Jevne Miller is doing what you want to be doing. He DJs four night a week in Minneapolis, MN. He plays bass guitar live during his sets. He produces and remixes house tracks. And he also runs the Onethirty Recordings record label, which has released material from Bryan Zentz, Chuck Love, Fourfeet, Alan Barrat, and several others. With so many music-related endeavors going on, you might wonder how he has time for a day job. Lucky for Jevne, these music-related endeavors are his day job.
I ran into Jevne at the Winter Music Conference this year and followed up to put him through the JIVE wringer.
JIVE Magazine: Tell us the history of Onethirty. How did you get involved as the owner?
Jevne: Back in 2001, I was DJing with Jack Trash and the Sound in Motion crew here in Minneapolis. We were doing Plush at the Quest club. Plush was a weekly Saturday night event where we brought headliners from all over to play. It was one of the biggest club nights Minneapolis has ever seen.
At the time I was managing Let it Be Records. Jack Trash and I had plans to start a label together for a while, and it was about to happen. Aphrodisio Records approached me to release some tracks and do an album. They wanted an exclusive deal with me, so it put me in an odd position with JT and I starting our label. I thought it would be great if we could all work together, so I got JT in on Aphrodisio, and it was great for a while.
Musically, Aphrodisio was looking for house music, and at that time I was very into tribal and progressive sounds. I did a few records with Aphrodisio and I brought up the idea of starting a sub label that could be a home for the more tribal and progressive sounds that I was producing. Onethirty was born.
I named the label, made the logo, and started producing the first record. At the time I was playing almost all of my DJ sets at 130 beats per minute, so I thought it was perfect to combine the words, and we have Onethirty. (I was, and still am, always about Onethirty as being one word and never the numerals.)
So the deal was with Aphrodisio that I would do all the work for the label, and they would fund the projects and use the connections that they had with distribution. We released the first record “You Savages,” which included a remix from Bryan Zentz. The record really did not get much promotion before it was released. After some delays, it took a while to finally hit the stores. In the meantime, Aphrodisio was going even more toward the vocal house sound and was really losing interest in putting more money into Onethirty. So I stepped up and decided to buy out the label that I had created. It was awesome. I now was the owner of my own label and had a home for my production and for other producers that I respect.
JIVE: Why house music?
Jevne: Like I said above, at first Onethirty was really going to be geared toward tribal and progressive sounds that I had been producing and playing. And really for the most part I have stuck with the tribal sounds. Living in Minneapolis, a big house music town, for the last many years I was always hearing great house music and it began to sink in. I found a true love for funkier and deeper sounds. The sounds on Onethirty have twisted and gone down the houseier realm, but in the end it’s really all about good music that I'm feeling that I will release on the label.
JIVE: What sort of person does it take to run a record label and be a professional DJ?
Jevne Miller: First and foremost, it takes someone who truly loves music and believes in the music they love! It takes a responsible, organized and creative person. I also believe that having a true, fun, honest, and kind personality will get you a long way!
JIVE: How have you viewed the industry shift from vinyl to CDs? What about the introduction of computer-based live performances, such as with Ableton Live or Final Scratch/Serato? How have these trends affected your industry?
Jevne: Well, of course this is one of the biggest issues in the business at the moment. Digital has really taken over the vinyl world. It's made it hard to sell vinyl records and to make money at it. But the digital sales are getting better every week and are making it possible to put together interesting projects for just a digital release. The digital world opens up so many possibilities to work with the music and to take tons of music with you when you go out to play.
I have not gotten in to the Live or Final Scratch thing, but I know many DJs using it and they love all the programs. I just got Traktor 3 to mess around with a bit; I'm looking forward to testing it out.
JIVE: Onethirty releases some tracks on vinyl and some on CD. How do you decide which track goes on which format?
Jevne: Well, I am shooting to do more digital releases at the moment. So almost everything will be digital at some point. But for now it's just what I think has the most potential to do well in both formats and what I feel like will do just fine as a digital release.
JIVE: What are some challenges you face as an independent record label owner?
Jevne: Getting paid from the vinyl distributors, and running the day-to-day business. It takes a lot of time and effort. The more releases you have up, the more there is to do! For the most part it is really awesome. I look forward to what every day will bring and to see what the next challenge will be. It can be the smallest thing sometimes that turns out to be a pain. Like paying an artist overseas or communicating with the artists to get the music to sound the way you want for your label. Many things come up every day!
JIVE: Why don't you just pack it all in and go work in a corporate office or something?
Jevne: HA!!! Will never happen. I love my life and I always say I have been really lucky to find what I love to do and am able to do it for a living! Also, I can’t get up and function very well before 10 AM.
JIVE: Regarding Onethirty, what are your plans for 2007 and beyond?
Jevne: I have music from many great artists at the moment. I will be doing a lot of remixes and working with other producers that I respect. I would like to trade some remixes with labels that I like and spread the love. I will be making a big push on the Onethirty Digital end of the releases since the digi world is booming. It’s such a great outlet to release music. I am planning on making the first mix CD for the label that will include my favorite picks from the catalog along with some new unreleased cuts.
JIVE: Production-wise, who would your dream collaboration be with?
Jevne: Oh, many people come to mind but I would love to work with David Penn. His cuts are amazing.
JIVE: What is your studio setup like, and what gear do you find yourself using over and over again?
Jevne:
Mac G5 Dual 2.7 GHz
MacBook Pro Dual Core 2.0
Logic Pro 7
Access Virus C
Warwick Thumb 6-string bass
LP gen 2 bongos
MOTU 896 sound card
AMT-8 MIDI interface
All Native Instruments software
Mackie 14-channel mixer
Shure SM-58 and SM-57 mics
Event monitors
Sony subwoofer
Bass Pod by Line 6
M-Audio Radium MIDI controller
A few extra secrets!
The gear I use most: All the Native Instruments software, especially Battery, and my bass of course!
JIVE: What was your inspiration for playing bass live over your sets?
Jevne: I have been playing bass since college in '93, which is around the same time that I started DJing and collecting records. I had brought my bass out a few time back in 2001 to Plush when JT and I did a live set with all kinds of gear. It was cool, but it never stuck 'till about a year and a half ago. I was playing weekly at the Lounge Club in Minneapolis, where I would DJ and Chuck Love would bring all of his instruments out and play along with me. We also had Winston Butler (a live percussionist) there as well.
Winston had suggested that I bring my bass out one night and we could see what happened. So I made some raw beats for us to all jam over and it was amazing! There was a period of about 5-6 months there that the 3 of us would come up with the most amazing live jams right in the middle of my sets! Some nights Fourfeet (aka Justin Thompson) would come out and sing with us as well. There were some magical moments there every week.
So I began to write tracks every week that we could jam with and the rest is history, now I never leave for a gig with out my bass. I now can play sometimes 50-60% of my DJ sets playing live 6-string bass!!! I also bring a set of bongos out with me as well to add to the craziness.
JIVE: Talk a little bit about WMC and how valuable you see that from a promotional/owner standpoint.
Jevne: Oh, the WMC is an amazing week of many like-minded people in Miami, all there for the love of dance music. It’s a great way to be in direct contact with producers, labels, and DJs that you would like to work with. If you go with a plan to promote what you’re doing, you can accomplish a lot. It’s great to see people you have worked with or want to work with and have some face time and to remind them that you are still in the game.
JIVE: What advice would you give to bedroom producers looking to get signed, or for bedroom DJs looking to play house music as their primary job?
Jevne: As a producer, work hard on your music, be creative and believe in what you are doing. Don’t do it for the money; it should always be for the love of the music. Get your tracks together, pick the labels that you think your music will fit on, contact the label, and send the cuts! Stay on top of it and check up to see if they received them and what they thought. For the most part all the electronic music labels out there are run/owned by people just like you, so don’t be intimidated or nervous to fire up some conversation.
As for DJs looking to play house for a living ... work hard at it, be determined, put together a nice proposal for your local club, and get your self some gigs. Hang out where you would like to play, and meet the people and promoters of the events. Find your own sound/style of music: don’t just play what everyone else is cause it works for them.
Jevne Miller plays four nights a week in Minneapolis, MN. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Saturday you can find him at the Independent. On Friday nights, he rocks the Visage.
Upcoming releases on Onethirty Recordings:
August:
Jevne & Spur “The Houne’ Rockers Ep” 130-D008
September:
Jevne With Fourfeet “Take My Time” w/ Justin Martin remix 130-006
Sceneheadz “Play that Scene” w/ Jevne Remixes 130-D009
Bang Bang “In The Bowl” w/ Jevne Remix 130-D010
October:
Aaron Roberts “Soul It As Funk” w/ Jevne and Spur remixes 130-007
