Jax Jones on what to expect from his show at the 02 Academy Bournemouth

Prior to releasing his debut album Snacks, Jax Jones has continually created a succession of chart topping hits. All eight of his huge hit singles have helped to cement his status as one of the industry’s most prominent forces.

The tour is a chance for Jax’s fans to experience his hits in a live setting following the many festivals and international performances he has played this year. Fans can expect to hear a collection of his chart hits such as the Grammy and BRIT Award nominated double-platinum You Don’t Know Me featuring Raye.

Jax will be making his solo debut in the O2 Academy having previously played there with N-Dubz.

Here, he tells us about the rollercoaster ride of his career so far.

*Your breakthrough hit was probably You Don’t Know Me which came out back in 2016, and it’s still a big song for you today, its still being played today. What are your memories of that song and feelings toward it today?

"That song will always have a special place for me, being as at the week of release we missed the number one spot just because Ed Sheeran dropped one of the biggest songs of all time, I think it was “Shape of You” or something like that, so that was a tough one. But we were pretty close, and my last number one was “I Got U” with Duke Dumont so like to have “You Don’t Know Me” was kind of like my first solo hit with no other DJ and obviously it was really cool to have collaborated with Raye on that one. It just kind of started to make everyone aware of who I am. That song over the years people have told me how much it defined their summer, defined certain moments in their life, which is what a great dance record should do so I’m really proud to be apart of that. It’s taken me all around the world man, to stages in Serbia like all the way to Asia, Japan so its been a game changer for me."

*From the release of that track it was quite a long road actually until you released your Snacks your album. Did you expect for it to take that long to release your first album, like was an album always in mind all the way back then?

"At the time an album wasn’t in mind, the dance music is always changing so for me at the time it was just kind of adapting my style to what’s going on club, not necessarily following the trends, but figuring it out. I was still kind of defining my sound. Which has ended up being amazing because now my music is so exciting because I don’t speak to one particular sound, all you know is once you hear the “whatcha whatcha gonna do” it’s going to be a great record. It took a while now the beauty of it is now that Snacks has come out, it’s the only album to have six top tens, and nine top twenties in total on it. Hence why it was such a moment when it did come out because it has a collection of all those great songs plus your kind of deeper songs like Cruel."

*Are you proud of your body of work now, so many singles on it, its just like banger after banger on it. Was that always your intentions for an album as well?

"Yeah I think there’s two sides, dance music albums either remain for the clubs, for DJs to pick up on and beats that you hear in the clubs or there’s the other side of it where it should feel almost like a greatest hits and that’s what Snacks feels like to me. I’m really proud of the collaborations we got on there like Demi Lovato, Bebe Rexa, all the way to great up and coming artists at the time such as Mabel and obviously she’s gone on to be a superstar now. There’s no other album that has that in dance music and then it kind of goes to show like in the sales, the reflection of that, it was the biggest dance album of last year and one of the biggest debut albums of the year."

*Before you were Jax Jones you did a lot of other things , can you tell me a bit about your early days with music? Were you in an indie band, you were weren’t you?

"Yeah I’ve done every job in music. I was signed in a band to Atlantic years before, Ed Sheeran and I got signed at the same time. I got dropped in that period after making an album, which happens to a lot of bands, but I learned so much. I worked with writers all around the world lessons that I brought into Jax Jones. But before that when I first left uni, because its been a long road, my parents didn’t agree with me doing music so I had to leave home pretty early and just kind of figure it out. I had to get a job pretty quickly and luckily I landed on my feet, playing guitar for N-Dubz which was my first ever job."

*So all the way back then when you were playing guitar for N-Dubz, was it in your mind that one day you wanted to be a solo artist in your own right?

"I knew I always wanted to be a producer and at the time I did a few remixes, I was chasing that. One off grime records and bits like that, on the underground even did a track with Miss Dynamite back in the day. At the time the rise of the DJ producer especially in house music from a commercial stance wasn’t as popular. I was still making rap and R&B, dabbling in pop so it took a while to make that connection. And then Jax Jones was what brought it all together really, and I was like this is a really natural fit; I love house music let’s do this."

*So Jax Jones is that you now? Are you going to be going forward and keep releasing music as Jax Jones?

"Yeah exactly, now that we’re a few years in, we’ve had all those hits, we’ve had an album out, and we’ve kind of made the statements that I want to make and now it’s about for me looking to the future, building longevity, having more hits but also showing my taste, putting on an amazing live show hence the tour, and just becoming known as an artist which is difficult as an electronic act."

*So when can we next expect music, is it going to be soon? Before the tour, perhaps?

"Yeah I’m dropping a new track before the tour. I’m in a band, well I’m in a modern day superband with Martin Solveig, who’s a bit of a legend, very surreal that we’re in a band together. And the band basically means you know that we make music together and kind of bring our worlds together, its called Europa. Our first song was “All Day and Night” which was a top ten last year, so we felt it was about time to drop a new one. So that’s what I’m dropping February 14th getting us lined up for the tour, it’s called Tequila so I’m pretty excited about that."

*And then obviously, you’ve eluded to the tour, it’s going to be your biggest tour. What can we expect from a Jax Jones live show, will it be elements of Europa in it as well, what’s going to happen?

"I mean the Jax Jones live show is like no other kind of dance show out there right now where you get all those big songs but preformed in a new unique way, we have unique versions that no one else has. Then you get a Europa section, sometimes I like to bring out special guests because of my influences in rap music and all the collaborations I’ve done, I love to bring out special guests. Surprises from each city, which I’ve been known to do. The first time I started doing that on the biggest stage was at Radio 1’s Big Weekend last year, which was a massive occasion and I don’t know if you want a demonstration of what the Jax Jones live show, in terms of my pop show is like, that’s the best thing to check out and it’s just a spectacle. We’ve been known to have up to 50 people on stage and it just feels like an incredible sensory experience, you know what I mean? So whether you want to sing along, whether you want to party, whether you want to just hang out with cool people that’s my show."

*Jax Jones plays the O2 Academy on Friday, March 13. Go to livenation.co.uk and jaxjones.co.uk for tickets.