Jack Orange is Playing with Diversity

Yet another DJ from that cool place in the Netherlands, Amsterdam, Jack Orange is now on his 3rd annual visit to Koh Phangan.

Hi Jack, so why did you become a DJ?
Back in the day I used to tag along with the big boys from then. You carried one of the record bags and got to go to the best parties in the world.

One time at a festival one of them got sick at the last minute and so I got to play for 65,000 people. Obviously that left me with a craving for more.
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Jack then came to a crossroads. Back then, being a DJ was somewhat unknown and after a hefty discussion with his parents he decided to finish his BBA and get a ‘normal’ job. After a 15 year career in hospitality he started his own club back home in Amsterdam.

It’s not a regular club, is it?  
No, it’s a tennis club. They come to play tennis and we get everyone as drunk as possible. It seems we’re pretty good at it. We have no neighbors so that means we can have mad parties, which we do.

Jack started to play every Saturday at his club and then three years ago he came for a vacation to Koh Phangan, played here and his life has not been the same since.

So Jack, you were professional when you came out three years ago?  
No. I was very content to play at my little tennis club and be a hobby-DJ. However, after I was asked to play in Fubar in Haad Rin, which is a wonderful little place, things went very quick.

From there I was asked to play Sandcastle, Lighthouse, Waterfall, Amsterdam Bar, Chill Up and even Slumber Party hostel, pretty much all over here on the island.

What's the difference between music here and in Amsterdam or Europe?
Diversity mostly, the island is a close knit community with very little outside influence. Thus it is normal for a ‘general’ style to evolve.

As I play all over the world, and at all kinds of venues, I have to be diverse. I started out playing commercial stuff so I don't frown on it. I do, however actively do research to find those special tracks that everyone knows, but haven’t heard in the last years. I put them into my sets as little easter-eggs.

Most people talk about the Underground scene here, are you different?
It depends on the location, the time, the amount of people, inside or out, on everything. I adapt my sets. I do not have a fixed set.

So if I play a hostel I play more commercial but if it’s Lighthouse or Waterfall then I play Underground, I think if you want to be a DJ there’s more than that one little element, you should be able to do everything. But that is just my humble opinion.

What do you think to the party scene here?
I love it, I really do, I’ve had some of the best nights of my life on this crazy island or nights then days and nights!

To give you an idea; we started something new at ‘Peace and Love’ in Haad Yuan two weeks ago and we already had hundreds of people on the beach. It goes to show you that it’s about music, not money or flashy stuff. That’s the special bit here, you see people with no money and only one set of clothes for the month but they’re partying and dancing their faces off rather than being at a VIP table and all that bla bla.

On Monday the 30th you will be our ‘Musical Host’ for ‘A Night at Phanganist’, what will you bring as a DJ?
That depends on you. The whole point of a night out is to have a great time. That means not to get as fucked and drink as much as possible. That usually happens when you have a good time. What I try to do is to get everyone on the same page, and in a similar vibe.

I don’t have the sound on full whack when people are coming in, you want them to feel at home, have a drink, have a conversation, look around, make the place their own. Then when it gets busier, when heads start to bob, and they are getting busier, then I will take it up, not before. Less is more. I am there for them, it is not the other way around.

Do you produce?
Yes, my first track is finished and being released on Krafted, they’re a massive label from England so I’m well excited about that.

Back home I have a radio show once a month on Wild FM, it’s one of the biggest in the country. It’s Live, on saturday night.

What’s your style of production?
It’s warm, melodic and usually very funky. You can dance to it but you don’t have to. You hear it and say ‘I want a gin and tonic and let’s go out!’.

What are your plans for the year ahead?
I have a 5 track bootleg EP coming out soon, we’re producing 3 more tracks for the summer also. Then this summer I’ve got all kinds of stuff going on from festivals in London, I might go to Moscow and I am playing Burning Man in August, it’s a quarter of a million people in the desert!

What are your musical influences?
I take my influences from literally every genre there is. From Classical to lounge House, you name it. The only thing that every track has in common is that I picked it.

I’m from the 70’s so I grew up with proper R&B, proper Disco and ‘real music’ which sort of translates to my current sets as it’s a good balance between melody and beat, it’s music not just ‘boom boom boom’.

What do you do in your free time here?
Haha nothing much, I mostly hang out with friends, say Hi at all the parties, kind of a networking meet holiday.

And leave us with your music philosophy?
Think of others before yourself.