Amsterdam based producer JURGAZ started releasing music in 2018. Since then his electronic and bouncy – Hip Hop inspired – sound, got supported by big acts like R3HAB or Flosstradamus. We had a chat about his upcoming as an artist, his production process and learned why analytics are important to Jurgaz.
First things first: What got you hooked on producing music?
When I was 14, I heard a song on the radio and I fell in love with it so much. The melodies where so on point at that time, the whole beat was perfect and everything felt into place and at that moment I thought how did they do that? And of course, I heard a lot of music from other artists but it was that song that had me thinking… How can I do that too? I really found everything out at age of 15 and started making my music and fell in love with it. I kept practicing to be better and try to understand the grind and emotions about music and this is what made me today.
Could you sum up some personal milestones in your artist development?
The biggest and first one is that I was able to get myself a deal on Netflix what I’ve never think of when I started making music in the first place. I had my first big gig back in 2019, as I am proud of today. It was fun looking at people enjoying my music live! And that’s why I make music, to make people happy and forget about their problems or other issues they have.
One of those milestones were giving a small masterclass to 100 people who really were interested in my music as well as they really wanted to learn how I did certain things.
When you start a new track – what are the first steps?
Honestly, I start with the intro and then I work my way up to the drop. For me, the intro tells a lot about your track but it really depends on what you make and what you come up with. Sometimes I start with the drop because then the idea what I wake up with are drop sounds or melodies and that’s why the mind is so beautiful, in music you can think it and make what you think.
When I start my empty project from scratch, I start with a basic melody for my intro and add more chords and melodies to it if I feel like it needs more thickness. Mostly those melodies are piano sounds because I think I can hear those melodies better and hear if I can add more melodies to it to make it even greater. Then I move on with the basslines aswell as the drums and look for a swing.
If I have the swing, then I will create the drop melodies based on what I have and slowly build my track into a master piece.
How important are data insights for your (strategic) decisions?
Well, very important because with insights. You can see where your fans are from, how your track is doing and where is it doing it. With Insights I was able to have more streams on my music because I know what my fans like. Without insights, it’s like shooting the ball and never look where it landed.
Name 3 major mistakes you made that other musicians could learn from.
The first mistake I made was that I was afraid to put my work online that I already thought was not good enough and that is something you shouldn’t do. Leave it to the listeners and ask friends or family for feedback, your worst track can be a hit.
The second mistake was not really trusting the process. I kept looking at my downfalls that I almost gave up on my dream while I had to understand that its not about the downfalls, but what you learn of it and move on to something better.
The third mistake was to never BACKUP my files. People always told me to buy a external drive to update my files but I always said: “It’s cool don’t worry” but then my laptop died and all my projects and stuff where on the laptop, and I couldn’t get that stuff back till this day.
I learned my lesson and since then I almost update my stuff every day. It’s really helpful when these kind of things happen. Also make sure to backup your whole pc/laptop in case it might crash!
What’s next for Jurgaz? Any upcoming releases you can tease?
My first release will come out this year, end of January! I am very excited to tell that my first official album is on the way this year, also fresh new Trap and House music are on the schedule ready to take over the scene! I will also drop some track breakdowns and tutorials on my YouTube channel so make sure not to miss that.
There are some dope collaborations coming with very talented producers this year as well as some of the hottest rappers in the game. I don’t want to tell much about it but keep an eye out for me this year!
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