We had the good fortune of connecting with Jay Hill and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jay, what role has risk played in your life or career?

First off many thanks for asking me back always a genuine pleasure! To answer this intriguing question, I view taking risks synonymously with re-framing and overcome fears. For me, it’s a daily process – following my heart and intuition.

To that end, my record label, People of the Light (POTL) is in-and-of-itself probably one of the biggest risks I’ve ever taken. From the outset I had it in my mind; “if I’m going to leap into this pond, it’s not going to be to form yet another label that comes & goes. . .” there’s many more things behind those words, but the biggest part for me – being true to quality over quantity. Slowly building releases without being pressured to feel I have to do anything on a time stamp. At the end of the day this record label is about unfurling music that I love and reaching those who also love this style of music, building a tribe of followers who also connect with our greater vision. I think in this day & age – people value and respect things that stay and persevere despite the ups and downs of things happening in the world and music trends. . .

When I recently sent out a private mail to my closest industry mates sharing our latest release – I started by saying, “I’m super excited to share with you the next chapter of our story. . .”

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.

Thanks for that very touched to hear that! For my personal artist career which eventually lead to forming POTL, I think what sets us apart is that I’ve never personally bought into the idea that I/we can only be “house or techno or progressive or drum and bass or (sub-genre).” There’s this weird unspoken thing in the electronic music industry that I’ve never connected with (because I listen to and love many sub-genre’s of this music), I create whatever I’m feeling at the momentI All the same, I select music for the label that I think is fantastic music not because it’s only house or techno or melodic or drum and bass. At the end of the day who cares if this is not only a “x genre label?”

If I’m being honest I’m so bored with labels that limit to only one genre of music. The label that has a 85 bpm track and a 145bpm, now you have my attention. . .

Music has always been a place of solace and revival for me. Yes, there were days/nights it was hard and challenging – but it’s always been the thing that brings me joy, healing and release. Rather than saying it was all “easy”, I’ll say everything has flowed naturally just as it was meant to. . .

How I approach challenges, is the mindset that everything is a learning lesson and then shifting things within myself that I need to work on or make decisions that serve the best goals for the label. This may translate into me declining to sign certain artists that I don’t connect with and feel their music fits with our sound, style & vision.

We’ll never be the label that’s releasing 1-2x’s every month to stay “popular” but we’ll always put out high caliber music. it may not always be the same genre or fit into tiny square boxes, but it will always be good. . .

We recently decided to expand further and create a sub-label called POTL Noir which represents music that’s more for the sunrises and sunsets than nightclubs. This endeavor is just yet another way of putting out different outputs of music that we love.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Aww, hmm great question! I’d definitely take them to Detroit’s legendary Movement electronic music festival which happens in the springtime every year! I’ve been going for over 10 years and in my opinion the best American festival for serious underground head’s like me. The Detroit experience would entail making sure that they come with me down into the underground stage to hear proper techno! Thereafter, would take them to an after party at TV lounge or a pop up BBQ at Detroit legend, Kevin Saunderson’s backyard (admission is private, word of mouth invite only!) Then I’d take them to one of my friend’s Sherif’s boat parties and afterward head to Maru for the best sushi in the world!

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?

First and foremost, I’m deeply grateful for the super talented graphic artists that have created our visual branding/identity – John Brady (Dublin) and Ben Capiter (Manchester UK). We’d likely not be where we are today without these striking visuals (logos and album artwork) that catches people’s eyes and then leads them to click/listen to the music and explore us more deeply. . .

Secondly, Ryan Libby (aka Libs) who came into the label as an artist and then presented himself as someone with a deep knowledge of the behind the scenes workings of the electronic music industry. During the height of the pandemic, if it weren’t for Ry coming into the label with his bright energy and visionary mindset, I’d probably have given up and folded the label. . .

It’s a special thing to look back and connect the dots to all of the people and opportunities I’ve been blessed to meet and work with. As of late, this is continuing to unfold and I’m extremely excited about the next chapters forthcoming in the POTL storybook. . .

Thanks to those who took the time to read this ! If you connected with any of my words on paper here, I’d love for you to connect with us socials and come into our little community. . . <3

Website: www.facebook.com/ladyjayhill

Instagram: www.instagram.com/lejayhill

Facebook: www.facebook.com/ladyjayhill

Other: www.soundcloud.com/jayneuf https://open.spotify.com/artist/4Xak80btxYFPGfPrPiSxIy?si=xoClqNh8TVugwi8M27ZBaQ https://www.beatport.com/artist/jay-hill/398574

Image Credits
Provided images by Milosz Pierwola, Esq Frank Weiss Brad Kingett Moustafa Mazhar

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