DJ, producer, label owner – Sharam Jey from Cologne, Germany, is a real allrounder. Sharam Jey’s roots may be in soul music but he gained stage experience as a singer for a rockband. At the same time his Dj’ing skills became hugely popular on the party scene and among his friends. His Dj’ing started out as a part-time gig but soon turned into a passion when Sharam discovered his love for house & techno in the early 90s.

We caught up with Mr. Jey to find out about his plans for 2009, current taste in music, and more.

FHM: It seems you have taken a very strong liking

to the nu:disco & indie dance emerging sound based on

your recent releases. What is it about this new breed

of artists that is appealing to you?

SJ: Well, in the end it’s just a new term

for electronic-house,disco,bangin. .-music. It’s a

good mixture of some powerful varying sounds with a

funky, more proper sound-oriented structure. It’s a

sound for the main-time-sets. no wasting time for

pling-plong .

FHM: What is your opinion on the growing blog music

exchange scene where producers and dance music fans

are posting high quality MP3 files for free? Is this

good for the artists? Is it good for the innovation of

music production? Is the idealogy behind website

services such as Beatport & Juno Download fading as we

speak?

SJ: Times are changing. Sales are going

down. As an artist you have to go new ways to promote

yourself and reach a lot of people. For the label of

course it’s more difficult, you invest in artists and

don’t get enough money back. The value of music is

about to go down.

FHM: Do you foresee a new emerging, dominant trend

in EDM for this year? It seems the club scene has been

hovering with minimal & techno for awhile now. Do you

think the rumors of a resurgent disco comeback are

true?

SJ: This rumour is spreading for the last

3-4 years. I think it has never disappeared. It was

just that the minimal technoid sounds were so present

recently. Now it’s getting more funky again. I like

that, for me it’s important to play with different

styles and sounds in my sets. It’s all about a good

combination of sounds.

FHM: The current economic environment is a huge

issue right now in the US and most of the world. What

kind of an effect do you think this is having on the

dance music industry, if at all?

SJ: We will see, I mean people have less

money to spend. But maybe they like to go clubbing and

like to be amused even more now.

FHM: What are your goals for 2009?

SJ: I just finished my second artist album,

which will be out later this year. There will be lots

of fantastic guest vocalists like Princess Superstar,

Tommie Sunshine, Lost Valentinos, Sam Obernik, Brixx,

Cornelia and Dacia Bridges. The first single is just

out, it’s ‘Monday Morning’ with Princess Superstar. We

have a nice remix package with the likes of Alex

Gopher, Headman. And in April Underwater will

release my first remix album with songs from the last

10 years of my career. They have been newly remixed by

Martin Buttrich, Zoo Brazil, The Glimmers, John

Dahlbäck and many more. So I have a huge year

ahead.

FHM: Finally, we have a lot of budding producers

that visit FunkyHouseMusic.com. Do you have any

production tips that you’d like to share with our

readers?

SJ: Of course my remix album, it features a

good mixture of different styles of music. And I am

really into Alex Gophers stuff at the moment. Also my

other favourites are Larry T and Alexander Technique

who did a remix for my next single ‘In My Blood’. And

of course the LouLou Players, my

label-buddies.

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3. Exclusive Interview: Lazy Rich
4. Exclusive Interview: Flash Brothers
5. Exclusive Interview: Granite & Phunk