Music Production Courses

It is always a great thing to see producers who come and go through the Point Blank doors going on to achieve wonderful things – especially when they throw in hours upon hours into, not only producing, but self-marketing and promotion. Jon Kong is one of those producers, and since completing a handful of music production courses at Point Blank has consistently ploughed away in the studio, networked with the right people and always kept his head above water when it comes to self promotion. Jon has already manned the decks in some of London’s most prestigious clubs, as well as collaborating with a certain Miss Devine for ‘No Grace’, and his tunes have gained massive support from DJ’s across the board including Sasha, Mark Knight, Shapeshifters, Groove Armada, Adam K, Eddie Halliwell, Armin Van Burren, Markus Shulz and much more. With a discography of releases (past and forthcoming) on equally diverse labels, Jon Kong’s sound spans progressive house, techno, electro house and even a cheeky touch of disco when it suits him. With this avalanche of success in mind we thought it be a good time to catch up with Jon and get a few words from himself about how far he’s come and his current state on the club circuit.

1. You’ve garnered quite a bit of attention in a pretty short space of time, as well as DJing in some of London’s most established clubs. What were you doing before all of this?

I’ve always been into music, I used to be on the Garage scene until I went to my first house rave and was instantly converted! My first taste of production was a program I was given at a job fair. It was a really simple programme of how to arrange a page where you put pre-made loops in. I spent all my time playing on that instead of revising for my GCSE’s. Then in 2007 I started messing on Fruity Loops and Reason until I made the decision to spend some money and do it properly.

2. Can you tell us as much as you can about how you got yourself out there: getting signed to labels, playing in massive clubs alongside big names and generally marketing yourself?

My first few tracks were signed to smaller labels but as I was getting better I started targeting more established labels. It started kicking off when I got a track signed to Sonny Wharton’s label, Whartone Records, as he wanted a track for a compilation on Baroque which led me to getting tracks signed and remixes from both of them. I started playing in the more established venues when I became resident for “Connected”. The promoter Jesse James really liked my style and my music so always booked me for the bigger events with the bigger DJ’s. This led me to     working with Chris Aidy who I currently work with a lot. From the promotion side, when I have a release I make sure its known about – getting it to the top jocks for support, getting the track in people’s mixes and radio plays and also hitting the social networking sites hard, especially Soundcloud, it’s definitely the new Myspace!

3. Your music pulls in aspects of progressive house as well as current techno trends. Do you find your sound becoming more refined to one particular style as you continue to produce or do you enjoy working with different sounds?

You hit the nail on the head! I am refining my sound to a progressive sort of techno. I love the harder end of the proggy sound but it has to have loads of energy, so I started making tracks like that. I’ve experimented in a lot of other     sounds but really think I’m finding my feet where I’m at currently. But saying that I like everything and like to have a change and do a techy track sometimes.

4. Furthermore, do you make a conscious effort to tailor your music and remixes in a particular way depending on the labels you’re working with?

Definitely, I’ve started to target certain labels that I’m looking to get involved with and producing to fit in with their style, and the same goes for remixes. I’ll always produce to fit in with the label I’m working with.

5. ‘No Grace’ with Miss Divine has quite a different vibe compared to most of your other productions. How did the two of you hook up and will there be any future collaboration?

We met a couple of years ago in Ibiza and kept bumping into each other on the London house circuit. ‘No Grace’ was an idea that we had been talking about for some time but our schedules never actually put us in the studio until recently. Both of us were inspired from a trip to Ibiza and got straight in the studio when we got back. It was a really fun record to make and I’m really happy the way it turned out. There will defiantly be more collaborations coming from us so watch this space!

6. Over the past year or two you’ve had plenty of airplay by massive DJ’s from various sides of the pond. What’s been the most surprising or flattering response to your music so far?

It’s always wicked when you find out someone is supporting your tracks but when I found out some of the big leaguers were playing them it blew me away. The biggest shock was seeing various videos of Sasha playing Elevate all over the world….. I was speechless!!! Also, recently getting charted in the DMC Buzz Chart was a touch!

7. What prompted you to set up your own label and do you have any specific vision for Jagged Records?

I originally set up Jagged Records to release my own tracks, but it proved to be a lot more work than I expected with promotion etc. I would like to get it going again but that wont be for a while yet as I’m currently building stronger relationships with the labels I’m on.

8. Can you tell us a little bit about the process of how you lay down a track; how you begin, sequencing, the mix, and how do you know when a track is finished?

I’ll always have to have an idea or a vision of what I want the track to sound like. I start with getting the drums going and a nice groove, then I’ll add the bass. Then I’ll work whatever my hook will be, like a melody, a sequence or a chord progression to fit with the groove I’ve got going. I’ll work just in 16 bars until I’ve got the main body of the track sounding good then build a mini break just to see how it comes in. You always know at that point if you’re on to something. Then I’ll arrange it, mixing it as I go along. For me I kind of have a template I stick to so the breaks are usually in the same places. I’ll know if the track is ready when the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, that’s always a good sign for me!

9. How have the courses at Point Blank helped you with your music production?

The courses have given me such a strong foundation in every aspect of production. After the first course I was confident in the DAW I was using and was taught every single thing about production at a basic level. The second course was more about music theory and that really stepped up my game as I was now not making one fingered tunes, I was making full blown tracks with melodies, chords, pads, everything that makes a proper track. What was most beneficial was the introduction to scales and chords. With out that I’d find it very hard to do a remix. The last course I did was Sound Design which was the icing on the cake for me. This was my favourite course as it was a lot more technical and we really got in the deep end with synthesis. It all came together for me in this course and actually got the track I did for the final project signed! I then took a year out to refine everything I know and I’m coming back in January to do the Mixing Course!

10. Do you have any valuable knowledge that you would like to share with our students who are looking to get serious with their music?

It’s all about the time you put in. All I can say is if you seriously put in the hours, try to work with different people as they will probably be good at something you’re not and vice versa. Try and develop your own sound and not do what everyone else out there is doing. There are hundreds of tracks released every week and most of them sound the same. The biggest tip though for me is to keep your master down and get some decent ear plugs, when I started I always     pushed the dials to as loud as possible and am paying for it now!

11. What’s on the horizon for you in the coming months?

I’ve got loads of releases coming out on some heavily respected labels soon and some exciting collaborations coming up. I’m continuing to refine my sound so expect to see some top drawer business from me in the next few months!

Jon Kong Exclusive Point Blank mix

Promotional links

Jon Kong on Soundcloud
Jon Kong on Facebook
Jon Kong on Twitter