A few weeks ago I got the chance to sit down with the incredibly talented Jersey Club pioneer, R3LL fresh off of his plane from Tomorrowland. R3LL played on the Dim Mak stage at Tomorrowland which also hosted Benny Benassi, Borgore, and Keys N Krates.
R3LL is one of the pioneers of a new sound called Jersey Club that has been taking night life by storm and is starting to make its way on to some bigger stages. I first came upon Jersey Club and R3LL when I
The music industry is no easy endeavor and has become a saturated market full of new musicians and styles. R3LL "In 2006 I was a part of a street team that was throwing teen parties and in 2008 I decided I didn't want to be in the crowd anymore, I wanted to DJ."
He knew it can be especially hard for new musicians with new styles to make an impact with large audiences but there is always room for new sounds. "When you make more of those club hits type of music you get more parties and more shows but I wanted to do it with a twist so a friend showed me how to start making music and I haven't stopped since."
Continuing in the music career can be a rough road and definitely is not something you can become super successful in if it is treated as a small hobby. To stay relevant in the music industry you have to be constantly improving but also have a drive of your own to keep pushing you through the hard times. I wanted to know what was R3LL's motivation to turn his party hobby into a full-time career.
"I never really wanted to do it for the money or the fame I mostly just wanted to take the music I grew up with and create a culture around it that I could share with the world." In 10 years R3LL went from promoting house parties to playing at the biggest music festival in the world with Steve Aoki so obviously this Jersey Club sound had to be something pretty special.
One of R3LL's biggest breakouts was was his remix of Cashmere Cat's Rice Rain and it is a cheery dance take to a song that was very slow and intimate. I asked him what his approach was to make a remix and he emphasized that "when I'm making a remix I visualize how I would dance to it and go from there. It's all about the energy, I want to create a certain energy when I mix a song. I like to think about how I can make it something that people can bounce to." R3LL saw huge success with his remixes by taking upbeat songs and adding that Jersey
Tomorrowland is the world's largest electronic dance music festival that people travel to from around the world which has only helped build its prestige. R3LL got the opportunity to travel to Belgium with Steve Aoki to perform at Tomorrowland on the Dim Mak stage during weekend 2.
"It was like the biggest carnival ever mixed with Alice in Wonderland yet you still can't put it into words." We talked about his experience with at Tomorrowland and what it was like to bring Jersey Club to Belgium. "It was crazy to bring my culture and style to a place that is just so different from anything I've ever experienced."
R3LL spent some time in L.A. after Tomorrowland relaxing and making some music but has since moved to Arizona for a big change. R3LL has spent his time working on developing his sound and playing in clubs to build his reputation with the Arizona scene and it has definitely paid off.
R3LL will be performing at Hades' Halloween rave, Underworld. If you are attending Underworld of the 28th of October, make sure to go check out R3LL as he prepares to bring Arizona, "something new and exciting that will shock you and make you dance."
