LOCO & JAM are Northern Irish based Techno duo made up of Lloyd Reid and James Peoples. Formed in 2007 they have went from strength to strength playing clubs and festivals worldwide. 2009 was the first break for Loco & Jam as it seen their remix of Henry Von – Propaganda on Fergies Rekluse imprint made its way on to Carl Cox’s Space Ibiza compilation and was also featured as his Global Warmer Track Of The Week on his Global Radio Show which had over 10 Million listeners worldwide.
Throughout their 10 year rise the guys have been killing the beatport Techno charts and now have a healthy CV with a list of Productions and Remixes on major labels such as Christian Smiths Tronic Music, Coyu’s Suara, Sian’s Octopus Recordings, Chus & Ceballos Stereo Productions, Monika Kruse’s Terminal M, Green Velvet’s Relief Records, Marco Bailey’s MB Elektronics, Mark Knight’s Toolroom Records to name but a few.
Having just released a brand remix for Ron Costa on There Is A Light, we sat down with Loco & Jam for a few minutes to discuss the techno scene in Northern Ireland, live-streaming and their plans for the rest of the year.
Welcome Loco & Jam. Thanks very much for your time to talk to us. How are you today?
We are feeling great… Thanks for asking
Please say a few words about yourselves for our Only Techno readers, how you met, and about how you got into the music industry.
Hi guys.. We are Loco & Jam. We release on labels such as Tronic, Drumcode, Arcane, 1605, Toolroom and more! We met at an event we were both playing at back in 2007 and realized we both had a very similar taste in music…We decided to get into the studio together and the rest is history!
From where are you answering this interview?
I’m answering the interview right now from my home in a small village in Northern Ireland called Ballykelly.
What’s the music scene like where you currently live?
The music scene is really starting to thrive here! It’s the best its ever been. All the young people coming into the scene now and going out seem to be more into electronic music compared to when we were both that age!
Are things beginning to open up again?
Yeah outdoor venues can run at full capacity here and I believe indoor events in clubs will be opening next few weeks with restrictions which cant come quick enough to be honest!
How would you describe your brand of electronic music?
I would describe our sound as driven, Groovy Techno… If the track is 130 bpm or 125 bpm it always has to have that groove!
You have an amazing new remix of Ron Costa – Koi coming out on There Is A Light. Can you talk us through the release and how it came about?
Yeah it was actually Sian from Octopus reached out to us and asked us would we be up for a remix for the label. He sent us 2 tracks as options and we were immediately drawn to the vocal of Koi!
How does your creative process start when making a new record?
We usually start by building a solid groove with the Drums and bass… You can have the best hooks or leads on the planet but if the backbone of the track isnt good then the track wont be good.. If you have a solid groove then you have so many options on direction you can go with the lead sounds.
What’s your opinion on the proliferation of livestreaming over the past 18 months? Do you think it’s here to stay, now that events have started to reopen?
Yeah I mean it was good in a way that DJs could still stay relevant for their fans but it’s hard to beat watching a DJ play in front of a packed club or festival. I think streaming is here to stay at some level but definitely not as much as when DJs are touring again. Finding the time to do streams will be quite difficult
Are you planning some touring soon that you can tell us about?
Yes we actually just confirmed our first tour since March 2020…Our last tour was in India and strangely enough our first tour back next month is back to India…It started as 3 shows over 1 weekend and now they have extended it to 7 shows over 2 weekends…Feel like big kids on Xmas eve the fact that we are announcing tours again,
Is there anything else you would like to mention to our Only Techno community before you go?
Yes just please if you like our Remix of Koi go out and give it a buy and lets help get it up the beatport charts! Also keep an eye for our upcmoing releases on Eli Browns Arcane and Octopus Recordings!
Thanks guys!
Ron Costa – Koi (Loco & Jam Remix) is out now via There Is A Light.
