Samual James is grabbing the attention of many around the country with his two latest tracks Sahara and Mumbai. The two tracks have been a huge success and his performances at Stereosonic in Sydney and Melbourne last year has left fans wanting more and he is ready to do it all again this year.
His most recent single “Sahara” hit top #4 on the Aria Club Charts gaining hype when Will Sparks gave an audience a preview at Stereosonic last year.
“When it did get released it got a really good response, before the release date I wasn’t really expecting number four but I couldn’t be happier with how it went!”
He tells me the process of producing a new single and the released version of ‘Sahara’ is different to the version that Will played at Stereosonic with many small differences and explains, “It took months and months of tweaking and I think the version I ended up bringing out was version 15 so sometimes it can be a long process.”
He then compares the success to his last single saying, “I think they both went number four in the charts, it’s seems to be the spot that I can’t get higher but I’m definitely happy with it, next time I need to go a few steps higher.”
“Mumbai would have definitely been the biggest single so far”, as it gained support by all the big name djs around the world and it was one of the most played tracks in the Future Music Festival.
It has been a challenge to make a name for himself in Melbourne where the club scene is always thriving and the pressure to differentiate yourself from the rest is high. He explains, “Every person you meet is a dj especially in Melbourne, it’s oversaturated at the moment and a lot of people are playing or producing the same kind of music.”
“It is hard to find individuality. With the success of Mumbai and Mega and Carter before that, I’ve slowly been building momentum and slowly breaking away from that mould,” he says.
At 17, James found his passion for music starting off with house parties and at 18, he moved to the club scene. By the time he was 22, he focused on music full-time and signed to Concrete Agency and within a year, his track Mega became a big hit and he went up from there.
“Coming from Melbourne where everything is Melbourne bounce, I try to stick to elements of Melbourne bounce and things that I know but I also put some kind of spin on it so it’s not sounding like everyone else and that’s why I think Mumbai caught the ear of so many people when we first started playing it because it sounded really fresh and it was something that people haven’t really done.”
“Sahara again was something completely different. You can’t really pigeon hole it and that’s something I’ve been trying to do, sometimes the process can take a lot longer than writing a normal bounce track but I think the reward is greater in the end.”
With a new collaboration with Zac Waters -called Magentic- on its way and plenty of gigs locked in, everyone will be seeing a lot more of Dj Samual James.
Image Sourced: facebook.com/samualjamesofficial
