Interview by Luke Byatt

With the release of his debut track, ‘Fun Club’ and a boisterous remix of What So Not’s ‘OOGAHDAM!’, Tise Jones is quickly becoming a fundamental figure in local dance landscape. We caught up with Tise Jones, delving into his relationship with music, debut single, and rapid rise.

Futuremag Music: Hey Tise Jones, how're you doing?

Tise Jones: Pretty good, Thanks! I’ve just been trying to make the most of this isolation situation, working on plenty of new music. I did my first livestream DJ set last weekend which was super fun! And balancing that out with a nice amount of lazing around all day and watching Netflix.

Futuremag Music: Congratulations on the debut release, before we jump into it could you please talk us through your relationship with music over the years?

Tise Jones: Thank you! Feels great to release my first original under the Tise Jones project. 

I’ve pretty much always played an instrument of some sort. I started playing piano when I was about 7, then moved onto saxophone for a bit and then learnt guitar when I was in high school. I’ve never really stuck to an instrument but then found music production. I started learning to produce and DJ when I was 17 and have been doing it ever since. I began releasing tracks under my former project Zebarah, which was a duo with my good friend Mark. After a couple of years Mark began focusing on photography and videography. This meant he was making music less and less and we just slowly stopped working together. (Although we still collaborate, he does a large part of the photo and video work for Tise Jones). It was kind of tough when that fell apart but it ended up being a blessing in disguise. I started to make music on my own for the first time in years and I ended up becoming more inspired than I’d ever been. 

I realised I’d been trying to make music for that particular project, to fit a particular sound, rather than making music for myself. It was that sense of letting myself be free to make whatever felt right that was the birth of what is now Tise Jones.

Futuremag Music:  'Fun Club' is an A-Grade banger, could you talk us through the production process?

Tise Jones: It was a bit of a slow burner this one. I actually started it about a year ago, I got down all of the main ideas of the track all in one day, but I couldn’t work out the arrangement for a long time. I played it at a few shows over the course of last year, but it was never really working on a dance floor. I just felt it was lacking the impact I wanted it to have.  

Towards the end of last year though I had a breakthrough and really got the flow of the track working. I played it at this crazy boat party at Your Paradise festival in Fiji and for the first-time people were really getting into it. That got me super excited, it was really the defining moment where I knew it was ready to release!  

Futuremag Music: Before the release of 'Fun Club', you burst into the dance community with your remix of What So Not's 'OOGAHDAM!'.  What's the reception been like since you exploded into the lives of so many listeners?

Tise Jones: The remix had such a great response! Being the first track I released as Tise Jones I was pretty nervous about how it was going to be received so I’m incredibly happy with how it’s been going.

On the back of that release I was lucky enough to get the call up to support What So Not on his Australia/NZ tour back in March, which was amazing! It was my first tour and it was awesome to play in so many new places to some incredible crowds. We had a great crew of DJ’s on that tour (Ninajirachi, Choomba, Montell 2099 and of course What So Not) and at the end of each night we’d all do a huge B2B, which were some of the most insane moments I’ve had behind the decks!

Futuremag Music: What's the plan for the next twelve months or so?

Tise Jones: The plan is to release a tonne of music! I have a lot of music I’m working on that I’m super excited about. I’m also really excited to get back out and play a bunch of shows as soon as everything opens back up. Till then, I’ll just be working away so I can share more music and maybe try do a few more live streams. 

Futuremag Music: To wrap it up, if Tise Jones was a cocktail, what would be in it to best describe the project?

Tise Jones: Oh good question! That’s a tough one. Maybe just a classic gin and tonic, keep it simple because when I produce, I always try to break my music down to its simplest form to try and find intrigue through the subtleties. So, it would have to be a nice one! Not your average G&T you get from a dingy club. Although maybe that just makes sense to me right now because I’ve been drinking nice G&T’s with my mum most arvos while we’ve been in isolation haha!