Dropping out of law school to pursue his creative ambitions, Jonah started out as a photographer/videographer, touring the world with the likes of R3HAB, Justin Mylo, Martin Garrix and Zedd. Stuck in Las Vegas last year due to the pandemic, Jonah decided to teach himself to DJ, acting on advice from his good friends in the industry. In August 2021, he played the first-ever edition of zed. run, and the following week was invited to be part of Ookay’s show at Marquee, where he joined him for a special b2b slot as well as playing solo. Days later he played a b2b set with Zedd and Gryffin in the Hamptons, arranged by Zedd himself. In September 2021, he released his first single ‘I Found Love’ and has a host of new music ready to come for 2022.
THE INTERVIEW
CR: Hello Jonah, glad to have you on Canadianravers, how are you doing?
J: Hey! Thank you for having me. I’m doing great…resting after a super busy, super fun week.
CR: Dropping out of law school to pursue photography/videography and now DJing? How was is transitioning from all that and has anything stuck with you since you first stepped into the music scene?
J: It’s definitely been a crazy journey. I think my biggest takeaway throughout all the different transitions has been that “quitting” is usually talked about negatively, but I’m a huge believer in “smart quitting” … Growing up, a lot of us are guided towards making big life decisions early on…do you want to be a doctor, a lawyer, an athlete, etc…and if you deviate from that path you’re often looked at as a quitter, but I think it’s completely normal for our interests to change and sometimes quitting and moving on to the next thing is smart. I’ve found that it doesn’t matter what I’m doing, happiness has to be at the core of it, and if it’s not there, or stops being there, I have to reevaluate what I’m doing.
CR: How does it feel to have a residency at ZOUK at such a young age and perform alongside Zedd on NYE?
J: It’s absolutely crazy and the feeling is amazing. I’ve been living in Vegas for a little over a year now but I’ve spent a lot of time going to the clubs here over the last 5 years, and to see my face on the biggest billboard in all of Vegas, announcing my shows at Zouk, as a DJ… is an insane feeling. I honestly don’t think it’s completely processed yet. It’s weird because on the one hand, it feels absolutely crazy, and on the other hand, it feels equal to normal.
To have my first show be NYE with Zedd was so cool. NYE is one of my favourite days of the year. It’s the day where almost everyone in the world wants to party. The expectations are high, and everyone wants to have the best time ever. A LOT of my friends flew out to Vegas for it, including my Dad who traveled all the way from Malta to be there, and the night ended up being even better than I expected. Honestly one of the most fun nights of my life. And to top it all off, doing it with Zedd was the cherry on the cake!
I Gotta give a shout-out to all my friends who flew out to Vegas, my team, and Brent Freed & Alex Trillo from Zouk who made it all possible!
CR: We know you've been hanging out with Zedd a lot, has he become a mentor for you?
J: Zedd has been an amazing friend for a while now, and over the last 2 years has become a brother to me. As I transitioned into making music & DJing, it’s been fun to see our relationship change with it. I’ve always said that he’s one of the nicest people I’ve ever met, but he’s also extremely talented. So to be able to run ideas by him, share songs with each other, etc…is absolutely amazing!
I would say on top of all that, though, he’s just been so supportive of everything I’m doing. Early on, seeing the confidence he had in me being able to perform, really made a big difference. It may have not looked like it from the outside, but I definitely had some doubts early on when I started DJing. But it looked like I was the only one having these doubts. Having the support of not just my friends but other artists as well was crucial to get over it.
We also love to DJ after parties together where we throw down some fire “semi-deep house” b2b sets. This has been a lot of fun but it also felt like practice. When I was up there on NYE, it just felt like one big after-party.
CR: Your recent track ‘I Found Love’ is such a banger, what was the inspiration behind that track?
J: Thank you! This is the first song I ever released. I started working on it during the pandemic; and I was foreseeing that the clubs would start to reopen and people would want to party hard…so I knew I wanted to make a club banger. When I heard the vocals I instantly connected with the lyrics, even though they’re super simple, just because I felt that I had just rediscovered my deep love for music through DJing and producing. There’s no better feeling than when purpose meets passion.
CR: To get inspiration for your future tracks, what genres do you currently listen to?
J: I legit listen to all genres, all the time - house music, classical music, jazz, hip hop…literally all genres serve a purpose throughout the day. In fact, when I’m in the studio, the first thing I like to do is listen to a bunch of songs from different genres, almost to get all the inspiration but also to not have any bias towards one specific genre.
Right now I’m really liking this “house meets bass house” sound; with more melodic, tech-house type intros and build-ups, but a more bass house type of drop. Still, as I play more shows, I want stuff that can go hard at the club.
CR: Out of all the performances so far, which one was the most memorable so far?
J: My favourite has got to be NYE at Zouk Nightclub in Vegas with Zedd. It’s not only my first show at Zouk but also my first show in Las Vegas. Vegas has recently become my home but also has been life-changing over the last few years. I met most of the people I’m closest to, in Vegas. So to be able to celebrate the new year, DJing at an amazing venue like Zouk, with Zedd and all our friends…I couldn’t think of a better way to end 2021 & start 2022.
The energy was also so crazy at the show. I was scheduled to play from 1:45-3:45 and ended up going till 4:30 because people just kept wanting more…so we kept going. Moments like this are amazing because this is exactly why I started DJing…because I wanted to be able to keep the party going.
CR: We heard you’re interested in Crypto & NFTs, can you tell us more about this?
J: This space is so fascinating for me. It’s moving so fast and there are so many opportunities right now just because everyone is so hyped about the industry, so naturally, everyone wants to chat about it and try to figure out a way to get involved.
I’ve been trying to get involved in projects that I believe in from a long-term standpoint. With NFTs, I’m always looking for stuff that I like. I always think about it from the angle that if the NFTs lose value over time, I at least want something that I can look at as a reminder of the time we’re living in!
CR: When you are not performing or producing music, what does an average day look like for JONAH?
J: I usually start my day around 7:30 am with a spa session with my roommate, Richard Blankenship. We use this time to catch up on some stuff and talk about what we have to accomplish during the day. We also work together on a lot of investments; both new opportunities and businesses we’re involved in. We both work from home unless we have meetings to go to. Each day is different, but some constants are: I try to go to the gym or play tennis once a day, and go to the spa at the beginning of the day (and maybe at the end too). We just got a puppy, so we've been spending a lot of time with him.
The best thing about Vegas is that people we know fly here all the time, so there’s usually always a business dinner at the end of the day with someone different.
So, it’s always unpredictable, as Vegas usually goes. That’s the beauty of it. I hate routines BUT I do love my daily rituals.
CR: Since it is the New Year, what is your New Year Resolution and What is 2022 looking like for you?
J: To be honest I’m not a big new year’s resolution guy. I set goals all the time and add new ones as they come up…but I don’t like to restrict myself within one calendar year. In 2021, I confirmed that I really want to go all-in on my music career, and so in 2022, my goal is to do just that. I want to be able to not only go on a world tour but to take all my friends with me. I think that’s the goal.
This year I’m working on a lot of new music, some amazing collabs, I have my Vegas residency and other shows I’m playing. I’m also working on an NFT project on the side that I’m hoping to launch soon. So overall, I expect this to be an amazing year.
LIGHTNING ROUND
Texting or calling? Texting
Coffee or tea? Coffee
Hard liquor or Wine? Hard Liquor
Cake or pie? Cake
Hot dogs or hamburgers? Hamburgers
Xbox or PlayStation? Xbox
Movie theatre or arcade? Movie Theatre
Guitar or piano? Piano
Marvel or DC Comics? Marvel
Dog or cat? Dog
Hot weather or cold weather? Hot
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