Name: Jasmin Fumagalli aka Jazzy
Nationality: Swiss
Occupation: Producer, DJ

If you enjoyed this Jazzy interview and would like to find out more about her music, visit her on Instagram, and Soundcloud. 



When it comes to experiencing the sensation of “energy” as as a listener, which albums, performances, and artists come to mind?

Album wise, I would say definitely A$AP Rocky and 070 Shake. With both, almost every single track gives me energy.

With A$AP Rocky it is that feeling of being playful and wild, it gives me that childlike free energy. And with 070 Shake it is more of a sentimental ambient vibe which I find beautiful.

The contrast between both represents exactly how I feel, sometimes sentimental, sometimes wild and hot.



Performance wise, I would say Billie Eilish really stands out to me. The way she moves, the way she is on stage, that flirty cheeky energy, I love that.

And from the techno scene, I would say Adrián Mills, such a cool guy and his stage presence is insane. Same with Vieze Asbak, two DJs I am kind of obsessed with performance wise.

There can be many different kinds of energy in art – soft, harsh, healing, aggressive, uplifting and many more. Which do you tend to feel drawn to most?

Cheeky, flirty, aggressive, harsh and dominant. Basically, everything that is not ordinary.

I like when something feels a bit dangerous or unpredictable because that creates tension. I am drawn to sounds that make you want to move without thinking twice.

I have had a hard time explaining that listening to death metal calms me down. When you listen to a song with a particular energy, does it tend to fill you with the same energy – or are there “paradoxical” effects?

Honestly it depends. Sometimes a track triggers memories or nostalgia that I connect with. Other times it is just pure energy; I pick it up directly from the track.

If I have a personal emotional connection to it, my own energy might not align with the lyrics but maybe with a synth or a specific element in the background. My energy adapts to that instrument or that memory, it is very individual.

Sometimes I fall in love with a filter movement, sometimes with the way a transient hits. The smallest sound can shape my entire mood.

In as far as it plays a role for the music you like listening to or making, what role do words and the voice of a vocalist play for the transmission of energy?

A huge one. It depends on my personal connection to the track.

If it is based on memories, like those early 2000s hits, I honestly do not care what they are singing - it is about the nostalgia. But there are also songs I listen to purely for the lyrics or purely for the production.

With A$AP Rocky it is all about his voice. His voice and pronouncements are hot. Same with The Weeknd, he is unreal. With him everything clicks, the sound, the vibe, the emotion. 070 Shake too, the way she uses her voice is so powerful.

Also, pronunciation matters a lot to me. If someone pronounces something weirdly in a way I don’t like it, I cannot listen to it. I hear every small frequency shift and every breath.

When it comes to experiencing the sensation of “energy” as as a creator, how would you describe the physical sensation of experiencing this energy? [Where do you feel it, do you have a visual sensation/representation, is there a sense of release or a build-up of tension etc …]

Physically I feel this kind of electric rush, like tingling, right before going on stage. I would say the sweet Jasmin stays next to the stage and once I plug in my USB stick I fully become JAZZY. It is not something I plan, it just happens naturally.

On stage I am aggressive, harsh, dominant, but off stage I am more chill and cheeky. It is a very releasing experience for me, I can let out all the energy that has been building up. I even cry way less now because I can channel and release that energy during my sets and share it with my ravers. That energy exchange with my supporters means everything to me.

I am a very spiritual person, really energy oriented, and that is 90 percent of what drives my performance energy. The other 10 percent is technical thinking.

When it comes to composing / songwriting, are you finding that spontaneity and just a few takes tend to capture energy best? Or does honing a piece bring you closer to that goal?

I would not say it follows one formula. Sometimes I have an idea in my head and just execute it exactly as I imagined. Other times I have these crazy creative bursts, like three amazing tracks in one week, and then there are phases where I sit in the studio every day for a month and nothing happens.

But I still create small elements that feel magical even if I cannot use them right away. It is all about the flow of energy in my creativity. When it is there, it is unstoppable, when it is not I let it rest.

Sometimes it is just a single synth patch that inspires me, sometimes it is a random drum loop I process until it becomes something completely different. I love using resampling, modulation and distortion to make something raw that feels alive.

How much of the energy of your own music, would you say, is already part of the composition, how much of it is the result of the recording process?

I do not record that much, I am more focused on composing.

But I would say most of the energy people feel from my music comes from the composition itself. That is where I put it all in from the very beginning.

My next release definitely has that planned energy from start to finish.

For your next release, what kind of energy were you looking for?

The track that is dropping this December will be my last one of the year and it is a solo track. I just want people to lose their minds. It is not sentimental, it is pure rage energy.

It is quite simple in structure; it starts with raw style kicks then switches into industrial ones. I built it for that moment of chaos, like a closing track where you just go all out. It is not about overthinking the vibe, just full-on release.

The sound design is very stripped down but powerful. I played with kick layering, distortion stages and stereo imaging to make it hit like a wall of energy.

How do you capture the energy you want in the studio?

I do that more consciously with my synthwave alias FIASCO, more of that is coming soon.

For that project I build everything around keys. Every key has its own emotion and its own colour. I start by choosing the emotional direction, the feeling I want to express, and build everything from there.

I use analog style saturation, slow filter sweeps, subtle chorus and lots of MPE to keep the energy warm and emotional instead of digital cold. It is about tension through motion rather than just volume.

What role do factors like volume, effects like distortion, amplification, and production in general for in terms of creating the energy you want?

They are everything. Especially for synthwave the use of effects and automations is essential, smooth transitions, creative LFO rate changes, all of that. Pitch bend is also huge for me, it adds movement and character.

I am obsessed with balancing saturation and clarity. I like running synths through tube style distortion or parallel compression to get that bite without losing definition.

Honestly these elements are not just part of the production, they are the production. Around 80 percent of the total energy in my tracks comes from these details.

In terms of energy, what changes when you're performing live on stage, with an audience present, compared to the recording stage?

When I record something, I am actually more nervous, I am super perfectionist. In the club I just want to go crazy.

There is a lot of sub, so the sound is not as clean as in the studio. The highs do not come through as sharply, so I focus more on sub bass and groove. When I am home recording, I over focus on the highs, which can get annoying.

So honestly, I am more nervous recording at home than performing live.

How does the presence of the audience and your interaction with it change the energy of the music and how would you describe the creative interaction with listeners during a gig?

Oh my god there is nothing I love more than my audience of course. When I see faces in the front row or hear people scream Jazzy I cannot hold back.

After most gigs I go down to take photos, hug people and talk to them, if I have the time I always make at least an hour for that. That is where our energy exchanges, being right there with them.

If the crowd energy is low, I would feel ashamed to give up. Their energy affects me but mine also feeds back into them, it is a constant loop. I have nothing but love for my crowd, always. It is cheeky, chaotic and beautiful. That back and forth makes every set feel like a conversation without words.

What kind of feedback have you received from listeners or concert audiences in terms of the experience that your music and/or performances have had on them?

A lot of people tell me that my sets make them feel confident or free, which means everything to me. Some say they cried or felt released from something during the show. That is exactly what I want, that emotional release.

I think when you perform with full presence, people can feel it physically. Even if the sound is hard or dark, it still gives people light in a way. That is my favourite feedback.

Would you say that you prefer to stay in control to be able to shape the energy or do you surrender to it and allow the music to take over? Who, ultimately has control during a live performance?

I think you should not fully surrender unless the energy is right.

If I feel the crowd is down, I will not give up, I will push through. Even at a 7 AM closing if the vibe is fading I still enjoy it for myself and that usually reignites the room. If I surrendered completely there would be no eye contact and no connection and that would kill the set.

So yes, I like to stay in control of the flow and channel it intentionally while still letting it move naturally through me.

The energy that music is able to generate can be extremely powerful. How, do you think, can artists make use of this energy to bring about change in the world?

I think artists can use that energy to change the world by bringing people together and creating new movements. Like Adrián Mills for example, he built a whole community with the Bounce sound. He basically created a new subgenre and shifted the rave culture a bit.

You can use energy to connect people, to make them feel something new and to shape a whole new vibe in music. That bounce energy is sexy, raw and a bit dirty.

I love that and never miss the opportunity to go to his set if we play the same lineup. It is the kind of energy that makes people feel alive again.