As well as being one of the founders, JoJo is the prime time resident of trail blazing electro night Nag Nag Nag, one of the most important and exciting nights to hit London this century. Nag goes out with a bang on it’s 6th birthday in the Spring of 2008, after a six year reign which has attracted important artists like Miss Kittin, Ellen Allien, Vitalic, Bonde Do Role and Simian Mobile Disco and so many more through its doors.
While maintaining her long running residency JoJo has developed her inimitable DJ skills. With considered programming, plenty of risk taking, and buckets of style, her sound is synthetic and acid-tinged, with clear, crispy electronics and fat beats and basslines. JoJo herself describes her approach to djing: “I always make the extra effort to vary my sets with musical elements like big riffs, melodies, and acapellas blended harmonically in a long layered mix. Or sometimes a quick tricky mix is in order, with the more song structured tracks. It all depends on the time of the night, the mood of the crowd, and the soundsystem…You won't leave the club unable to remember a tune or repeat a vocal hook in your head.â€
JoJo has also been London resident at the UK’s primo alternative techno club Bugged Out at London’s The End since 2003 where she has built up a loyal following with her energetic and taste-making dj sets. With her high profile London residencies it’s no surprise that JoJo is in demand across the UK and internationally. Possibly one of the biggest highlights from her 2007 dates was closing the main stage on the first night of the Benicassim festival. The reaction to her set was so strong that for months afterwards, festival goers kept turning up to her shows in the UK holding up their arms with their Benicassim wristbands still attached!
Despite her demanding djing schedule, JoJo has been determined to learn and produce her music herself rather than rely on engineers or programmers. Using vintage analogue synths together with new advances in software, her skills first came to fruition in the Summer of 2006 with two tracks for the Bugged Out label. ‘Make Some Noise/Ghost In The Machine’ received support from a diverse bunch of dj’s like Ivan Smagghe, Andrew Weatherall, Chloe and Miss Kittin. ‘Make Some Noise’ was featured in Mixmag’s Top 100 tracks of 2006 and was licensed to Simian Mobile Disco’s, highly acclaimed Bugged Out, ‘Suck My Deck’ compilation in April 2007.
In 2007 JoJo released ‘Saturn Returns/Pop This Reverie’ on her own label, MYTHIC. The monster club track received support from Diplo, Erol Alkan and Ivan Smagghe and is due to be licensed to the Felix Da Housecat's forthcoming Global Underground mix. MYTHIC record label will be a means for JoJo to champion her love of charismatic techno-electro, and melodic, experimental sounds. The label continues as a download only imprint in 2008 through Beatport. By cutting out the process of the manufacture of distribution of vinyl, and the wait on busy labels slow release schedules, releasing through MYTHIC will allow her the freedom to release more prolifically. Although vinyl fans, should not dismay, as she is planning on a very special vinyl release at the end of the year on MYTHIC that is still to be announced.
Throughout the Summer of 2007 JoJo had been been rebuilding her studio, and the first fruits from her new set up is her best work to date – a remix of the first single off Miss Kittin’s new album Bat Box– for which JoJo composed an original piece of music. JoJo’s “Beauty is Terror†remix frames Kittin’s lyrics within a huge, slinky, acidic bass-line, interspersed with early 90's inspired synth stabs. The effect is ecstatic and beautifully eerie; the result is massive and memorable peak-time electro and has received support from Tiga, Erol Alkan, Mr Oizo and Brodinski and many more.
Her first download only track for Beatport is released in March 2008 and is called ‘Feel Your Mind’. It features her own vocal, sampled and cut-up throughout across a hypnotic techno riff and a killer breakbeat driven breakdown with an old school triangle motif and synth stabs. And has already caused a major stir amongst DJ's who received the promo.
Expect to be hearing a lot more from JoJo this year, as she readies herself to release a further eight original club tracks throughout 2008. As a new producer with a fresh sound, and as an experienced professional DJ, JoJo is definitely one to watch, as she continues to push forward her sound, enrapturing dance-floors and beyond.