TRANCE STAR JORDAN SUCKLEY JOINS RADIO 1
After the recent shakeup announcement at BBC Radio 1 which left trance & harder music fans nationwide severely disheartened, with Judge Jules destined to leave his weekly show to focus on becoming an entertainment lawyer & Kutski being moved to just once show a month, it certainly felt like the end of an era for many.
However there appears to be a very bright light on the horizon in the form of Goodgreef resident & rising trance superstar Jordan Suckley as he joins BBC Radio 1 as part of of their ‘In New DJs We Trust’ (INMWT) slot on Thursday nights. It all kicks off on Thursday 5th April from 9pm-10pm and Jordan will be on rotation every four weeks with other fresh signings Mosca, Julio Bashmore and B.Traits.
Having been firmly supported over the years by the Judge himself and recently being crowned ‘One To Watch in 2012′ also by him, it seems very fitting Jordan takes the batton and continues to champion fresh house & trance music from around the world in his absence. SW DJ and producer, nick the Kid caught up with the man himself for a quick interview to reflect on his new position on the national airwaves and chat about things in general..
Q: Hi Jordan, After being outed as ‘One To Watch in 2012′ by Judge Jules to now joining the Radio 1 INMWT roster, you must be very happy at the minute. Can you tell us more about how the show came about & is this something that has been cooking for a while now?
Yeah its been pretty hectic since Radio 1 announced it! I actually auditioned in July/ August last year, they emailed my management team asking for me to do a pilot for them. So I got one done, sent it over and they emailed back to say they liked my pilot and would be in touch. I was in communications with them for quite a few months after that, but only found out I had the show about 2 weeks before it was announced!
What are your plans for your new monthly residency ? Can you tell us anything at all about what direction the show will be taking?
The idea around my show is that I will be covering all the music you would expect to hear on a Trance night. So that’s covering the chunky warm up, Progressive, Uplifting Trance, right through to the more banging Tech Trance as well, so I will have all bases covered! Also I plan to have some big guests on too, and a few other plans which will be revealed next month! 
We first crossed each others paths at the amazing Island Of trance week in Ibiza last September. Being a first of its kind VIP trip to Ibiza, what were your thoughts on the week in general & how did it stand up to your other previous Ibiza experiences? Will you be involved in any capacity this year?
I really loved the Island of Trance week last year, I have some great memories (although I had too many Jagers during that week) It was great to see so many familiar faces from the UK clubs and I loved that it was dedicated to Trance, so everyone was on the same wavelength! I think I may be joining the madness again this year too, cant wait !
Whereabouts in the UK are you from and what were your early dance music influences & experiences?
I was actually born in Liverpool, lived there till I was 11, then moved to Ellesmere Port which is right by Chester! I started off playing Techno, Hard House and House music, but then moved on to Trance after that. My local Record shop never had much good Trance, but I soon found the right places. My main influences when I started where The Scratch Perverts, Eddie Halliwell, Q-Bert, Simon Patterson, John O’Callaghan, Fergie (When he played Funky Techno), Valentino Kanzyani & loads of others!
You are a staple fixture at many of the UK’s leading trance events such as Godskitchen Goodgreef & Inside Out and your releases have been championed Worldwide by the likes of Sander Van Doorn, Paul Oakenfold, Ferry Corsten, Paul Van Dyk & many more! Has trance always been your main focus or have you ever been involved in or followed any other forms of electronic dance music?
Yeah I have always loved Trance ever since I started buying the Gatecrasher & Cream CD’s, although I have always had a wide taste in music, such as Funky techno, House and also some of the more harder music too! Last year I got caught in the House/ Trance divide like a lot of Trance Producers, although this year I am just concentrating on Chunky Tech Trance & the more Banging side of Trance!
Which Artist’s, DJ’s & Producer’s are standing out for you at present?
Simon Patterson, John O’Callaghan, Heatbeat and Sneidjer
Clearly you are a very technical DJ behind the decks, how long has it taken you to get to where you are & has there been anyone you have looked up to for Scratching and/or mixing techniques?
I started off practicing tricks & scratching as soon as I got a set of decks, because there was a local DJ at a club I used to go to called Kev X, who inspired me to do more than just mix after watching him. I was at University for 4 years so had a lot of spare time and used to practice every day. Also I was the only one out of my friends who had Decks at Uni, so I used to play house parties every week for 4 years, so was always practicing there.
I recently saw a scratch video of you and Radio 1’s Kutski, being from slightly different musical backgrounds can you tell us more about how this friendship came about?
I was basically booked to play at the same event as Kutski a few years back. He was watching me DJ and came up afterwards and said he really enjoyed watching me play. I have basically kept in touch with him since then and now he lives round the corner from me. We both love gadgets and anything DJ related, so as you can imagine when I am at his house, the conversations get pretty heavy/ geeky! Its great to have someone who loves it all as much as me who lives round the corner too!
What does the Jordan Suckley studio consist of? and what is next on your desired hit-list?
27 inch imac, Logic, M-Audio KeyRig 49 Keyboard, Focusrite Saffire Pro 24 Soundcard, Mackie 8 Monitor Speakers. Synths- Sylenth, Massive, Logics ES2, Zebra and a few others. I dont like to use too many synths, its best to know a few inside out!
On the production front, you have been extremely busy lately, can you please tell us what’s in the pipeline for 2012? Any exciting collaborations or remixes that we should know about?
Got lots of originals, Jordan Suckley- Prisoner (Discover Records in April)
Jordan Suckley ft Leanne Thomas- Thudner (Out on Night Vision now)
Binary Finary & Jordan Suckley- It gets me (Out in April)
Lost Emotions- Sunrise in Delimara (Jordan Suckley remix) Out in May
Remix for Tydi/ Collab with JOC/ Also another big collab & another big remix lined up too, also I have nearly finished my follow up to Thunder for Night Vision
You’re no stranger on the international circuit and I know you are heading out to Argentina later this month for BAT4, Is this somewhere you have visited before and are there any other exotic destinations in the diary for you in 2012?
Its my first time in Argentina, its been a place I have wanted to play for ages as all my DJ friends say its amazing! Got quite a few international gigs lined up for this year, also a debut in USA, back to OZ & Bali, Ibiza, Poland, India, Sweden, Mongolia and loads of other places too! Unfortunately not allowed to say them all just yet, but keep an eye on my Facebook page & website as I will be putting up new dates on there very soon!
What has been your favorite show in the whole history of Radio 1 listening and why?
Eddie Halliwell Essential mix at Assention in Manchester, because it was my first real clubbing experience.
Any final comments to the readers of 247 Magazine?
Hope to see you all very soon! Find out more info at www.jordansuckley.co.uk
