One of the brains behind the Edinburgh-based club night Palidrone, J Wax has emerged as one of the Scottish capital’s top purveyors in breaks, garage and bassy niceness. Ahead of his b2b with Dansa (as part of EHFM’s takeover of the Saloon Bar), we chat with the DJ and producer about his love for warped club sounds, cutting his teeth as a raver in Dundee The Reading Rooms, and his latest stomper that’s been tearing up the floor, “Nasty”…
Hi J Wax! Will you start by introducing your mix to us?
I’m Jace, and I produce and DJ under J Wax. I’ve put together this mixtape for Kelburn inspired by the gigs I’ve been doing over the first half of this year, the club tracks I’ve been playing that are most resonating with the crowds, and the tunes that I’ve been enjoying for the past six months. I wanted to put it all together for a highlight in the middle of the year, which I think will go down well at Kelburn.
What were some of your early introductions to music when you were growing up?
The main stuff was being in the car with my dad. Between the passenger seat and the driver’s seat, there’s a little thing that was just filled with CDs. I remember always putting on the album by Mos Def, called Black on Both Sides, when I was really young. That was my first introduction and it just spiralled from there. I got quite into hip hop when I was a bit younger. 70s punk as well, like Magazine, The Clash and stuff.
I started playing in bands, playing bass guitar throughout high school, and then when I was 16, I was like, recording bands is so expensive. Maybe I can learn to do it myself. I ended up downloading a version of Cubase and started to write music on that. At the same time, I was listening to a lot of Moby and Nightmares on Wax. That’s when I started getting recommended Boiler Rooms on YouTube. I remember seeing that stuff when I was still in school, and it got me into electronic music.
What was the music scene like when you were growing up in Tayport?
Dundee was the big one for me at first. Tayport’s on the water and then Dundee’s on the other side of the bridge. I spent a lot of time there, mainly at the weekends. A few of my mates, when they started getting fake IDs, started going to The Rooms. The first time I went there, I remember it vividly. Dundee uni students put on a night there, and I thought it was the most amazing thing ever. For the next two years, I was at The Rooms constantly. I always liked to go on a Thursday, and then Saturday normally would be a student night and a bigger DJ would come.
When a few older pals moved away to uni, I started going through to Edinburgh and Glasgow and seeing the clubs there. I eventually moved to Edinburgh for uni, but Dundee was great. It’s a shame that we’ve not really had a club staple like The Rooms. It was a great location to meet people. It seemed like quite a cool safe space. Everyone was really sound with each other. People really wanted to be there. I don’t know if Dundee has a hub like that anymore on that kind of scale. But I did absolutely love the scene there. It was brilliant.
Were you drawn to any particular styles of music when you started exploring Glasgow and Edinburgh?
When I moved to Edinburgh, that was the first time I was hearing garage and breakbeat and more bassy stuff. When I was growing up, it was a lot more techno and house, so I was mainly seeing a lot of techno DJs. I also got a brief period when this new electro came over and I got really into that for a bit.
At what point did you start DJing?
It was around 2018. I was producing first, and then I started my own night with my pals called Palidrone in the first year of uni. I couldn’t really DJ at that point. My first set I was playing, I had no clue what I was doing. I basically was mixing out of instrumental into instrumental, making sure there’s no drums so it didn’t clash.
What was the thinking behind setting up Palidrone?
Dan met my pal Jamie, who I lived with before we moved to Edinburgh. Dan’s from Norwich, and he moved up to Edinburgh to go to the art school there. He was there DJing with some pals that I knew. He came to Dundee one night for a Rooms night, and I met him at an afters. I was like, ‘I’m moving Edinburgh in September.’ And we were like, ‘Oh cool, let’s start a night.’ Even if it was an afters chat, we did proceed. Playing tunes in Edinburgh felt like the thing to do once you moved there. There wasn’t too much thought behind it. We just wanted to put on a really good night.
What kind of sound do you push at Palidrone?
It’s quite funny, because in terms of myself, I produce more quirky bassy stuff, a bit more catchy, whereas for the Palidrone sound, we’re quite warped and leftfield, a bit more experimental club music. My own stuff is quite different, but I like going between them.
Your new track “Nasty” was named one of the top tracks of the year so far by Mixmag. How has it gone down in clubs?
It’s done well. I’ve had a lot of fun making it. As a producer, I can spend ages working on a track and I’ll get to the end and I’m like, ‘I don’t even like this.’ But I made “Nasty” in about an hour, so it’s quite funny seeing how that’s been going down well in clubs. All my mates like it. They sing along to the sampled bit as well. And it was funny, that whole Mixmag thing, because I didn’t know about it. I went on my phone one day and it was like, Mixmag has tagged you in their story. That was a great bit of feedback to have.
What’s up next for J Wax?
With “Nasty”, I’m about to release a remix pack with the label. We’ve got quite a few artists to remix it, so that’ll be out at the end of this month.
I’m working on another EP, which I’ve got a few tracks done for. I’m buzzing for that. And then I’ve been making tracks for the EP after as well. We’re going to really go for that and work to collaborate more. We’ll get a lot more vocals involved and try and build upon the sound. So I’ve got two EPs in the works that will keep me busy for the next wee while.
The remix EP and the EP coming out after is Headroom Records. I’ve mainly been releasing with them and Future Classic. They’re a French label, a sub of Unity Group. I’m actually going out to play one of their label nights in Paris in October.
Could you share a favourite memory from Kelburn Garden Party?
I’ve not been to Kelburn yet! I know, I know. It’s funny, because actually we were going to buy our tickets. We had our laptop out, then we were watching Masterchef and got distracted. Then the next day, I got asked to play. So aye, I’m buzzing. I’m so excited. I’ve not been to a Scottish festival since T in the Park.
Thanks J Wax! Catch you with EHFM in the Saloon Bar!
