Sharam Jey pakt dit jaar uit met een nieuw album, namelijk 'In My Blood'. Voor JIM had de DJ/producer even tijd voor een babbel, check it out!

JIM: This is your second artist album, are you excited with the result?

Sharam Jey: After my last album I have toured quite constantly. And at first I had some difficulties getting back in those production routines, but I have found so many inspirations and got back into producing quicker than I thought. And it was really great to have that joy making music again. And I wanted to get on to the next level with the new album „In My Blood“. In the end I had about 30 tracks finished and had to cut them off to 13.
I would describe those songs as energetic but emotionally with each having a story to tell. The style is a mixture of dance, electronic, rock and indie elements. I think I tend to get inspired by all those old synthi-sounds I always loved since I can remember hearing music. And I wanted to give the album a coherent sound.
And I have to say that I am really happy and amazed with the result. And that’s a huge thing to say when you are producer.

JIM: What's inside Sharam Jey's blood?

Sharam Jey: I would say that you just need to have a listen to the album. I just wanted the songs on the album sound energetic but emotionally with each having a story to tell. The style is a mixture of dance, electronic, rock and indie elements. I think I tend to get inspired by all those old synthi-sounds I always loved since I can remember hearing music. And I wanted to give the album a coherent sound. All that is in my blood…

JIM: Have you been inspired by other artists or music genres while making your album?

Sharam Jey: I have been inspired by basically everything. A discussion, a journey, a song I am playing and the reaction I get, just a moment. Or e.g. a song on my laptop I began writing about 10 years ago and that I am building upon. So there have not been any particular artists or genres, no.

JIM: What’s your absolute favourite track on the album? Why?

Sharam Jey: I cannot just choose one song. In the end I had about 30 tracks finished and had to cut them off to 13. That was so difficult for me I as I like them all. But songs like “Fists Of Fury”, a track that affiliates 3 directions, or “Dear Valentine” which still gives me chills every time I hear it, or “The More That I Do” with its strong pop-appeal, are for me some of the strongest on the album.

JIM: Are there any wild stories behind the tracks?

Sharam Jey: Wild? I don’t know. As I said before every track has a story to tell, so hear for yourself and make your own interpretation.

JIM: You worked with a lot of other artists on this album like Princess Superstar, Tommie Sunshine, Nik Valentino, ...how did those collaborations established?

Sharam Jey: Well, differently. Princess Superstar was a huge fan of the original instrumental club version of “Monday Morning” and played it constantly in her sets at that time. She had the idea to do vocals on it. Tommie Sunshine and I always discussed to do a collaboration for many years and finally he came up with the idea to sing a track. I was a bit skeptical in the beginning but the result really blew me away. Cornelia, she is doing he vocals on my current single “Army Of Men”, and I first got in contact with her through MySpace and we finally met in person on the Hultsfred-Festival in Sweden. She was a journalist reporting about the festival and I was the only dj among only rock bands like The Strokes or The Babyshambles. And my next single Hearts Of Stone will be sung by Andreas Hogby who is the singer of Swedish rockband Torpedo. I got to know him from the director of both the “Monday Morning” and the “Army Of Men” videos. He told me about that rock guy who would like to go a bit more electronic with his music and wanted to sound like my productions. So he quickly agreed to do a song on the album and the collaboration was cut and dried.

JIM: Are there any artists you really want to work with in the future? Who's your role model?

Sharam Jey: Oh there a lot of good artists out there. So it’s difficult to pick one.
But I am really happy with all the guest vocalists on "In My Blood" anyway. It was great having all those talents contributing their ideas.

JIM: Is there any other genre of music that you’d like to get into in the future that we wouldn’t expect from you? (Jazz, lounge, rock?)

Sharam Jey: I am a huge fan of nearly all kinds of music. And my goal is to always stay open minded. I would say that jazz is at least at the moment not really the style I would like to explore. But of course rock is one of my favourite genres. I started in a rockband and on my Ipod you will find all those rock albums. And if you listen to my new album I guess the rock element is quite obvious.

JIM: Are there musical genres you absolutely dislike?

Sharam Jey: No not really.

JIM: What is your ultimate goal as an artist? What is your ultimate goal as a person?

Sharam Jey: As an artist at the moment I just want my album to work out well.
As a person I am trying to stay true to my credo that one should always try to give his best to get out the most satisfying result.

JIM: Will you be touring your album anywhere?

Sharam Jey: Yes, of course I will definitely tour Europe, the US, Australia and New Zealand. Dates will follow. I am really looking forward presenting the new songs live!

JIM: We've seen you spinning the decks many times with a cap on your head...

Sharam Jey: Yes, that is right. I have a huge collection of hats: woolen ones, caps. I like nearly every kind of headgear.

JIM: What kind of caps should fans of friends have to buy for your birthday?

Sharam Jey: That’s difficult as I already got so many. My friends are not giving me any hats for birthday anymore. So you should pick something different.

JIM: You live in Cologne (Köln), Germany. Suppose you would have to move to another (world) city. What would be it?

Sharam Jey: I really like living here. The only other spot where I would like to live in Germany would be Berlin.
And outside Germany I guess at the moment I would pick Sidney as I like this no-worries-down-to-earth-kind-of-mood there. Plus the people in Oz and I are on the same level musical-wise.

JIM: What was your personal highlight of 2010 already?

Sharam Jey: The highlight yet was definitely the release of my new album. We here at King Kong put so much energy and sleepless nights in this work, we are really happy that the result is so satisfying.

JIM: What's your aim for this year?

Sharam Jey: Well as I already said the year is packed with everything related to the album. Meaning I want to put up a successful tour making the people happy playing for them. Plus I have at least two more singles to come. So my head is really full of all those stuff.