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Music

Jovonn's Back with an Exclusive Diving Bell Deep House Mix

Listen to a master at work.
Josh Baines

House works in mysterious ways. Producers and DJs emerge, vanish, re-emerge, get lost and found, found and lost. Names circulate and disappear into the ether. Contemporary classics end up in dollar bins and get picked up by whole new audiences. Myths build and crumble.

Jovonn is a prime example of a feted artist slipping through the cracks only to return stronger than ever. The Brooklyn born producer tore up Stateside clubs in the 90s with a string of diving-bell-deep classics. These chunkily emotive releases ("Satisfied", "Back to NY/NJ", "Be Free") are masterclasses in gospel-tinged house classicism at it's very best. For reasons we'll never fully know, he never garnered the global reputation of contemporaries like Kerri Chandler and Ron Trent.

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Dutch masters of all things club, Clone, have been instrumental in giving Jovonn the stature he deserves. Having hooked him up with DJ Deep for 2011's all time classic "Back in the Dark," the label has tirelessly reissued some the main man's peerless back catalogue, culminating in 2014's essential Goldtones compilation, which pulled together hit after hit from Jovonn's own imprint of the same name. As a primer it's indispensable, as a document of a moment in time in house, it is completely unmissable.

When we politely asked the guys at Clone if Jovonn might just be up for talking to us, we were beyond psyched when they promised that he'd fire us over an exclusive new mix too. We didn't quite think it'd happen until we found this in our inbox earlier today. As brilliant as you'd expect, it's a complete tour de force of the kind of springy deep house that everyone in the world right now's trying to nail. It is an absolute honour to be sharing this one with you.

House works in mysterious ways. Producers and DJs emerge, vanish, re-emerge, get lost and found, found and lost. Names circulate and disappear into the ether. Contemporary classics end up in dollar bins and get picked up by whole new audiences. Myths build and crumble.

Jovonn is a prime example of a feted artist slipping through the cracks only to return stronger than ever. The Brooklyn born producer tore up Stateside clubs in the 90s with a string of diving-bell-deep classics. These chunkily emotive releases ("Satisfied", "Back to NY/NJ", "Be Free") are masterclasses in gospel-tinged house classicism at it's very best. For reasons we'll never fully know, he never garnered the global reputation of contemporaries like Kerri Chandler and Ron Trent.

Dutch masters of all things club, Clone, have been instrumental in giving Jovonn the stature he deserves. Having hooked him up with DJ Deep for 2011's all time classic "Back in the Dark," the label has tirelessly reissued some the main man's peerless back catalogue, culminating in 2014's essential Goldtones compilation, which pulled together hit after hit from Jovonn's own imprint of the same name. As a primer it's indispensable, as a document of a moment in time in house, it is completely unmissable.

When we politely asked the guys at Clone if Jovonn might just be up for talking to us, we were beyond psyched when they promised that he'd fire us over an exclusive new mix too. We didn't quite think it'd happen until we found this in our inbox earlier today. As brilliant as you'd expect, it's a complete tour de force of the kind of springy deep house that everyone in the world right now's trying to nail. It is an absolute honour to be sharing this one with you.

THUMP: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself for those that might not know much about Jovonn?

Jovonn: I was born and raised in Brooklyn and began DJing at the age of 11. I was also taught to play instruments by family. My father taught me how to play the guitar, my mom taught me to play keyboards, my uncle taught me the drums and my father's friend taught me how to play the bass. My parents were in a group together when I was a baby and used to open for the Supremes. It was around 18 that I began learning how to produce and put tracks together.

Do you still think of house as a music with spiritual properties?
Yes. of course. House is very spirtual. It's within our soul.

What records take you the highest?
All kinds of music do, but the one that really gets me is jazz.

What brought about the Clone reissues and how do you feel about being exposed to a wider audience than ever?
We just talked about putting out a few of my old classics and it happened. It felt great. Clone are like family to me and I love them.

Just how do you get your kicks so hard?
Ah, that's an ancient black secret. But seriously, a lot of people have asked the same question and I tell them the same thing: just study the records you listen to and ask engineers about EQing the drums. It's all in how you EQ the drums.

Follow Josh on Twitter

THUMP: Can you tell us a little bit about yourself for those that might not know much about Jovonn?

Jovonn: I was born and raised in Brooklyn and began DJing at the age of 11. I was also taught to play instruments by family. My father taught me how to play the guitar, my mom taught me to play keyboards, my uncle taught me the drums and my father's friend taught me how to play the bass. My parents were in a group together when I was a baby and used to open for the Supremes. It was around 18 that I began learning how to produce and put tracks together.

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Do you still think of house as a music with spiritual properties?
Yes. of course. House is very spirtual. It's within our soul.

What records take you the highest?
All kinds of music do, but the one that really gets me is jazz.

What brought about the Clone reissues and how do you feel about being exposed to a wider audience than ever?
We just talked about putting out a few of my old classics and it happened. It felt great. Clone are like family to me and I love them.

Just how do you get your kicks so hard?
Ah, that's an ancient black secret. But seriously, a lot of people have asked the same question and I tell them the same thing: just study the records you listen to and ask engineers about EQing the drums. It's all in how you EQ the drums.

Follow Josh on Twitter

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