Jonny Cruz is an international man of (musical) mystery. Nomadic by nature, he was born in Puerto Rico before spending parts of his childhood in San Diego, Venezuela and Miami. He spent time in New York in the mid 2000's before moving to London but he's just as at home in Berlin or, as he details in our chat below, a yacht in the Adriatic Sea off the coast of Croatia.
His sound can loosely be characterized as a unique blend of deep house and techno but we'll let the exclusive mix he's supplied us with below speak for itself. His recent productions have landed on Tiefschwarz's forthcoming Renaissance Mix Compilation and in the past has released through a myriad of labels ranging from Cocoon to Poker Flat. He's working with Ray Zuniga and Mikey Tello (Pillowtalk) on an exciting new label called Touch of Class and has a new track out on Aeon which is a collaboration he did with the label's founder Alex Niggeman.
Ahead of his appearance at Lovelife in San Diego this weekend we caught up with Mr. Cruz during some down time he was having at a bar in Playa Del Carmen with fellow DJ Jordan Peak and Alex Herman who, in addition to throwing the best underground events in the area with his Footloose venture, is also an integral member of the BPM Festival organization. It's a testament to one of Cruz's other strengths, making friends and having a good time.
You’ve been moving around a lot. You were only at Sonar for a short time before you bounced out of there. How was it? We were there for two days. The second day I played the My Favorite Robot beach party, which was amazing. We had Jori Hulkkonen, It’s A Fine Line, Tim Paris, Ivan Smagghe and Timo Maas. The party was fucking amazing and probably one of the highlights of my year so far. Right after the party, I had to go straight to the airport. I flew in great condition.
So it was Barcelona straight to Cancún airport? Yeah, I got to Cancún arrive in Playa Del Carmen, slept for a few hours, and then played a party. I play on Thursday in Mexico City, Friday in León, then I join My Favorite Robot for the Lovelife party in San Diego. I am excited to return to San Diego because I haven't been back there since I lived there as a child. Then I play in Texas for three dates in McAllen, Houston, and El Paso. Then Las Vegas, then Miami at The Pickle, and then back to London for the Motek Party.
Have you ever played for Motek before? No, I haven’t.
How did you get to know Matt Hardinge who runs it? I got to know Matt through Silky actually. They’re really good mates.
I feel like Silky’s having a big year. Yeah, Silky’s making a name for himself. He’s playing quite steadily. We have a new duo collaboration thing together. I’m not going to mention what our name is but our first release is going to be on Lee Burridge's label Get Weird. So that’s another thing to look forward to, our new duo.
Yesterday you just dropped “Just A Little” on Alex Niggeman’s new label AEON. Yeah, it’s a track that I worked on with Alex. It had to be like a year and a half ago in Berlin. I didn’t remember that I worked on it with him and about two months ago he hits me up and was like ‘Jonny, I got a surprise for you.’ And he sends me these three tracks, our original with the Steve Bug remix and the Glimpse remix. And I was like ‘What the fuck’s this?’ And I’m like ‘Oh shit, right.’ So it was kind of a surprise. It was kind of funny. The Glimpse remix was a pleasant surprise as well. I included it in my exclusive mix for Pulse.
When did you find out that one of your records was going to be on the new Tiefschwarz Renaissance Compilation? That was actually kind of funny because I didn’t even send the track as a demo. Sierra Sam does all the A&R for Souvenir and their new label NAU, which is the label that’s releasing the track. Sierra Sam and I have been friends for years. He’s one of my dear friends. He always sends me his new music and I always send him my new music. So I didn’t send it as a demo, I just send it like ‘Hey, here’s my new shit. Listen to it.’ Two weeks later he hits me up and he’s like ‘Yo, Basti and Ali are going crazy about this track. They want to put it on the new Renaissance mix CD. They want to release it.’ That’s how it happened. They’ve always been like that. I’ve always been inspired by Tiefschwarz. They’re great artists. They’re great guys and I’ve always been keen on their sound.
So, Touch of Class, your label. Let’s talk about that for a second. I’ve only heard “Drug Lips.” What else is coming out from there? “Drug Lips” is the B-side actually. The A-side is my track with Signal Flow featuring Aquarius Heaven. It’s called “Dirty Hands.” Last summer we were all in Croatia at the Garden Festival and a friend of ours rented a yacht. We were all on the yacht for a week and we were having a great time, really having bromance time. In the midst of all of our partying and our hanging out, we were just like ‘yo, we should open a label together.’ And it just came up and we did it.
It’s basically you, Ray Zuniga, and Mikey Tello, right? Yeah, they financed it and I’m more like the A&R, kind of co-founder too but in the back behind the scenes. It’s a bit more their thing but I’m in it with them.
What a way to kick off a label though with a three-day straight post BPM party on the beach in Tulum though, right? Yeah, we had the WMC party too, which wasn’t on the same scale as the Tulum party because the Tulum party was amazing. It had such a great turnout. Everybody ended up going and we had such a great time. The WMC party was good too. It was kind of more like an intimate mixer, kind of all the DJs, all the producers, all the label owners. They showed mad love and support for us, so we’re really happy.
When will that be available for purchase? Right now, digitally we can release it anytime we want because we already have distributions for the digital aspect of it. We’re still waiting for physical distribution for the vinyls. We already have some prospective companies, but we’re still working on it. We don’t want to release the digital before the vinyl because that makes no sense at all. We have five hundred vinyls pressed already. I have a huge box of vinyls already sitting at my house so…soon. In the next two months, it will be out.
Aquarius Heaven…Who else is in that extended family? Who’s going to have forthcoming work on there? We’ve got Cesare vs Disorder, Avatism, myself, Corey Baker who’s making amazing stuff right now. You just wait. We have loads of people. I don’t want to spill too many of the beans right now.
What’s the secret to keeping the music flowing when you’re tired and hungover and flying around all the time? Weed. I’m a heavy cannabis enthusiast.
What's the key to ensuring you still get things done in a city as known for its party scene as London? I try not to go out that much because I try to be in the studio more when I’m in London. I’m not going to say I don’t go out. I do go out if there’s a friend in town who’s playing, someone that I really want to see playing, or a friend throwing a party. But that’s basically every weekend so I don’t know. It’s kind of difficult to stay away from the parties but I try to as much as possible.
It probably wasn’t as easy five years ago to keep the records flowing. When do you think you started to really catch the momentum that you’ve had for the last couple of years? When was a defining moment when you really started to feel like it was really going to be something that was going to be a career? It’s been hard. I’ve been struggling for awhile and I’ve been working hard at it and doing my thing but at the same time it’s always been in the back of my mind like ‘wait, maybe I should get a job and kind of do this on the side.’ And not until recently was I kind of like ‘ok, now I’m comfortable. I can focus on doing this and not worry about bills and having to get a day job.’ I’d say probably from the last six months. I’ve been making music for ten years plus. Some people, when they come out and they have a hit, that’s it. It hasn’t been the case with me. It’s been slow.
In the past, I’ve had to ask my family for help to pay a bill or something. And I’ve had good advice from my family because they love me, suggesting that maybe I pick up something else, do something else with my life. And I always tell them ‘no, I’m not gonna give up.’ There’s no way. I’m glad I did.
What else is going on these days for you? I also have my “Supernature” track coming out on the Kolors compilation. I’m working on my album for My Favorite Robot, which should be out by early next year. It will be really cool. I’m six tracks deep into it but it’s going to be good.
Any big Ibiza plans or festivals? I’m playing at Sankeys in Ibiza in September. In August, I’m coming back to the states and Ecuador and a few dates in the States. Let’s see how good my booking agent is.
What’s her name again? Joanna Miles.
Are you with Air London? I’m with Air London, yeah. My agent is Joanna Miles. I have a great relationship with her and she’s really amazing, so I don’t mind mentioning her at all.
Listen to Jonny Cruz on Pulse Radio