here we are a couple of years later, and we’re doing exactly that. Amazing really - but we put our all into it and like most things, you get out what you put in.

We now consider a lot of the people we grew up listening to on Radio 1 as our friends. They give us tips and advice and have always made us feel welcome - it’s a very cool place to work; it’s a building full of people who are obsessed with music, so we fitted in pretty well.

Now, as well as our show, we cover for Annie Mac, Pete Tong and Kissy Sell Out quite often, as well as doing various other things such as live events and even a bit of daytime radio for a laugh. It’s great to have the opportunity to share music you love with the world and have an affect on peoples lives in such a way. That was a massive part of our musical upbringing, so we understand the gravitas of such a responsibility and dedicate a lot of time to uncovering the best new music from around the world.

Your DJing has taken you all over the world, including the club mecca that is Ibiza, with Moda, this year, taking over the Sunset Terrace at We Love… Space. How does it compare to touring the UK and in particular your own Moda parties?
Playing in Ibiza often gives us a chance to focus more on the Disco and House records we love. Our sets can vary quite far, depending on when and where we are playing. A festival set, for example, will be more instant than a set on the Space Terrace, where we can build a vibe with more of an emotional feel. We are also big believers on respecting a clubs musical policies and those of the other DJ’s on the bill – so if we’re playing before Greg Wilson or Aeroplane, we’re not gonna end our set with the tougher records our bags.

Music should always flow properly of the course of the night, else you may as well be listening to your local wedding DJ playing the latest hit records. Anyone can do that.

When it comes to DJing what should we expect from you guys?
Our sound encompasses House, Disco and Techno, so we can be quite versatile in that sense. This can be anything from Deeper House sounds, to disco edits, Italo, French House, right through to the Techno end of electro, things like Geseffelstien and Brodinski.

They’ll always be a bunch of curveball re-edits in there too, from old Italo tracks to 80’s synth and funk stuff, even the odd Hip Hop cut. Some are more like tool, others are basically remixes.

Moda Volume 1 has an amazing line up of artists including Miami Horror, Tom Staar & The Black Ghosts to name a few. What was the idea behind the compilation and secondly how did you choose the tracks that are on the album – you must receive a hell of a lot of new music, right?
Yeah, we get a lot of new music sent to us – but we also love finding new music – there’s nothing like the feeling of discovery, after all. So we spend a lot of time on Soundcloud and blogs. The compilation is basically us showcasing the best new bands and producers we’ve discovered of the past 18 months or so. A lot of them we’re friends with, as these days when you find an artist you like you can reach out to them in a matter of seconds.

Most of the music was made especially for the compilation, so it was just a matter of waiting for it all - luckily it all came together beautifully and although it spans quite a broad range of electronic music the entire album feels really coherent and we’ve had nothing but love for it.

You mentioned you’ve covered for many other people at Radio 1 – how did that feel?
We can both remember being 12 years old and hearing Pete Tong on a Friday night - his voice will be forever associated with the feeling of weekend freedom, partying and hearing exciting new sounds that make you want to explode. He is pretty much the reason specialist dance music at Radio 1 is world renowned and held with such high regard. So to now be part of that process is a huge honour and something we don’t take lightly.

We’ve covered his show several times and will be doing several times more this Summer - the power of picking the Essential New Tune is a big deal - it’s basically the gold medal of dance music. We’ve also covered Annie Mac’s show quite a bit – she kicks off the weekend at Radio 1. That slot can literally make or break peoples party plans - you have to get the vibe bang on.

Hopefully when we do their shows we bring a little something different to peoples ears!

As well as running Moda, doing the radio show and the record label, you also produce your own music. What are you working on at the moment?
Last year was heavily consumed with DJing and radio, so our aim for this year was to really focus on music. We released a four track EP called Night Music a couple on months ago, which got support from people like Erol Alkan, Brodinski, Djedjotronic and loads more. That was a kind of statement of intent for us - now we’re tying up our second EP, and we hope to have 2 more out before the year is out.

Favorite Moda Moment?
Such a hard question! Doing an Essential Mix live in our hometown was obviously insanity cubed. But then hosting the Sunset Terrace at Space this Summer is a massive milestone for us too. Then, of course, there was seeing Moda Volume 1 in record stores across the UK and looking mad pimp.

Although there’s been a lot of things that have made us really happy we don’t dwell on them for too long - it’s always about getting on to the next big plan!