Road to Ultra: Interview with Jon Rundell

Jon Rundell, an internationally known electronic music producer, record label boss, DJ and remixer, is gearing up to perform at Ultra Music Festival in Miami at the end of the month.

To prepare for the upcoming festivities, Empty Lighthouse had the opportunity to catch up with the London artist and find out what actually got him started in the electronic music industry and to discuss more upcoming plans through festival season.

Read further and get to know Jon Rundell!

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: How did you first get your start in music?
JON RUNDELL: I cut my teeth with early US hip-hop as a teenager after saving up for my first set of decks, mainly because I had seen Terminator X with Public Enemy on the TV. Then the rave scene took over the UK and I was drawn to the spirit and energy of it all.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: Who are some of your musical influences?
JON RUNDELL: Lots of different and varied bands, acts and DJs - from The Rolling Stones and Kasabian, to Public Enemy, The Prodigy, Carl Cox, Ben Sims and Loco Dice.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: Who do you listen to in your spare time, other hobbies, etc?
JON RUNDELL: All of the above and more. I love listening to The Kinks, lots of soul and rare groove too.

Other hobbies I generally have are keeping fit and trying to play football (soccer) still from time to time.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: What has been your most memorable experience while touring?
JON RUNDELLI think it was one of the first times I toured Australia and was put in front of 30,000 people at the Sidney Meyer Music Bowl in Melbourne. A surreal experience.

Playing Space for 4hrs in the main room was also very memorable as that club is such a big part of me.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: What is the craziest thing you've seen a fan do to get into a show / on stage?
JON RUNDELL: Just the usual fence jumping really, especially at the larger festivals, its entertaining watching them to try to figure out how they are going to do it too when they have had a few drinks.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: What advice would you give to other young people looking to succeed in the industry?
JON RUNDELL: Stay focused; you will get a lot of people closing doors on you when you approach them. It's easy to get downhearted but you just got to keep knocking on the doors.

Eventually, provided you have also focused on doing good quality, something will open and you give it everything you can.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: When you hit a creativity block, what re-inspires you?
JON RUNDELL: I tend to just try and clear my head, do something completely unrelated for a while then go back to it, if its still not working I sleep on it and start again the next day with fresh ears.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: How do you manage your time between your music and personal life?
JON RUNDELL: Music is my personal life too, it's all around me, everything we do has music attached to it in some way.

Its difficult with all the travelling thrown in to get a balance but at the end of the day you chose to do something you really like doing, so it shouldn't really be an issue.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: What are your upcoming plans in regards to more touring, releases and producing new music?
JON RUNDELL: After Ultra, I am straight back to London for our next Intec party at Fabric, before heading over to Montpellier, Prague, Paris and Ibiza alongside more festivals in the months ahead like HD Festival in the UK, Tomorrowland and Awakenings.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: If you could invent anything, what would it be?
JON RUNDELL: Something that filters out all the hype we seem to be bombarded with daily now! Let the music do the talking.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: Do you have any rituals or things you must have/do before a show?
JON RUNDELL: I don't really have anything like that particularly, I generally just tend to find somewhere quiet for 10 minutes to sit down and just try to feel relaxed.

EMPTY LIGHTHOUSE: What are you most excited about the upcoming festival season?
JON RUNDELL: Celebrating 10 years of Carl Cox's stage at Ultra!

For more information on Jon Rundell's set time and stage, be sure to visit www.ultramusicfestival.com - a performance you will not want to miss while partying in Miami.

For updated news and events from Rundell, head on over to www.jonrundell.com. Him and the crew look forward to seeing you down at Ultra!