Jenaux is on the edge of a major breakthrough. The young, NYC-based producer has been sitting on a lot of unreleased progressive tunes that will finally be coming to light in 2015, starting with “Renegades” with American Idol alum Pia Toscano. The tune is in stores today, and will also be featured on Tritonal‘s next compilation CD Tritonia 002, which is out March 9th on Enhanced Recordings. Your EDM recently caught up with Jenaux to talk about the evolution of his sound, his new track, and more.
Who are you currently listening to?
I love Nate (Audien)’s sound. His new tracks are out of this world. And I have always been a fan of Zedd. He’s really paved the way for a lot of people in the sense that he’s proven that you can be a dance artist and a producer for mainstream acts. I really enjoy pop and vocal house and it’s also something I want to pursue. I definitely look to him and Nate for inspiration; the Tritonal guys are just absolutely crushing it with ‘Satellite’ and ‘Anchor’ too.
Your new track “Renegades” features the vocals of Pia Toscano. How did the two of you end up working together?
I was hanging out in my studio one night in the Upper East Side, just me and bunch of the engineers talking about music and its dynamics and whatnot. I started writing these chords, and I came up with the riff – a simple chord melody but very impactful, just an instrumental, really. But then I heard the vocal in my head so I sent it to my buddy Jared who works with Pia and who I worked with on ‘Turn Your World Around.’ He sent it to Pia right away and I think within an hour they sent something back which was incredible because this all happened in just a night. The next week they sent over the vocals and since then it’s been through a few stages, but it turned out to be a great track.
Did you have any previous contact with Enhanced Recordings before?
I share the same management team as Audien so they knew Will Holland from Nate’s previous releases on Enhanced. He knew my tracks ‘Maya’ and ‘Saints,’ very progressive tracks, but not overly trancey because I don’t really want to make the trance that was prevalent years ago. My managers sent him a track which he liked and then sent ‘Renegades’ which he loved.
You’ve made both electro and progressive house. Do you prefer one over the other?
I haven’t made electro house in a long time, probably over a year, maybe even a year and a half. I’ve been focusing a lot on my roots which is melodic, vocal house. I think everything since then – remixes, originals, even my upcoming releases – have all been progressive. I like a little glitching in my tracks, a little ear candy here and there, but I don’t think I’ll be making electro anymore.
When you say you’re going back to your roots, who were you listening to growing up?
Well, I was always a big fan of Tiesto. I was one of those few kids in high school that was listening to what people were calling ‘techno’ back then. I looked to him as inspiration, like his Kaleidoscope album and things like that. Before then even my older cousins were into dance music, so they were showing me Chocolate Puma. Even my dad was all about Ace of Base which isn’t electronic music per se but very dance inspired as well as Alice Deejay “Better Off Alone;” any dance music from the 1990s/early 2000s to be honest.
If you could play any three festivals in the world, which would they be and why?
I would love to play EDC Las Vegas just because of the magnitude and the overall size of that festival. Then Electric Forest, just because that seems like a life-defining experience. And the third would be Hideout in Croatia. They have a stacked lineup and it’s on the beach…it doesn’t get better than that.
You had a pretty big 2014. What are some things that you’re looking to improve upon to make this year even better?
I think I’m finally honing in on my sound, which in my opinion is key for any artist to develop themselves. And I’ve really started to focus on my production quality. In the past year and half I’ve asked myself: ‘how can I bring my production to the point where it’s good, if not better, than the artists who are succeeding?’ My upcoming releases are indicative of that. ‘Renegades’ was made five months ago and between that and these new releases, I think you can see a progression of my sound and how it’s all coming together.
“Renegades” ft. Pia Toscano is out now on Enhanced Recordings.
Photo: David Alan Constantini
