One-To-One With Electronic Producer EMBRZ

His original productions are starry and light – airy pieces which will blow up into a blaze of electronica with dreamy, sparkling melodies and subtle drops. His songs generally feature a guest singer - from our own Pat Byrne of The Voice, to the UK’s Meadowlark to as far flung as LA’s pennybirdrabbit and Sydney’s Amy Rose. Jack is able to alternate moving the spotlight between the vocals and instrumental melodies so that neither take centre stage, but play off each other perfectly – both taking on leading roles. These factors, along with the success of his remixes of well known chart toppers and releasing music through hardhitting label Ultra Music (who also represent one of his inspirations, Deadmau5) have led to his music clocking up well over 10million plays on Spotify.
We caught up with Jack to talk about how he got into music, his upcoming single ‘Doubt House’ and the surprise of being unexpectedly discovered

You’re known as an electronic / house music producer - but this wasn’t always the case having started out playing guitar in bands etc - what sparked your interest in dance music?

I played guitar in a band in my teens and use to listen to a lot of bands like The Arctic Monkeys and Stone Roses. I randomly heard a Deadmau5 track, I think it was ‘I remember’ and I just fell in love with the sound. I immediately downloaded a crack version of Reason and decided to make crappy beats just for fun.

So you started making a few tunes and stuck them up online to kind of share with your family and friends - how did it feel when it started to get bigger than that and reach a larger audience?

It was nuts! I honestly was doing it for fun, so when I saw my music featured on blogs, and big youtube channels I was overwhelmed. When the Ellie Goulding remix broke over a million plays, I decided to take things more seriously.

And its grown a lot since then - you’ve played some of Ireland’s biggest festivals including Longitude, Body n Soul and Electric Picnic as well as live shows in Berlin, Brussels and Malta. How have the shows been going?

I love doing shows! Obviously some are good and some are bad, but you learn each time you play one. There is no better feeling in the world when your set is connecting with the crowd. I remember playing the Bodynsoul Stage at Electric Picnic. I got a great slot at 2am, so you can imagine the crowd were absolutely bonkers at that point. Probably my favourite show to this date.

You’ve had some massive remixes - Ellie Goulding’s “How Long Will I Love You” The 1975’s “Settle Down” as well as stunning, blissful remix of Carly Rae Jepsen’s “Run Away With Me” which was loved so much by her label it became the official remix of the track. How does your approach to remixes differ to creating your own tracks?

I think you need to be inspired by the original track in order to remix it. I like to have some plan in approaching it. Maybe I can make this more emotional, or maybe it could be much dancier.

Your own music has also been doing really well - you released your Progress EP in July - how has that been received?

Yeah, I think its gone down well! I wanted to push myself a little out of my comfort zone, and try working with different styles and tempos. What if EMBRZ tried to make a pop song or something a bit heavier. But I've learnt a lot since releasing it too. I think the new music I'm writing is much more 'EMBRZ' if that makes sense. I've kinda revisited that old emotional electronic side I started out with it again.

And you’ve a new song out now on November 10th with a release in the button factory on the 17th……… tell us about that……

Yeah, fun times ahead! 'Doubt House' is out this Friday (on November 10th). I actually wrote the vocal for this track too. It's definitely fun to collab with different singers, but there is something more personal about writing your own lyrics. Hopefully it goes down well.

The Button Factory is a bit of a dream venue to play at! I've went to so see many of my favourite artists here, so its a big deal for me to play. I've been really developing my live set this year. I like to keep my sets really energetic and am just excited to show everyone.

Awesome and to keep up to date, wheres the best place?

All the usual - Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, Spotify - Just search EMBRZ and it should come up!

EMBRZ releases 'Doubt House' this Friday November 10th and plays The Button Factory on November 17th - tickets available from Eventbrite