Jay Hardway Reveals Upcoming Music, Dream Collabs, Signature Production Style & More!

Jay Hardway returned last month for the second time this year with his latest stellar release ‘Rollercoaster’.  Following on from his earlier hit ‘Operation Unicorn’, Jay has produced another dance-ready track sure to be a part of playlists all over the world. Out now via Musical Freedom; an independent label with a catalog curated by the Godfather of EDM, Tiësto, releasing some of the best new dance music over the last decade. We had the pleasure of interviewing Jay to celebrate his latest release.

Let’s start off with ‘Rollercoaster’. How happy are you with the finished product and its home on Musical Freedom?
“I’m super happy with this track! It takes me back to the time I released Electric Elephants, which is cool for me and the fans. It’s a great track to play out live, and luckily I finished it last year, so I had the chance to play it before all the festivals were cancelled. The fact that it’s released on Musical Freedom is huge for me, Tiësto has been a huge example for basically every DJ.”

With this single, you have revisited a certain unique style that you debutted a couple of years ago, how enjoayble do you find it is to experiment with new sounds and styles so you don’t get burnt out on one style?
“I always try to experiment with every new track I make. I have done this for the past 6 years and that has resulted in numerous styles of tracks, while still having that “Jay Hardway feel” to it. For this track I decided to go back to a style I’m super happy with and always gets a great response with fans. They all really like the fact that it has the same style as Electric Elephants, and I didn’t expect that much love. So I’m always going to keep experimenting, but I’m definitely revisiting older styles of mine as well in the future. “

With producing tracks previously under the big room banner along with your progressive house and future house releases, is there any certain style you haven’t experimented with over the years that you would like to?
“I’ve experimented with almost every style, but haven’t released a lot of that. I’m definitely loving tracks that have more of a song structure to them. It might be time to release that in this time, because releasing club music while I’m not able to play it in a club, seems weird haha!”

Sticking on the topic of producing and with the cancellation of all gigs across the world, how have you found it is to be in/near your studio for most of the day working on or finishing new music?
“It’s weird to not be traveling all the time, but it feels amazing to have a normally day-/night routine. I sleep way more than last year for example and that feels really good. And I always find new stuff to do, musically, but also other stuff like live-streaming, so I definitely haven’t been bored yet! It also gives me some time to think about where I want to go in life and career wise.” 

When it comes to producing tracks, many artists struggle to find a balance between producing and regular life. How do you wind down away from the studio and are there any tips for upcoming producers out there to improve their workflow?
“One thing that has helped me a lot was moving my studio from my home to an office space. This way you can literally switch between your private life and work life by going to the studio. So in the studio I’m more focused on work, and at home I’m more focused on resting and enjoying quality time with my girlfriend. Of course for upcoming producers this can be difficult financially, but I suggest trying to find other producers who work from home and are looking for an office space as well. This way you can share the costs also it’s way more fun to work in the same building with other creative people.”

With high profile collabs together with artists such as Martin Garrix, Bassjackers, Mesto among many more, if you only had 1 collab remaining, who would you want it to be with?
“Chris Martin from Coldplay. I love his voice and songwriting and I think it could sound magical. “

When it comes to you stepping into the studio and creating a track from scratch, what comes first in your process? the drop, the breakdown, the melody or all of the above.
“I found that I have two ways of producing music. One of them is going in without any idea, just experimenting and trying new, weird sounds until I find something cool. The other way is having an idea of a track or melody and trying to re-create that idea in the studio. In most cases I start with a melody and add chords to that. If I’m not in the studio and I come up with a melody I record it in my phone voicenotes.”

With this break in performances, what have you enjoyed most about taking time off from touring and what do you miss most about the lack of shows?
“I’m enjoying the amount of sleep and time I have now, like mentioned before. I definitely do miss the shows though. The energy you get from a crowd that is singing a long or jumping to songs you play is out of this world. It also gives you new energy in the studio, so I’m curious to see if I will miss that energy in the studio as well for the coming months.”

Ending the interview, would you like to share any exclusive news with us? 😉
“There is a new track coming out soon on Spinnin’ Records and I can’t tell you anything more yet, but I suggest you check out Episode 466 of Hardwell On Air ;)”

Stream his latest single below.