Name: Jorkes
Occupation: DJ, producer
Nationality: German
Recent Release: Jorkes's new EP "Animal" is out via Live at Robert Johnson.
Recommendations: Michel Foucault: Von der Freundschaft als Lebensweise; Anohni and the Johnsons – For Today I Am A Boy

If you enjoyed this Jorkes interview and would like to stay up to date with their music and current live dates, visit them on Instagram, Facebook, and Soundcloud.  



What made it appealing to you to DJ yourself? What was it that you wanted to express and what, did you feel, did you have to add artistically?

From what I wanted to do in the beginning to what I do now, playing other people's music was a constant evolution and still is.

I think artistically it is a process of constant change, disruption, distortion, emulation, dispersion and re-fragmentation of the mind, the aesthetic, the body, the feeling and the soul. Everything gets mixed into a big bowl of unknown and comes back to what you feel on the dancefloor. I see it as a huge privilege to be allowed the opportunity of having fun while playing other people's music.

In the beginning in my teen years, it was simply just fun. I wanted to be with my friends at parties in our suburbia, but didn't want to be an active part of the crowd. As a non-out queer teenager at that time I enjoyed the solitude behind the decks and making everyone dance, make out, have fun, get drunk, fall in love, travel far away, discover themselves, move their bodies.

Through the years many more layers are added to this core feeling that kind of never changed. As my character as a human being evolved and manifested through different phases and settings, so did my style and technique of being a DJ. My musical taste got broader and I deepened my knowledge of music history that allowed me to play different styles and blend diverse songs together.

I discovered the political dimension of dance music in general had to different parts of society and my peers. Artistically it made me more sincere and aware of the impact a dancefloor can have for the individuals participating in a party: e.g. the first kiss, the first XTC pill, the first BJ in the toilet, the first talk about Foucault, the first homoerotic encounter. It is kind of a responsibility to use all the tools and try to give everyone their best, most freeing and most sexy night possible, while having all the impact dance music had in our minds.

Also we should never forget that people want to go out for decompression and just to have fun and lose themselves.

For your own DJing, what is the balance and relative importance between what you learned from teachers, tutorials and other producers on the one hand – and what you discovered, understood, and achieved yourself? What are examples for both of these?

What I do mostly while I DJ is listen to my feelings. I am very spontaneous and react to the dancefloor as I have the feeling that I am part of the crowd.

We are all in this together. That is a state of mind I think I discovered all for myself and that I learned: That no matter how many tutorials, etc. you watch, in the end you just have to really connect to what you do and be in the moment.

Do you think that DJing creates a new form that can take on the qualities of a composition in its own right? Is this something you strive for?

Of course you can blend three songs together and they will sound like something new. But in the end you just play three songs by people that have sat in the studio, put all their heart into creating music and putting it out in the world.

The part of the DJ is more like one of a messenger to transport it out into the world and translate it onto the dancefloor, to let people participate in these emotions. This itself is a composition imo.

When digging for music to play at your sets, what do you listen for?  

I have friends that send me music all the time and I am in constant exchange with other DJs and producers about songs, styles, eras, etc. There are some labels I always know are a safe bet so I mostly start my digging there and then see where the travels bring me.

I really love to receive new music and am very thankful ☺

How would you describe the experience of DJing, physically and mentally? Do you listen – and DJ - with your eyes open or closed?

I switch between my eyes open and closed. It really depends on the music how my body reacts and whom on the dancefloor I made a connection with. The experience really depends on where you play, how the sound system is, how the vibe is, what influence I am under or if I am sober. But all in all it is just a very releasing and fun feeling to play other people's music.

Also it makes a huge difference if I play alone or if I play a b2b with my partner Paris Böhm (aka Daniel Rajcsanyi who I co-run Freeride Millenium with). I prefer to play with him mostly, because the experience with him is always very wholesome as he gives massages, makes physical contact and we share a lot of love and affection. That relaxes me a lot and makes playing music more cozy and sexy.

How does the decision making process work during a gig with regards to the inclusion of key records, the next transition and where you want the set to go? How far do you tend to plan ahead during a set?

As I mainly DJ with USB (and rekordbox), I mostly make playlists for the next gig ahead. There are some folders with “classics”, that I tend to play a lot, but I mostly prepare new music for gigs. The only way I pre-sort is kind of the emotional setting. They can be euphoric, sexy, melancholic, introvert, extrovert, flamboyant, sassy, cunty, communal - pretty much all emotions that can occur on  a dancefloor.

I always have something in my mind about where I want to go and what story I want to tell, but at the end DJing is also a collaboration with all dancers. When you connect and it clicks it becomes a story of togetherness and mutual experience.

That's why it is kind of hard to pre-plan the whole set. It is better to stay flexible and spontaneous and to adapt to situations. But I can also understand the security a pre-planned set can give to someone.

Describe how the presence of audiences/dancers influences your mixing. Do you engage with them and how? Does DJing feel like a mostly lonely endeavour or a group process to you?

My mixing technically doesn't change so much. But I am convinced that clubbing in general is a communal experience. Everyone participating in a club night is equally important to achieve the maximum level of escapism. Many people with many different emotional settings come together to create the night and let go and let loose of their daily life.

So depending on all the other settings as a DJ you are just one more link in the chain. Club nights feel like one big group therapy.

Online DJ mixes, created in the studio as a solitary event, have become ubiquitous. From your experience with the format, how does the experience and the way you DJ change when you subtract the audience?

Playing music in front of a crowd of dancers and recording a mix for radio, online publications, podcast series et al are two totally different experiences obviously.

Pre-recorded DJ mixes tend to be way more conceptional and more theoretical. I enjoy recording mixes and also I enjoy playing in front of people. The common point is the music. It can also hit your sweet spot while listening to a pre-recorded mix at home, at work, in the park, while making love or wherever else.

The experience may be different but it also gives emotions and a rollercoaster. It just happens on a more individual basis than on a communal happening.

Collaboration is a key part of almost every aspect of music making, but it is still rare in DJing. Do you have an idea why this is? Tell me about your own views on back-to-back DJing, interactions with live musicians or other forms of turning DJing into a more collective process.

So in general I think you need to have some common ground and connection to the other human you want to b2b with. Music is something emotional so there has to be some connection. For this you need to let go of your ego and just let things happen and get into the flow, so you can connect and click. When you made that bond, it is easy flowing then.

I really like to b2b and I also like to DJ alone. There is no real preference as my main focus is the dancefloor. Both have their advantages and disadvantages. If it works for the dancefloor, I am happy with. I am into all kinds of encounters, if it feels and sounds good.

Especially in the light of advances in AI, where do you see the role of humans in DJing versus that of technology? Can AI act as a collaborator or creative stimulus?

I think AI is a great tool to assist and enhance human vision and craftmanship. To put it simply: As humans we always relied on tools to help us ease the interaction with our surroundings. It started with sticks, stones and fire and now we arrived at AI. And this is exactly how we should see AI. As a tool to advance our skills and integrate into the individual creative process.

How great it would be to have an AI tool that directly can digest the creative lightning that strikes while being one with the crowd, the club, the surroundings …  

DJing requires empathy, focus, time management, patience, and vision, among others. Are you finding that the way you play influences the way your live your life and vice versa?

The music I play is an extension of what my personality is and who I am as a being.

As I stated above, it is the result of my journey in life so far, like a reversed onion, where more and more layers come on top. It is all the influences and adventures that were put inside me along the way, that I took in like a sponge and now squeeze them out and transport them out. It is a result of all the people that influenced me musically and taught me things.

Music is something highly personal, because it is highly emotional, fun and moving.

Let's imagine you lost all your music for one night and all there is left at the venue is a crate of records containing a random selection of music. How would you approach this set?

Curious, joyful and adventurous.