True House Stories® Youtube & Spotify Video Podcast
TRUE HOUSE STORIES W/ JKRIV
JKriv interviewed by Lenny Fontana for True House Stories® # 011
JKriv is a Brooklyn-based producer, DJ, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, co-owner of record label Razor-N-Tape.
This episode we are joined by Jason Kriv one of the founding members of the House Music Band Tortured Soul on Central Park Records take us on his journey in the music business. Finding and making his mark as a successful record producer, remixer, and dj.
JKriv YouTube Video
Biography JKriv
JKriv is a Brooklyn-based producer, DJ, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and labelowner. With a professional musical career stretching nearly 2 decades, J has gained serious attention recently for his original productions and inspired DJ sets, and was called “an innovator of the scene” by legendary Defected Records boss Simon Dunmore. It’s a title he has rightly earned, with releases and remixes on Joey Negro’s Z Records, Soundway Records, his own label Razor-N-Tape, among many others, plus massive new singles and remixes for Glitterbox.
He brings a seasoned musicality to everything he touches, whether original productions, remixes or reworks and re-edits. A trained musician, his talent for dazzling live instrumentation can be heard on his recent all-original disco opus “Vertigo” on Z Records, as well recent remixes of Luke Solomon’s Powerdance project on Classic Records, and “Strength” by Freeform Five feat Carolyn Harding on Glitterbox. His latest single “Yo Love” on Glitterbox, written and produced by J and featuring the soulful voice of Adeline, has all the stripped-down swagger of a classic NYC disco tune, and once again shows JKriv’s knack for seamlessly melding modern and retro club sounds.
He has also established himself a purveyor of all things outer-national. He’s nurtured a long- standing love affair with the music of Brazil through his 2017 Férias ’77 LP compilation of reworks on Razor-N-Tape, and his 2019 Aguaxirê EP on Detroit’s Rocksteady Disco, and also remixed African artists for renowned labels Soundway and Africa Seven. JKriv’s tracks have been played by club and radio DJs such as Derrick Carter, Disclosure, Andrew Weatherall, Louie Vega, Kenny Dope, Mark Farina, BBC Radio 1’s Pete Tong and BB6’s Craig Charles, among many others.
Like his productions, JKriv’s DJ sets showcase his deep and diverse taste, weaving eclectic disco, house, and offbeat selections together seamlessly, always with an ear for groove and harmony, and an eye to the dance floor. In addition to regular nights at hometown hotspots Black Flamingo, Le Bain, Good Room, Output and Elsewhere, J has performed live and DJ’d in over 30 countries and nearly every state in the continental US, sharing bills with Todd Terje, Tony Humphries, Session Victim, Joey Negro, and returned to play the idyllic Mareh Music festival in Brazil NYE 2020, for the second time.
JKriv is also a foundational member of the live disco band Escort, cowriting, producing, and touring as bassist/guitarist with the group at Coachella,
Sasquatch Festival, Electric Forest and innumerable club gigs around the world, as well as a original founding member and former bass player for the groundbreaking livehouse group Tortured Soul.
JKriv’s talents as a tastemaker extend beyond the studio and DJ booth, as co-owner of respected Brooklyn record label Razor-N-Tape. RNT now boasts an 80+ release-deep catalog that has garnered support and spins from some of the biggest names in modern club and radio, and is one of the most respected and consistent current independent dance music labels.