Every year, Amsterdam turns into an exhilarating hotspot for electronic music lovers. The city hosts the Amsterdam Dance Event festival in October. Starting in 1996 as a three-day conference, it now attracts hundreds of thousands of people from across the world for a five-day extravaganza. Think thousands of events in nearly 200 locations hosted by different promoters. On 19 October, Berlin label Innervisions led a 24-hour music marathon and Schön! was there for every second of it. Featuring the likes of Dixon, Âme, Julya Karma, Trikk and Jimi Jules, the lineup took party goers through a sensational musical voyage. The jam-packed event ended with a magical sunrise set at the iconic Loft in the A’DAM Tower. The intimate crowd were spoilt with a spectacular morning in the clouds, overlooking the waking city. The Innervisions family filled the venue with their infectious vibrant energy, projecting their obvious love for one another to the crowd, all while amping up the atmosphere with a mix of stylish, fun and dynamic music. To top the whirlwind experience off, Schön! spoke to renowned Swiss DJ and producer Jimi Jules and learned how he crafts the perfect set.
You’re here for the ADE festival. Innervisions is doing a 24 hour music marathon. What are you most excited about?
I’m most excited about seeing my friends, the whole team, all the people surrounding Innervisions. I’m excited to make new friends, listen to good music and to have a great 24 hours.
Can you tell us more about your previous ADE experiences? What do you think makes this festival so special?
First of all, Amsterdam is a beautiful city. There are a lot of nice people here, a lot of friends, everybody from the industry is meeting here. When you’re younger it’s different. I was here for the first time 12 years ago. I had to hustle hard, it was kind of tough for the first couple of years. Now, it’s like a yearly meeting between friends and people from the industry. We’re having a good time together.
We’re ending these 24 hours in the Loft for the sunrise. It’s an iconic setting for music events. Was there anything specific that inspired you for this set?
The Loft is pretty special to me because it’s a smaller venue. They can only fit a couple hundred people in there. It’s small for this kind of lineup and for ADE. For me, it’s the best space to end things with a smaller group of close friends. For the set, the music we play is more personal. Also, everybody has been standing or dancing for 24 hours, many of them the whole week, so everyone is exhausted but has a good vibe and energy level to listen to more laid back music.
What is your process when creating a new set?
I receive a lot of demos. I sort them and play the ones I really love. I’m not really playing released music, except mine or from super close friends. Most of the stuff I play is unreleased music. Instagram is super good for this. You can connect with everybody and everybody can contact with me. I’d say out of 100 tracks I receive, I probably listen to 95. I can’t always write back but I listen to all the music I get. I love the scene and I also love to help younger generations, especially young people with a message.
What would you say are your biggest inspirations when making your own music?
My kids! My family, my girlfriend, friends. I also travel a lot. I meet a lot of interesting people, I talk to them. I see things on the street, the dance floor. It’s everything combined. But most of the tracks are a combination of family stories.
You started your musician journey with classical music and jazz. What was the turning point towards electronic music?
I grew up in a classical music family. I always tried to escape this. In the beginning, I was a super fan. I wanted to end up as a classical musician. But then when I played at the orchestra in Zurich, I remember I was about 16, it was my first proper job and I was so unhappy. It was always the same pieces I already knew. And from this very moment on, I knew I needed to find something else. I started to study jazz and while studying I ended up at a rave where Sven Väth was playing. And I was like, okay, this is kind of cool. It was a combination of a lot of things. If I had to pinpoint a moment, this party changed my whole life.
What part of your job do you enjoy the most?
Meeting friends!
You have had some beautiful messages conveyed in some of your projects, such as Human Rights, which is now going to be part of your upcoming project NOW. Can you tell us more about the message behind that?
In every song, I put a personal message. The world is going crazy. It’s burning. Nobody can talk with each other anymore. I love to see everybody talking with each other and to feel together rather than against each other. I’m following up on the last album which came directly after the pandemic. Now we are in a different situation where a lot of people unfortunately hate each other. So, if I can just combine two people who hate each other to become friends, then my job is done.
You’ve collaborated on sets with iconic names in the industry in incredible locations. What’s next?
I need to really learn to live in the moment. I’m always in my head. I’m always dreaming, thinking about being somewhere else already. I always say my biggest goal would be to enjoy the moment. Because who knows what’s happening next? Seeing the kids growing up puts you back in a position where you sometimes think about your life a bit more deeply. Family first! I have a great job but it’s important.
After decades of performing worldwide, how do you think club culture has evolved?
At the moment a lot is going on in our scene. We kind of have to accept that there is constant change going on. Back in the day, there weren’t many clubs like we have now. Sometimes you need to say bye to old things that became comfortable and say hi to new interesting things. I guess the scene is evolving in a more commercial way on one side. But on the other side, in this whole bubble of electronic music, there are more people than ever before. I remember when I was growing up in the 90s we didn’t even have a record store. But now things have changed. The smallest kid can grab a smartphone and listen to a whole range of music they’ve never heard before. So I guess, yeah, I’m for change!
Aside from touring the world and bringing people together with your music, tell us more about what defines you?
My smile! To be honest, I really love what I’m doing. I feel kind of secure in my love of what I’m doing. I feel like I won the golden ticket!
photography. Chad McLean
talent. Jimi Jules
words. Sarah Diab
