On a gloomy drizzly day I ventured out to meet the wonderful Jay Carder.
Truth be told I was feeling low that morning, lacking the confidence and inspiration which first had me reach out to Mantissa to get involved in writing about music.
I left my meeting with Jay Carder having had those negative thoughts completely erased. I left the small, cosy coffee shop near Chauncey lane feeling exceptionally inspired and in awe by Carder’s dedication, craft and ease of conversation.
The following is an exert of the weird and wonderful conversation we had.
G: Hey! Can you just give us a quick introduction to those unaware of your musical pursuits?
J: I am Josie, AKA Jay Carder. I am a DJ, broadcaster, presenter type thing. I am 29. Currently sat in a coffee shop with the wonderful Gus, ready to talk about label’s, music, DJing and everything in between.
A coffee is on the way so its going to get a bit blah blah blah towards the end.
G: Did you go to university, did you work in music straight away? What was your path to reach where you are today?
J: My path was very much, I have no idea what I am going to do with my life so lets just do lots off different things and see what sticks.
I studied English, have always liked writing. I studied at Sussex down in Brighton, that was sort of when dubstep was at its best. There is so much in Brighton, especially in that time. That is where I started properly getting into music. There was always music going on at home but it was never much of a passion then.
G: Where is home?
J: South East London.
G: Where abouts?
J: Bexley Heath, Dartfordy, you wouldn’t go there unless you lived there. Pure suburbia, it was nice though as I could get into London and then get a very long and slow night bus home.
G: So in Brighton electronic music was a big part of your life?
J: So I didn’t DJ much in Brighton, was around DJs a lot. My friend gave me a few lessons on his record players. It was very random, I bumped into him out of nowhere at Corsica the other night. We hadn’t seen each other since university, he popped up near the booth and was like hi. You know when you recognise someone and you are not sure why or where from.
G: What was his name?
J: Kris
G: Shout out Chris
J: DJ Sheach
I was around music a lot but just sort of enjoyed it rather than doing it. After I graduated I was completely lost, my university offered for me to do a diploma in journalism. Technically then became a journalist, spent two weeks at the Daily Mail for the fashion section. The Sidebar of Shame couldn’t be further from who I am as a person.
Then got a job for an app just doing some writing, on the side did lots of other stuff. Did some video stuff for GoPro, some film making, trying to find what I liked. It never really stuck, I was driving around one morning, dropping off actresses and stuff at 6am in Brixton, I was listening to XFM, it was Jon Holmes on the weekend morning. He sounded like he was having so much fun, I was like I want to be involved with this.
I emailed in and my email found its way to the producer of the show who replied and said I should come in if I can make a good cup of tea. Went in and fell in love with radio.
It became clear just from this introduction that Josie is an incredibly busy and dedicated individual, with so much going on, from a personal level I wondered how she was able to keep her head grounded.
G: You seem just from that initial start of our conversation that you have always had a lot going, how do you manage to balance your time? I think I saw somewhere you have over 4 active radio shows?
J: Yeah, I have cut some down recently, I have two on Soho, one on 1BTN. I did have one on Noods, that’s on a bit of a break at the moment.
I don’t really know, there was a period where I definitely didn’t sleep enough. I am not sure I realised how much I actually needed a year off until the pandemic came. Out the other side I have a real care for keeping my routine in place. This last weekend for example I stayed in which was nice, home by midnight.
G: So back to your story, you worked at XFM?
J: So yeah I did an internship there, through that managed to get in at Virgin Radio, worked my way to producer level and then it got bought by Murdoch. Things went to shit after that in my eyes, the managers were all changed and it was pretty shit.
Whilst I was doing that I started my show on Soho radio. There seems to be this unspoken rule within radio that if you are a producer you can’t be a presenter as well. Soho radio was awesome, so many people coming in and coming out. Worked there for a bit and earned my radio slot.
You know when you have found what you want to do, I had so much energy for it. Met the 4 to the Floor Guys, They helped teach me to DJ and invited me to join their crew.
G: So you have been involved in radio for a few years in different formats, what’s your current assessment of the health of radio?
J: Good Question. It is a very up in the air topic, at Virgin the whole narrative was radio is dying, real structured stations seemed to be dying. It seems though for smaller independent stations they are thriving and there are so many. Music is so accessible these days and loads of interesting people want their own radio show. NTS has the same number of listeners as six music so.
G: Are there any radio shows which you are always locked into?
J: I always listen to Mary Anne Hobbs’ shows, she mentored me for a while last year which was insane. I feel like she has a way of finding people, she took on me and six others over lockdown, listened to our shows and gave us tips. She is now mentoring loads of refugees from Berlin within radio.
G: I wanted to ask you about your experiences within radio and beyond that, DJing etc, as a female?
J: My experiences and I think those of most are improving slowly. Part of the reason I called myself Jay Carder was because it was unclear. Every single day nowadays you can go on Soundcloud or any of these radio stations and there are incredible women DJ’s. My friend Adrianna did a takeover of Voices for Rhythm Sister with some amazing female-identifying DJs. It is so easy to find talented women DJs now, there is no excuse to not have diverse lineups. It isn’t always just about being diverse, you want quality as well, basically these days if your lineups are not diverse you are simply lazy.
My experience within radio has been pretty positive. When I worked at Virgin there was some frustrations, because I wasn’t a middle aged white man I was overlooked. Soho and Rinse and some other places I have been my experience has been very positive. One thing which gave my DJ career a real kick up the arse was Smirnoff’s equalising music campaign, which happened three of four years ago, I don’t know if you remember that?
G: I remember going to Printwork’s and seeing the branding, I then saw you played Printworks a couple of times is that how that was arranged?
J: Yeah, its a shame I think COVID finished Smirnoffs work within music, they were so good. They paired me up with Arther (Artwork) and my friend Eva. They flew us out to Snowbombing to play together.
G: He is awesome, have seen him a few times and he always gets people moving.
J: I have no words for how great he is. Technically he mentored for a year but he has stayed in touch ever since really. I had a gig at the Cause with Sports Banger, I didn’t even know he was in the UK and he just showed up to say hello!
Jay Carder’s musical life appears influenced and inspired by a huge array of different people and places. The sound within her mix for us a real highlight of this.
G: You said your dad was a musician?
J: Yeah, he was in a band, they had the same manager as Iron Maiden which is pretty cool. They made blues which is pretty cool but labels etc weren’t into blues so much at the time and it held them back from greatness. Our house was always full of guitars and a piano.
G: The music you play, I think, feels and sounds very unique. You play fun but also dark dance music, I wonder how your sound has developed to where it is today and how you describe it to people?
J: It is so hard to describe to people.
G: What does it say on your instagram?
J: Stank Face music. It is quite funny, a few times after I have played people have come up and asked me what I would describe the music I play as. I often have to say I am not sure, a lot of my radio shows have been downtempo, I love trip-hop, I don’t know why It just speaks to me.
I used to listen to Pink Floyd all the time. I mainly learnt to DJ through Eddie (aka Mosebo), who was born/grew up in South Africa and had groove running through his veins. He taught me to play with energy in tracks – he is a very spiritual guy. We mainly learnt with house. Some house is your regular 4/4 and some just hits different. Hard to explain but it has a certain bounce to it.
All my sets I think about energy, once the energy is at the right place you can play whatever you like really.
G: I think its very cool that you don’t feel defined by genres and more just confidence in the energy you bring to a dance floor.
J: It keeps it fun, I don’t want to listen to the same kind of music all night long.
G: How do you find playing with other people? I saw you played with Frazer the other week and have also done one on the radio with Breaka?
J: Those guys are such a good crew. Every back to back is different, I think me and Frazer were a little apprehensive about playing together. We texted beforehand to see what we were feeling – he played super fast at Keep Hush where we first met, so I asked him if I should pack my donk – and I think he took me seriously haha, when you connect with someone it works so well, they play something and you think wow that’s killer, what can I play to bounce back.
Needless to say, we did not play donk…we started playing and it just worked… I think a good b2b is a real art.
G: Do you enjoy them?
J: Yes, some are better than others. Breaka was fun to play with on his radio show. He had texted me before asking if we could get up to 170, I then spent the night before sorting all these really fast tunes and we didn’t even make it past 130.
G: How do you know those guys?
J: I just invited Charlie (Breaka) on my radio show and he did and we just connected.
G: Do you feel your DJing has kicked off a bit since COVID has cleared? It seems like you are having more gigs.
J: I think I am doing the same amount of gigs as before they are just much better ones.
G: How do you think that has come about?
J: Momentum I think. I really enjoy chatting to people, which I guess turns into networking. Its taken me all over – even to Ghana!
G: Ghana! What was it like playing in Ghana and how did that happen?
J: Yeah awesome, they don’t like house too much out there, they enjoy slower stuff you can really get down to.
The Four to the Floor guys are involved with a festival out there and they invited me along. Whilst out there I met Miguel who Is now a booker at Fabric, he runs tuck shop. I also met Tash LC and the Busy Twist. They were out there for a different festival and we crossed paths and hung out a little.
That is a very long winded way of saying I like meeting people and hanging out basically.
G: I saw you play at Soulstice Festival, a very small boutique little charity festival, and I know you played a week or so before that at Field Day on some ginormous stage, how does playing at these different festivals compare?
J: It is a pretty similar approach, I play tracks I dig and if it works well I continue on that trajectory. If they don’t work I try something else, at the Cause the other week for the first 20 minutes I was trying lots of different things to see which direction to go in.
G: You have played at a few London clubs, do you have some favourites to play at and go to?
J: I love the Cause, it is my favourite club. It is like an adult playground, Venue MOT is also wicked.
G: Have you played there?
J: No but am looking to maybe put a night on there in the new year.
G: Label stuff, what is the name of the label you run?
J: Erbium records, Erbium is an element on the periodic table. It is a metal that is soft and squishy and melts in acid so we thought that was perfect.
G: Genius
J: I am not sure how we came up with it, naming things like that can be so tricky, I run it with Kris, DJ Trieste, he lives in Birmingham and then Oli who is based in London and he does all the visual side of things.
We started it before COVID but during lockdown we released our first record, we actually released 6 records in our first year. We have slowed down a bit now and are looking to put some of them on vinyl but that process takes ages, no thanks to Adele.
https://erbiumrecords.bandcamp.com/music
G: Do you collect or play many records?
J: I do collect records, I don’t tend to play them out too much. Over summer I got quite ballsy with trying to play some out. I played after Ben UFO at the Cause and thought right I am going to play my rarest most eccentric banger of a record. He finished and it was all queued up ready to play and I tried to bring it in and the needle just flew across the record.
Someone in the front row shouted “its skipping” I said I know ahaha! It was one of the worst change overs ahaha.
G: Are you a Ben UFO fan?
J: Yeah 100%, he is the pinnacle of where I want to be with my DJing. Him and Batu are two big idols of mine.
G: Any other names who are big inspirations?
J: Yeah loads, Joy Orbison is insane. I love all the Bristol lot, Yush is going to be massive.
G: Wicked I saw her in Room 2 at Corsica she was great.
J: Adam Pits, really love his productions. All the Livity Sounds crew. I almost moved to Bristol but decided against it.
G: Do you make any music?
J: On its way, I am learning but it is a slow process. If I put time into something I want to see results, everyones says “it will take four years before you put out anything you are happy with” and I am like no it won’t! I go into the studio every Monday to try and make some music, for just over a year now. I have made a few things I am happy with but it’s one of those things I am sure I will look back in a few years and be like what the hell was that. I am working on it, I have a real idea of what I want my music to sound like, if you hammered together Joy Orbison and Black Coffee.
G: What a combination!
J: Black Coffee for the groove and energy and Joy Orbison for the weird vocals and the where the fuck is this going side of things. I am learning from Joe, half of Kassian, he is such a good producer and a real help, he loves to bring in new drum machines and what not.
G: Are you having a go with Hardware or mostly just on DAWS?
J: Yeah getting there, I have a 303 in my bedroom just looking at me every day. I am like not today ahaha.
G: I know you have written a few pieces regarding various musical bits and bobs, i understand you also interview people on some of your radio shows as well?
J: Yeah so the spotlight one, whole aim is to shine a light on certain industry related people and artists. We should have Mantissa on one day!
G: I don’t know if I am an “industry” person ahaha. What kind of people have you had on?
J: Had Charlie (Breaka) on obviously, it is nice he came in live so that was a lot of fun. Interviewed DMX Krew as well, we spoke for a whole hour whilst he was doing some gardening. Live interviews are always the way to go I think.
G: Did you say you are a producer at Worldwide FM?
J: Yeah so I produce a show there for Ralph Moore, he is the editor of Mixmag and is also on my management team.
G: Another awesome radio station, I saw you are playing with Auntie Flo at brilliant corners, how did that come about?
J: He runs an ambient radio station called Ambient Flo and I help him run that basically.
G: Crazy, how do you find the time to fit everything in!!!
J: I work late a lot of nights. I like being busy and doing stuff I really enjoy. I think when you do something you really enjoy it opens more doors as you are generally happier.
I worked at the Coop for years and hated it so vowed I would never work there again.
G: I take it there is an ambient side of what you play as well?
J: I have never played it our really to be honest, on House of Carder I play some ambient bits, trip hop and that.
I was potentially going to tour with James Lavelle in 2020; that sadly didn’t happen for obvious reasons.
G: Where else have you played around the world?
J: Snowbombing in Austria, Mayrhofen. That was a lot of fun. Ghana obviously, that is probably it. Hopefully going to sort some gigs in Berlin next year. Lots of friends of mine have moved to Berlin and I love it there. Just heading to India to play a few shows!
G: One of the reasons I was so excited to come say hello at Soulstice festival was because a friend saw you at Lost Village and said you were the highlight of their weekend!
J: Awh lovely, that is great.
G: Did you enjoy that set particularly?
J: I played a couple so it depends which one, both were really fun. This year I did the main stage and the junkyard.
The Junkyard set was an interesting one – I’d driven back from london from another gig for it – a midday set, so I felt that haha – and when I got there the stage wasn’t quite ready. Long story short, me and like 8 mates helped clear 100s of plastic bottles and rubbish off the dance floor so I could play haha. It was a very humbling experience. Gotta love your mates, eh.
The next day I played Field Day and the following week Cosmic Roots. It was a great summer for festivals all things considered!
G: Whats on Jay Carder’s rider?
J: At the moment just Gin and Tonic ahaha
G: Any kind of gin?
J: Anything ahahah, I did have ‘premium gin’ on there but felt like a bit of a twat so took it off.
G: This interview has gone a bit all over the place but just to rewind a bit, just to finish how did you go from playing mostly on radio to also having gigs in clubs and what not?
J: So with Four to the Floor mainly, the bookclub who ran house dancing classes I was involved with. It is all these steps, tricky to explain, there is a whole scene of dancing very specifically to house music. It’s a kind of 2-step movement, tricky to explain without showing – house dance has a whole thriving scene and man do they get down.
G: I assume you took those moves into every club you now go to?
J: I wish, Frankie J was one of our teachers, its mainly footwork. With lots of steps and a load of freestyle. That was an amazing place to really practice and learn to DJ, if you don’t play an interesting enough tune the dancers would just stop so you have to keep the energy high.
Jay Carder is one of the busiest and best DJ’s I have had the pleasure to speak to, her commitment and charm equally infectious. Josie’s dedication to energy building within her DJ sets, both in the club and on the radio, is a true inspiration.
Follow Josie’s various social media pages to keep up to date on her future gigs and various musical exploits:
https://www.instagram.com/jaycarderdj/
https://www.facebook.com/jaycarderDJ