Jonas Blue wants to emulate his music idol Calvin Harris and make songs that "stand the test of time".
The 26-year-old producer-and-DJ has scored one of the biggest global hits of 2016 with his tropical dance version of ‘Fast Car’, a reworking of Tracy Chapman’s 1988 track ‘Fast Car’.
The British musician – real name Guy Robin – is back with his second single ‘Perfect Strangers’ and he is hoping his first original tune, which features JP Cooper on vocals, can beat the success of his debut single as his ambition is to write and release songs that will be remembered for years to come, just like EDM superstar Calvin.
Speaking exclusively to BANG Showbiz, Guy said: "Calvin Harris, in terms of what he’s doing which is writing great songs which will stand the test of time, he’s an inspiration for sure. That’s what I’m trying to do with my songs, I want to make tracks that can be around in many years’ time. I want to make something that sticks out on the radio and make music that gets people going in clubs, at work, going to school, wherever."
Guy pulled together different styles of music and influences to create ‘Perfect Strangers’ but he always starts a song by sitting at his piano and creating the melody and structure from scratch in an "organic" way.
He explained: "For me the song is everything. As you can hear on ‘Perfect Strangers’ it’s got an African influence, it’s got a slightly Middle Eastern melody and then the huge dance background that I’ve got has influenced it as well, there’s loads of genres within that one song. What I try to do when I start writing a song in the studio is just sit myself at the keys – because I play piano – I’ll try out a chord progression and work with a singer/songwriter and try and make a song completely from scratch. It’s very organic, if you can strip a track back and it sounds great just with a piano and some percussion you know you’ve created a great song. The production doesn’t matter."
Guy admits he’s still only just coming to terms with the reaction and success of ‘Fast Car’ and is still always excited to hear the track played on the radio.
He said: "It’s so exciting, surreal but really exciting. To turn on the radio or get in a car and then my song comes on the radio nothing beats that, for me, it’s still the best thing, especially if I hear one of my songs on Radio 1 or Kiss or Capital it’s just amazing.
"I remember we were in Mexico doing a gig and we were in a taxi to the airport and ‘Fast Car’ came on, it’s just surreal to hear something that I made in the studio at my home played all around the world."
‘Perfect Strangers’ is out now.
Jonas Blue wants to emulate Calvin Harris’ success
