🏡 Stay home and make music! (How I made it to Metalheadz) 🎶🎧

I have new video stuff coming very soon, but to kick off the weekend, here's a little story here that’s always worth telling, and hopefully it can be inspirational/motivational to some of you.

It was autumn 2017 or so.

I had been properly musically depressed for a while; felt nothing was happening. No gigs, no remixes, nothing much. A real drag. Motivation was gone. This wasn't just weeks; it had been for months. Prob the lowest I had been for years.

I still had been sending music out for a while (I do have my own little Lightless label where I've stayed active, but it's worth it releasing on some other labels too, for the sake of reach).

I've always been one to set a goal and smash it: I've got a university degree, become Ableton Certified, moved out of the worst countryside to the capital city, and so on.

I've never been one to target tons of labels, but label-wise, I did have another lifegoal to smash: I wanted to get on Metalheadz, as to me, there is no higher authority in DNB, and no other label that's still strong comes close in terms of impact. Since mid-90s, I had been listening to their music.

To me, their Platinum Breakz 1 is still one of the pinnacles of DNB and I was listening to it on repeat when I lived in the countryside in my youth.

I had been sending music to them for many years. I've never been one to give up on goals, but I was about to let this one go after so many years.

The only thing I had heard back was some words from their A&R around 2007 when I did a bootleg of Goldie's "Angel" and also when I was shopping an album around (that I later released myself on my Lightless label as "Daylightless").

Sounded promising then, but things died out eventually (fun fact, believe it or it: Photek also nearly wanted to release that same album but never did).

Didn't hear back and I thought, you know, it's kinda healthy to sometimes say you really tried but this one thing will never happen. Sucked thinking of dropping one of my lifegoals, but hey, sometimes you have to.

So yeah, back to this autumn 2017. I had this one track on the go, slower stuff. Someone had sent me a breakbeat called "Baretta" via email just out of the blue and I had started working a song around it.

The break was really dirty yet banging.

Wasn’t sure if it was good or not.

I remember, it was Friday, and a friend who lived close sent a msg about housewarming party real close with free beer.

Man I used to love drinking beer and lots of it (I've made quite a lifestyle change since so I don't drink much).

I was like hmmm, uhhhhh, I dunno man, because I might work on this song. Decided not to go and just finish that track. It was done by Sunday.

On Monday, yet again, I sent it to Metalheadz, real depressed in a way as I had been sending for years and it was slower tempo too. Sending music felt like a chore that earned me nothing.

As I was sending it, I said to myself, why even bother, and felt a bit desperate and pathetic: if they haven’t picked any of the DNB in all these years, they ain’t gonna take the slower number: they do DNB and technically this isn't is, as it's slower.

I'm not making this up just for the sake of a good story, but as I had sent the email, I did say to myself, "And this shall be the last email to Headz ever".

(btw nothing I say I mean as critique towards Headz; I can't imagine how much music they receive, and a lot of it good)

Well, hell, two weeks later the label A&R asked me if the track was still available, as the head honcho Goldie would want the track for the label.

This is the track btw.

It all started from there. Got mega inspired straight away and finished 3 other songs in the next few months and then it was phonecall with Goldie time in January, I think.

That was probably THE high point for me inspiration/motivation-wise in my career.

And there I am today, listed as a Headz artist. I am very proud of this. 

4 releases deep (3 DNB, one house + slower breaks).

Lesson here?

Sometimes your heart is right when it wants to stay at home and make tunes! The whole music game takes so much blind faith, it's unreal. A lot of ppl won't necessarily relate. It's lonely and takes a lot of time and energy, often when you don't even want it (because finishing songs takes a lot of energy sometimes).

It's all about ups and downs 📈📉 It's never a straight line.

But I always hope it's still about the journey anyways.

I've always said, the moment you create that 32-bar loop that impresses you and gets the headnod going, that's the best part, and rest is downhill, ha!

Well, ain't gonna take more of your time, but if you make music, I hope you get some music made this weekend!

If you do, feel free to slap your song link in the comments or just leave any comment :-)

You can find my music on Bandcamp, Spotify (DNB link / hip hop link), and all other arenas.

-Janne