When the Coronavirus shut us down, clubs and festivals ceased, and everyone was essentially forced inside with no definitive end in sight, DJ Times wondered: How is our tribe coping? How are DJs getting by?
So, we sent out our “Coronavirus Questionnaire” to DJ/producers from all musical genres to find out. During this period, DJ Times will continue presenting the questionnaire responses from talented music-makers from all over the world. Here’s our latest entry, this time from Benelux, the Belgium-based melodic-house maker Jerro (aka Jeroen Decosemaker).
What’s it like where you’re living? How did you spend most of your time? Right now we’re in Lockdown #3. Everything is closed except for food stores. I haven’t been able to catch a drink at a bar with my friends since October last year, and some of my friends I haven’t seen for about a year now – so that sucks a little bit. However, I’m pretty positive that the coming months will be better. Gotta stay positive!
Did you lose important gigs, or income-producing work? I was supposed to play my first shows in April last year as support for Lane 8’s album tour in Europe with some really cool venues – but those got postponed, unfortunately. I was really looking forward to my very first tour! However, there’s a lot of things in the works that got me really excited for later this year/early next year.
Are you doing anything now that can or will produce music-related income? Well, in April last year, in the middle of Lockdown #1, my tracks started doing well enough that I started making a full-time living out of producing music, something which I’m really grateful for!
What are you doing now that’s ultimately constructive to your music life/career? Any new releases? I’m working on lots of new music to share when clubs are opening up again. I recently released “Together” with Panama on Future Classic and “Go Back Now” featuring Beacon on Armada Electronic Elements.
In the studio, what’s your set-up? I’m working with FL Studio. My favorite plug-ins would be the FabFilter Pro-Q and the Valhalla Reverb.
What’s your creation process in the studio? Usually, it starts with a nice piano chord and then I build a track around that. I don’t start with drums until most of the melodies are there.
What’s your DJ set-up? Right now, I’m playing on the Pioneer DJ XDJ-RX2 and I’m loving it! It’s really easy to hook it onto your laptop and it doesn’t take up a lot of space.
What’s the most surprising thing you’ve realized during this period of social distancing? How fortunate I was to go for drinks, see a movie, or eat at a restaurant. I really miss those things and, once things are getting back to normal, I won’t take those for granted!
Have you done anything online recently? Have you seen any DJ video streams that impressed you? I do stream on Twitch from time to time. I also release a new mixtape every couple of months. Ben Böhmer’s Cercle set really impressed me from the very first time I saw it online.
Any theme tunes recommended for the moment? Jermaine Stewart’s “We Don’t Have to Take Our Clothes Off.”
Any advice on staying sane & relatively positive through this situation? Meditate every morning and be grateful to be healthy.
To check out more Life in Lockdown interviews, click here.
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