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John Tejada has spread his tentacles across various aspects of the music industry. The LA based artist is widely regarded a highlight in todays melodic house and tech-house scene with countless, signature-sounding hit singles under his belt plus remixes for artists such as The Postal Service, Christopher Just and Telepopmusik.

His own label Palette is active for over a decade now and has provided us with first class dance-floor madness in the form of releases by Justin Maxwell, Pieter K and Tejada's own indiepop band I'm Not A Gun. Indiepop you say? Indeed. John isn't the kind of artist who sticks to a single genre only. Instead of choosing the easy way, John continues to stretch his activities to new territories, his music to unknown boundaries and his creativity in general to new heights. An example of his ambitious experiments is John's sheer brilliant Fabric 44 mix, which sees him blending a myriad of genres into a mesmerizing techno flow. A long time favorite of the 365Mag crew, we hooked up with John for a heads up.

1. First of all, how's life?
Things are going well. I can't complain.

2. You have mixed the latest in the Fabric mix series, number 44. What is it that you wanted to carry out with this mix?
I wanted the mix to work as a single piece of music, a sort of techno symphony with a range of moods.

3. The track-list contains quite a few tracks by yourself. What has been the idea behind the addition of these tracks? Can we label the mix as an overview of the sound of your Palette label?
Well, 8 of the 20 tracks are from my label Palette, so technically it is 40% the sound of Palette Recordings. I'm a producer so it was natural to incorporate productions of mine and of my friends on the release as I'm frequently playing a lot of our own music in my sets.

4. The track-list also comes with a few tracks by Palette All Stars. Who are involved in this project and can we expect more from this outfit in the near future?
Palette All-Stars is the collaboration of myself, Arian Leviste and Justin Maxwell. I've been working with Arian for 17 years and Justin for about 7 years, so it was only natural that we finally tried a collaboration together. It worked out really well in the studio and was a lot of fun. I'm sure there will be much more in the future from the 3 of us together.

5. You are also in a band called I'm Not A Gun. For those who are not familiar with the band, can you tell us something more about the band? What's your role in it?
I'm Not A Gun is a project I work on with guitarist and good friend Takeshi Nishimoto. We met in 98 and bonded over our guitar and drum heroes and decided to do some sessions together right away. We released 3 albums on City Centre Offices and our 4th titled “Mirror” on Palette Recordings this past October. The sound is a combination of electronic production with live drums, guitar, bass and whatever other instrument one of us is willing to give a try.

6. Can we expect a tour of the band anytime soon? If so, where will you be playing?
We've done a couple of mini tours of Japan in the past and a few gigs in LA and one in Berlin. The two of us live in different countries now so practicing has become pretty much impossible. I wouldn't rule it out. If time and location all fall into place we would do it. However with both of us busy with our own schedule and the distance between us it's very difficult.

7. Do you have any aspirations on working on a more pop music-orientated level, now or in the future?
I don't feel very pop creative at the moment. I rarely find there is a reason for vocals. Maybe that will change in the future, but for now I feel pop is something that is manufactured and structured and I'm just not interested.

8. You're involved in many aspects in the music bizz, from running a label to playing in a band, DJing and producing. What do you do to relax? Any hobbies?
I stay busy but get plenty of time off. I enjoy cycling and spending time with my friends, making music with friends and good movies.

9. What can we expect from you in the near future?
At the moment there are plans for two singles on Palette Recordings. One of them is my new single titled Fractals which also includes the track The Open from the Fabric Mix. Following that will be a new solo single by Justin Maxwell titled The Windey Man. At the moment I'm gathering ideas for new projects and perhaps a new album. There for sure will be more work together with Arian Leviste and Justin Maxwell.

10. Where do you see yourself in 20 years from now?
I still haven't gotten my time machine to work so I'll have to get back to you on that.

11. What's topping your Christmas wishlist?
A pillow which I found which looks just like a TR-808.

12. Is there anything else you'd like to say to our readers?
Thanks for bothering to read this piece on me. You can always get news of what we're all up to at www.paletterecordings.com.

John Tejada - The End Of It All

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