Interview with Jauz, a Part-Wise, Part-Wicked, All-Talented EDM Machine

DJ and EDM producer Jauz released one album this fall, another one only two months later, and then embarked on a nationwide tour… talk about an impressive work ethic!

Stream: ‘Wrath of the Wicked’ – Jauz

The music from Jauz may not scare people out of going into the ocean… but it should motivate them into heading onto the dance floor in great droves!

Sam Vogel has been DJ’ing and producing electronica out in his native California under the alias of Jauz for the better part of a decade, and released his debut album The Wise and the Wicked in 2018. After another five years of remixing, producing, and touring, Vogel decided it was time to revisit the themes of his debut work via a two-part release, Rise of the Wise and Wrath of the Wicked. The “Wise” half of this release was encapsulated was dominated by “melodic, progressive, and house-fueled sounds,” whereas the “Wicked” half “highlights elements of dubstep and drum n’ bass with a darker twist.”

Rise of The Wise - Jauz — Rise of the Wise – Jauz

Putting out two dramatically different records at once was designed to display Jauz’s versatility as an EDM producer, and in keeping with the mission, the Wise/Wicked Tour that ensued primarily consisted of two shows per city, each one centered around a different one of these two albums.

“I’ve been holding on to this record for so long, and I’m so stoked to finally have it out in the world,” Jauz says of this joint release. “This one feels really special to me, and I hope people who listen agree.”

Here, Jauz elaborates on the fruition of this Wise/Wicked Tour and what else he’s been up to since he last got in touch with Atwood back in spring 2021 while promoting his Earth Day project, “Oceans & Galaxies.”

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Stream: ‘Rise of the Wise’ – Jauz

CATCHING UP WITH JAUZ

This new project release is meant to coincide with the five-year anniversary of your first album. How would you summarize the five years of music-making that have passed since then?

Jauz: It’s definitely been a hell of a last five years considering all that’s happened… it could take a whole interview just to unpack that haha. But I’d say more than anything, I’ve just grown a lot both as a person and a producer. I think I’m a lot more confident in what I want as far as the music I make, and more importantly when I have an idea in my head I’m a lot more confident that I can get it down in Ableton.

You have a lot of experience with dance music/EDM now. What was your contact with this genre like while you were growing up and how did you ultimately land on this as your go-to genre?

Jauz: I got into dance music originally kind of on accident. I was dead set on being a guitar player in a metal band. But after a few years of trying to put bands together that didn’t really pan out, a friend of mine at school showed me how you could make hip-hop beats on your computer by yourself (I believe the program being used was an early form of Reason). Not long after that I was introduced to the heavier sides of the dance music realm and saw the similarities between that and Metal, and made the decision to dive head first into learning how to make electronic music on my laptop.

What makes releasing a two-part album significant to you? What have you gotten out of this creative experiment?

Jauz: I always knew that I wanted to expand on the world of TWATW, so when the five-year anniversary came around, it felt like the perfect opportunity to revisit and figure out how I could develop the concepts I had created and refine them with the knowledge I had gained over the last five years. That’s when I started to realize it made the most sense to make it a two – part project. It also just happened to be perfectly lined up with these two large collections of music I had been developing over the last few years, which I didn’t really have proper outlets for. So conceptually it all just lined up perfectly without having to over think it too much.

How do you feel that the lead singles from this album represent the project as a whole?

Jauz: “Mind Control” is a song I’ve been using to open my sets for a while now. It’s such a high energy record, I think it perfectly sets the tone for what to expect on the rest of the album. “Dreaming” was important for me to put out as a single as well just because I love the song so much, but it’s also so different than a lot of stuff than I’ve put out in the past. I’ve always been such a huge fan of Drum and Bass as a genre, and I made it a big factor on this album so I wanted to make sure that fans knew what to expect when getting into the rest of the project.

The first time I spoke to you for Atwood was in 2021 when you did a duet with Hailene called ''Oceans & Galaxies.'' What are your thoughts on this song, looking back? Have you stayed in touch/collaborated again with Hailene?

Jauz: I can’t believe that song has been around for so long now! Still one of my favorite songwriting experiences. Haliene is such an amazing person and was such a joy to work with, and I still think about the music video and acoustic session we filmed at my house for that song. We haven’t worked together since that but I would definitely love to in the future.

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