Contributing WriterUK-born, Australia-based Jwalker debuts on Nervous Records with hotly tipped single ‘Lonely Fans’. The Mau Mau Records label founder enlightens us about his workflow, music scene & future plans…
Hi Jwalker, welcome to Music is 4 Lovers! Where do you find yourself right now and what have you been up to lately?
I have recently moved to Melbourne Australia, so I have been settling into my new home, meeting new people and trying to break into the music scene here.
You are making your Nervous Records debut, can you please tell us something about your single ‘Lonely Fans’?
Fun fact about my new single Lonely Fans; I wrote it whilst living on an exploration mine in the outback of Australia. When you’re hundreds of miles away from civilisation, there’s really not much else to do so thankfully I have a creative outlet in music production that keeps me sane.
What’s your relationship like with Nervous Records? You also own your own label, Mau Mau Records, can you tell us a little bit about this?
I have quite a personal relationship with Nervous Records; back when I was growing up my dad had a great collection of house records that was stacked with Nervous tracks. Then when it was time for me to start buying my own records one of the first I remember buying was an Armand van Helden remix of Kim English’s ‘Nitelife’ which came out on Nervous in 1994, so to finally be releasing on this legendary label is a real full circle moment for me. As for my own label Mau Mau, this is something I’m really proud of, I started it with my best friend Alex during the height of the covid lockdown in 2020, and since then we’ve gone from strength to strength with a worldwide Beatport number 1 and multiple top 10s.
How does your creative process work, particularly for this track?
When I write music I tend to start with a bassline and synths first as they are the core elements for me. I’ll then fit drums in to swing around the bass and synths, and once I have the basis of a track I’ll then find some vocals that really tie everything together.
What’s it like being a British artist living in Australia, how do the scenes differentiate?
The electronic music scenes in the UK and Australia are very different. I think in the UK house music has been around for a while longer, so it’s more ingrained in the culture. However in Australia there seems to be a different atmosphere in the crowd, more people dancing, less people on their phone and plenty of ravers there just for the music. As for how it differs as an artist; I think in the UK the number of high level producers is absolutely crazy and this links back to what I said earlier about it being more ingrained in the culture. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that all the best Australian artists tend to move to Europe.
How did you develop your musical skills, and what challenges have you faced along the way?
I was very lucky that my dad was a DJ so I grew up around real high-quality house music as a kid, giving me a great early musical education. One thing I have struggled with is music production, this comes from my own comparison to the best producers in the world. I’ll listen to a track I love and think to myself ‘there’s just no way I could ever make anything like this’. However, I’m still fairly new to production having only been doing it for about 5 years, so there is plenty of time to improve.
What motivates you to keep learning and pursuing your music career?
To me it’s never felt like a career, I just love doing it, I wake up and listen to music, think about music all day, and then when I come home I’ll make music. Hopefully this can be my full-time job at some point in the future.
What’s next for you? Anything you’d like to share with us?
Yeah, on the 9th of December I’m bringing my label Mau Mau to Melbourne for our first international party. I’m really excited to showcase what we’re about to an Australian crowd. And for me as an artist, I’m just planning on continuing doing what I’m doing, making music, playing parties and seeing where it takes
Jwalker ‘Lonely Fans’ is out now on Nervous Records
PURCHASE HERE
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