Original Interview: http://www.kcnv.net/2012/05/23/interview-13-j-paul-getto/

1 / Hello and thank you for your time. First, you just released an EP with legendary Todd Terry. How did you guys meet and what is the story behind “The Sure Shot” and “Wash The Window” ?

A pleasure, thank you.

Well, Todd had a gig in Boston and our manager lives in Plymouth. So he came down a couple days early to hang out. We happened to be there and over the course of a few days we smashed out those tracks. Growing up, we looked up to guys like Todd because of how much they have done for the scene. Next, you’re sitting in the studio recording vocals of Todd rapping. We still have a difficult time believing it happened. Truly honored we spent that time with The God!

2 / You were both working on other projects before J Paul Getto (Swivel Hips, Maurice Tamraz, Lost Daze). What made you stop those and start working together and can you talk about your background ?

Maurice: Tony and I have always wanted to work on a project together since about 2006.  I never really stopped working on Maurice Tamraz. When we finally decided to get started, it was the right time to do the project.

Tony: The years of experience of doing all kinds of different types of dance music just brought me back full circle to why I got into this. Straight up funky house music.  We needed to bring it back to basics!

3 / Your music got that old school House feeling mixed with a powerful sound. How would you describe the amazing J Paul Getto sound and what are your biggest influences ?

Tony:  Yes exactly! We grew up buying every Armand, Subliminal, Crydamoure record back in the day. Not a surprise, that whole sound has a huge influence on us. We wanted to bring that feeling back into our music.

Maurice :  The reason why, first and foremost, JPG has a “sound” is that Tony and I come from different music backgrounds but both love “sample based” music. When put together that’s what comes out. I grew up listening to the music in my time. The URB CDs, random mix tapes, Public Enemy (was the only hip hop I never got caught  listening to. I wasn’t allowed, because of the apparent bad influence, to listen to rap/hip hop.) I was around Assyrian music (since I am Assyrian) and other middle-eastern type of music.  One of my best friends,  Johnny Karaguez, brought me into house music and actually heard my first AvH record from him.

4 / J Paul Getto has been created 1,5 year ago and a lot have been made already. What is your aim for the next year ?  

The aim is very broad. To specify would be a task, but it’s to keep doing what we have been doing while trying to do some collaborations.

We have a great party coming up,  June 2nd with Dj Dan and Dj Mes in Hollywood @ King King. We all played together at the Guesthouse party at Love and Hate in Miami and it was amazing. It’s one of those parties that one never forgets.

5/ Your new record is released by supa dupa record label Moveltraxx, how did you guys conected and what are yall cooking together ?

Jera from Moveltraxx hit up our management to get some music from us at first. A few emails later, we ended up just dealing with the Jera and Thomas directly.  We liked their approach. They genuinely like us and understand what we are trying to accomplish. We will be working together a lot in the near future!

6 / You’re kinda hyper active with a lot of releases and remixes lately, what’s next on J Paul Getto Release Schedule ?

We have a 2-Track EP coming on Coyote Cuts in June and working on an overdue EP for Guesthouse. Also a few remixes that we finished in the last few months for Roy Davis Jr, Z Records and Timo Graf.

This is a full-time gig for us. We know that it’s an exciting time for DJs and Dance Music but we are also aware of the hundreds of thousands of artists out there trying to do the same thing we are doing. We just work hard every single day and do exactly what we want without following any trends.

When we see things happen, it feels good because we know we put our heart and soul into it. It’s amazing to see the constant emails and feedback from people. It keeps us going for sure!

7 /You also have your own record label Fogbank that counts a lot of J Paul Getto releases but also from other artists such as Nynetynine, The Cronys or Klobber (Armand Van Helden & Neil Pëtricone)… Can you talk about label history and what’s coming next on Fogbank ?

Fogbank was a name that our manager Neil came up with years ago. It has a couple of meanings.  One of them was related to Armand, he called him “The Fogger” so when the fogger started making him money, he started calling him Fog-Bank haha. Another reason is because Neil lives in a beach house that always gets fogged up in the morning.

Only two vinyls came out in 2001 under Fogbank. It was two records under the Klobber alias. The label was never used again until we came into the picture.

8 / What are your Top 3 tunes right now ?

DJ DAN & DJ MES - Don’t Hold Back

&ME - Matters

WILL MONOTONE - Dem Mai Hoes

9 / Thanks a lot for your time and answers, any message for your fans out there ?

Thank you for all of your love and support. Please come say hi if you come see us at our shows. We hope to see you soon!