ADSR Mix 005: J-Path

July. 25. 2014

The mighty Jung Park aka J-Path drops in for this weeks edition of the Weekend Warmup.  From promoting to DJing and producing to instructing, the man has been an integral part of the vibrant electronic music scene of Seoul, South Korea for many years.  Never satisfied with your typical approach or predictable productions, few artists consistently push the creative envelope quite like this man.  We caught up with J-Path to exchange a few words and he left us with a mix: rich in crisp percussion and warm basslines.  

So how did you get started with DJ’ing?  Who were you biggest influences when starting out?
I was well into metal, progressive bands when I was in high school. Bands like Rush, Sepultura, Napalm Death, Dream Theater, Carcass, Fear Factory, NIN, Megadeth, Metallica, etc. However, after realizing that I wasn’t retaining any of the anger of my adolescence, I gradually plunged more into music that had less lyrical content yet still had that equivalent energy.  Having a short band experience with high school mates I felt like most musicians/ instrumentalists that i came across at that time were mostly interested in their playing technique rather than the bigger embodiment of the music as one piece.  I gradually starting purchasing electronic music and this led me to Goldie’s Timeless album. I was blown away and just started digging deep into the scene and discovered so much stuff about the entrepreneurship behind independent labels and the whole DJ/ producer movement. Luckily around the early 2000 I met a Japanese/Korean DJ Fuji who had a lot of records and I got the chance to play with his records at his flat. Bought my decks after and started collecting my own records.

How do you feel your South American upbringing and Korean roots have affected your music? 
I would have to say the biggest influence was my mom’s record collection. Michael Jackson, Diana Ross, Bee Gees, Carpenters, ABBA, Nana Mouskouri, CCR, Lionel Richie, Olivia Newton John, FleetWood Mac, and many others. I would have to say when I was staying in Brazil & Chile I had various influences. But those influences hit you subconsciously and it’s a bit difficult to theoretically break it down.  It’s tough to say how it has shaped my current taste or philosophy.

How is the current music scene in Korea?  What has been your involvement past, present and future?
Countless clubs are thriving across Korea, although most of them are very commercial and not really my cup of tea. It doesn’t mean I don’t like commercial music or the intention, but it just gets boring when the majority is heading that path. The local scene seems to be growing and more home grown stuff seems to be formulating but it’s definitely an assumption since I’ve not been going to any clubs recently for the past 2 years. I’ve just been focusing on production and having production classes at my studio.

In the past I’ve been involved with Global Gathering in Seoul during 2009 & 2010. I hosted a dnb party called Junglist for 6 years, some artists we hosted included: Goldie, Fabio, Andy C, Doc Scott, London Elektricity, D-Bridge, Storm, Marcus Intalex, Black Sun Empire, Shy FX, and many others. I’m currently working on going through all the songs that I’m sitting on to release in the near future. Working on creating an outlet and gradually creating an event based around the releases.

Instructor, producer, promoter, DJ… are these all equally important to you?  
I’ve not been involved with promotion for the last 2 years but I’ve learned a lot from it. All of them could be important but I think it’s different where you are standing in the picture. I look at the role of a dj, producer, and instructor side as one entity because every aspect of each role is interconnected. But I prefer choosing the word facilitating than instructing. Promoting an event that you believe in can be tied into the picture too, but would like to leave it out since I’m not really involved in it.

Talk to us about what you have going on with “Sonic Powwow”.  Is there a good community of young, up and coming producers in Korea?
I’ve started doing an online free tutorial called: “Sonic Powwow” to interact with people live. Usually Korean education is not based on being interactive and most of the seminars in existence weren’t what I had in mind.  So I’m working on something that will hopefully be engaging and address some of these things I feel are lacking in music education in Korea. 

What is your creative and musical philosophy?  How do you integrate these ideas into your productions?
Being honest with your influences and doing your best to contribute your own taste to what inspired you. You might also realize that what you enjoy listening to and producing might be completely different. So being honest with your intention I think is important. Allowing yourself to progress into something that you weren’t expecting… for the better. Make music for yourself before even thinking about what others might think of it. Dedicate your time and have fun with your tools to create the aesthetics that you are envisioning. Put as much time into it as you can. Having ideas is never enough since it takes a bit of time to reach the realm of substantiating it with confidence and certainty. Set yourself up to have fun. It takes a lot of experimentation to even know what makes it fun for you.