Jimmy Edgar

12.08.14
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In Ultramajic, Jimmy Edgar has found an appropriate home for his latest music and visual art, both of which draw heavily upon his love for all things supernatural.

DJ, producer, photographer, label-boss, video director – at just 30 years old Jimmy Edgar has an impressive portfolio covering each of these art-forms.

Even before his sixteenth birthday, Edgar had already mastered a host of instruments and was making a name for himself as a DJ on the late nineties Detroit rave scene. Fast-forward nearly fifteen years to now, he’s held up as a key figure in modern dance music, his versatility being one of his key strengths. To date he’s released everything from progressive beats created through computer viruses, to the sexed-up disco house and mad percussive workouts that he’s more commonly known for, and remains dedicated to the art of discovering new sounds through his modular synthesiser.

Not content at being a pioneering producer and DJ, he has been successful in experimental approaches to photography and directing – for the most part his website is a visually stunning testament to his work in other fields as opposed to being merely a home for upcoming tour dates and release news. Now separated from Warp Records, with whom he signed when he was eighteen, Jimmy Edgar’s focus these days is Ultramajic. A project co-founded with fellow Berlin resident Travis Stewart (aka Machinedrum), Ultramajic was created last year off the back the pair’s trip to Machu Picchu – more than simply a record label, it represents a collective that release various media projects with spirituality and the supernatural at its epicentre.

Under Ultramajic, Edgar has already released last year’s Hot Inside and Mercurio EPs – the former featuring Edgar’s familiar synth-focused funk, the latter an even more futuristic record with harder hitting moments. In the label’s short life, it has already delivered an impressive volume of releases from the likes of Creepy Autograph, Chambray, Aden, Danny Daze, Spatial and Jamie Liddell.

We catch Jimmy during some rare downtime from studio work in Berlin with Machinedrum as the pair work on new material, just a few days after his first Ultramajic night at the city’s legendary Berghain. He takes us through the concept behind Ultramajic, life in Germany, and how it all started for him.

"We are not really involved in politics, we are just doing it the way we feel we should, and there is no reason to do otherwise these days" - Jimmy Edgar

The last two years of your career have been very busy for you with the release of Majenta and then the inception of Ultramajic. How’s that been?

I would say that it’s been one of the most enjoyable stages. I feel like I’m coming into something that has been a long time coming. I feel I am really connecting the dots with my previous work and what I am doing now. I have a lot more integrity and focus on what I am doing, so everything is razor sharp.

Ultramajic has been called many things, and not always a record label specifically. How would you best describe it?

Ultramajic is a place for me to develop a special domain – a digital environment coupled with an artistic landscape to tell the story about the project. Yes, its fundamental purpose is a label, but every release sees a visual element that holds a strong image. We are not really involved in politics, we are just doing it the way we feel we should, and there is no reason to do otherwise these days.

You’ve said that through Ultramajic, you’re exploring ideas about shamanism, meditation, colour and vibration. How did you come to decide on those areas of focus?

I find most things metaphysical very inspiring because I think they are again starting to apply to our lives in new ways that before felt awkward or ridiculous. We went to Machu Picchu and Egypt recently, so these became big influences. I think we all felt it was time to create a new style of imaging with dance music, so we went into the core of what dancing is and why techno is becoming more relevant. I feel like it goes much further than just the music for some.

You’re hugely respected for your photography, video and artwork. Have you been prioritising music over photography, and other art forms over these last couple of years?

With my travel schedule, I can’t do anything else except manage the art projects that we do collectively, or perhaps come up with the initial ideas. This is fine for me though, as I don’t find photography that interesting lately because my life goes too fast right now. Photography requires a bit of a meditation and thought about how to get it right. I do love candid photos of exciting situations or private moments, but I don’t feel the need to share these anymore because it doesn’t really fit with the vibe right now.

You started out very young and were compelled to learn any instrument you could get your hands on as a child. What drove you to do this?

Music was a way to escape. We grew up quite poor in Detroit and so pots and pans were my drum set. I don’t really know where my musicality came from, because I always likened myself more to a visual artist. In fact, I don’t even like to call myself a musician, even though I do write songs on piano, which is how most of my best songs start. I just see myself as a sort of director of sound assembly: the colours of sound become one and can harmonize just like a painting. I also see this in 3D space, which is why I use effects so sparingly, because the amount of echo or reverberation can greatly alter your musical sense of 3D space within a track.

You were playing at Detroit raves by the time you were 15. That must have been a pretty amazing time…

I was a punk and I didn’t really care. I was pretty excited sure, but I was more into the weird things that were going on and the dangerous element of it. I didn’t really care who Derrick May was, and at that time I didn’t even know – it wasn’t until I really started buying records that I realised where I was getting all this inspiration from. So I always say Detroit had this strange subconscious influence on me. While people were into techno I was discovering drum’n’bass, and booty music – what we used to call ghetto tek in the 90s.

Detroit was obviously a huge part of your early career, and then you lived in New York. Do you enjoy being based out of Berlin these days?

Yes, if only out of mere convenience. I sort of had last weekend off, which would be one of the first off weekends in Berlin this year. As you can see from my tour schedule, I don’t go out much here but I ended up spending the weekend in Berghain for research purposes.

You’re only 30, yet you seem to have achieved so much. What drives you to always keep moving and diversifying your output?

I don’t know, I love what I do… how else? I’m completely obsessed with redesigning the current state of music and visuals.

Finally, you’re coming over to play in the UK at Egg in London on August 22nd. What can we expect?

Hell yes, I am so excited. I always prepare something special because now I only do London for special occasions. This ensures I don’t feel London is overdone. I always play unreleased music and my goal is to make the biggest sounds, yet smoothest delivery with the least amount of things going on. It’s all about movement in a DJ set and connecting the dots of sound.