Jose Zaragoza might well be one of the busiest men in House Music at present. Splitting his time between home city Chicago and his base in Lausanne, Switzerland, Jose is either busy in the studio adding to his discography, which already boasts releases on Robsoul, Casa Rossa and Cube Tip, or being booked to DJ at some of the world's biggest festivals, which this year included Glastonbury. When he's not doing either of those he can be found holding down a weekly residency at Chicago's legendary Smart Bar, hosting his own JZ Music Radio Show or working on his own label, Deep Hype Sounds. With the imprint approaching it’s 100th release, we thought it was the perfect time to have a chat with Jose.
Hi Jose, thanks for taking time to have a chat with us about your label. To get things kicked off, can you describe how the past few months have been for Deep Hype Sounds in 5 words?
Most exciting time so far!
Your recent releases include ‘My House’, ‘Rhumba’, ‘Synchronicities’ and ‘In the Balkans’, featuring artists including yourself, Nagwoode, Buben and Ritmo Du Vela. How happy are you with your release catalogue so far?
I honestly go back and listen at times to all the releases. We have been extremely lucky to release so much great music from great talent! I couldn’t have asked for a better catalogue! And we keep building as we get to #100 and beyond!
You are approaching your 100th release. How does it feel to be approaching this prolific milestone?
I sit back, and I’m amazed that we are still here 8 years later! I am grateful we are almost at the 100th release!
Can you tell us about the release?
For our 100th release, we have added many great options. We are releasing 37 tunes split into two releases. We are also releasing a double mix compilation, a limited vinyl release, and many other goodies as part of our 100th release.
How long did it take to plan and prepare the release?
Well I always think about big things, and have grand ideas. At times they work out, sometimes they don’t. But I believe you have to dream big, to make it in what you want! I’ve been going back and forth with an idea of what I was shooting for #100. I decided to start messaging artist and friends that I respect, and asked them if they would be a part of our biggest release to date. I am happy that most of the guys responded quickly, and jumped on board with incredible tunes! As I kept going, I kept adding artist, we have over 36 artist featured on over 37 tracks for the release! It’s probably one of the greatest moments I’ve had in this business. I am so lucky, that these artists trusted me with their music, and I want to push them to the moon. I can’t thank them enough for trusting me!
How important is it for you to develop your artists and have you seen any big improvements since they signed to the label?
I feel that one of the greatest things you can do, is help someone grow and see them achieve as much as you believe they could! I have seen quite a few artists on our label release music on other labels, and also start their own labels, which makes me so happy. I feel that we have given some of the artist a launching pad, and I’m lucky that quite a few still work with us! You don’t always see happiness for people moving up, or moving forward. I love seeing it, it’s the only way to survive in this hard business. I wish more people would work together, instead of stepping on each other. I am happy I still have a great relationship with many of the artists!!
Can you talk us through your strategy for developing artists?
We have changed a lot over the years. I would say the first 5 to 6 years; it was like throwing things at a wall and hoping something would stick. This past year I have changed a lot, as has the label. We have had ownership changes, and a few core artists have moved on. It was the best thing that could have happened for everyone involved. I’m not saying I’m not sad, but it allowed me to look at everything we were doing with the label.
I started investing more into promoting each release, I started asking more from an artist, I am asking for mixes, free tracks to promote for them, and also I have invested more of my time to make sure as many people know about a new release from someone new to the label.
At the moment, I am working on one of our new artist (House Meanz House) that also works with Sonny Wharton at times. We are working on ideas, on better ways to promote him. I am sending out more individual messages to promoters, bookers, DJs, magazines, I am getting the word of mouth out there.
The hardest part of this business is getting noticed with so much talent out there. So I have become the biggest cheerleader for each artist, and I will continue to work hard and push each artist that works with us. We also added a new A&R person (Rob Treviss) who keeps coming up with new ideas to push new music. So I believe we are just scratching the surface of what we can do to bring Deep Hype Sounds to even higher heights!!
What have you planned in terms up upcoming releases? Can you give us any exclusive news?
Well the 100th release has taken up a lot of time. However, I will say this, we will have music from bigger artists that I never thought we could get to release their music with us in 2017! You will be the first to know in 2017. ;)
Can you tell us of any new artists that have signed or are signing to the label?
We have two artists that we are going to work hard with for 2017. The first artist is House Meanz House From Scotland. The Second is a 17-year-old producer from France that goes by the name “Sash1m1”. Everything he has sent us is pure fire!! I can’t wait until we release more from each artist. We are also looking for more, so message us if you are interested in working with Deep Hype Sounds!!
Do you have any label nights planned for the near future?
That is my goal for 2017. I am in the process of securing something in Chicago. I am also starting to look at something overseas for ’17. We are still in the early stages, but I think this opportunity might be a promising one!
Just to end things off, what can we expect from Deep Hype Sounds in 2016?
To continue to get better, to continue releasing great music, to keep pushing artist, to be the best we can be and beyond!!!!
Jose Zaragoza Online
http://www.djjosezaragoza.com
https://www.facebook.com/djjosezaragozaofficial
http://www.instagram.com/djjosezaragoza
Deep Hype Sounds Online
http://deephypesounds.com
https://www.facebook.com/deephypesounds
https://soundcloud.com/deephypesounds
