The latest episode of the Select Cuts series welcomes Ottawa boys Return Of The Jaded. The Canadian duo has impressed without pause during 2015, becoming a regular fixture on renowned imprint Kittball Records, while also featuring tracks on the likes of 303 Lovers, Kraftek and Enormous Tunes. Just in time for Christmas, the boys have delivered a powerhouse ensemble of chunky cuts exclusively for your ears, they’ve also taken the time to treat our most pertinent questions. Enjoy!
WWD: Where in the world are you guys right now?
We are currently at home in Ottawa, Canada.
WWD: Tell us what you’ve been upto this week?
For the past week we’ve been in and out of the studio – working on a new collaboration with our good friend, P.A.C.O. over in Germany and a remix for Throne Room Recordings. Both tunes are quite different from each other as well as what you’re probably used to hearing from us. Of course we’re very excited to be able to share them when they’re are done.
WWD: First off, talk us through the name! We’re heard some interesting stories.
Haha yea.. the idea came to us while we were walking in the streets of Amsterdam in 2012 during ADE. We were just fed up with the way our individual music careers were going and I guess you could say we became jaded. We were just brainstorming ideas when Return of the Jaded naturally came to us. It’s a name that sticks with with you because of its similarity to Return of the Jedi.
WWD: Where did you guys first meet and what inspired the creation of the project?
Originally ROTJ consisted of three guys. Chris is currently focusing on other things at the moment but he was originally the mutual friend between Zoltan and Simon. Our love for music inspired us to create this project. We were annoyed to hear EDM all around us and wanted to create something with real feelings. The timing was right as the masses started to shift away from EDM and started exploring deeper, genuine sounds.
WWD: Tell us about your relationship with Kittball! How did you first come into contact with the label?
Pleasurekraft first introduced us back in 2013. Since then we’ve had a great relationship with them. They are a great group of people and treat their artists with a great deal of respect.
WWD: Some quick fire qs!
Your three essential hang-outs in Ottawa?
Mercury Lounge
Our living room (It fits a lot of people and you can jump on the knobs whenever you like)
The studio (we’re pretty much hermits)
WWD: Favourite local place to spin some tracks?
Mercury Lounge by far. It`s one of the coolest and most consistent venues in Ottawa with a great sound system, vibe and the best staff.
Incoming Plug: We also host a bi-weekly Sunday afternoon Boiler Room-esque event called Sunday Sessions with our friends at Framework Music. There’s a lot of great people and DJ’s in the city and we’d like to think we’re able to get them heard.
WWD: Away from home, favourite city to play in?
We loved playing at The Nest in London and have a lot of love for the hometown support here in Ottawa, but, Montreal has been very receptive to our sound. In fact, we’re going back for a third time this year at Newspeak on December 18,
WWD: One track that’s killing it for you right now?
S: Seff – Manana (Wade Remix)
Z: Boxia – Biology
WWD: One artist that’s gonna make a break in 2016?
Mat.Joe.- The guys from Berlin already have a lot of great tracks but we foresee them making it BIG in 2016. We tend to play at least one of their tracks in our sets.
WWD: One thing nobody knows about ROTJ?
Both of us have cats that live with our ex-girlfriends.
WWD: Can we expect more new music from you before the close of 2015?
We try our best to keep bringing out new material throughout the year, focusing on quality not quantity and as everything else won’t see the light of day until early 2016, we got excited and gave away something we put together in the summer. You can head to our SoundCloud and download Body Trip for free! Zing!
Expect to see a lot of original work in 2016. We are hoping to lock down a release on Kittball in January. Stay tuned!
WWD: Lastly, tell us a little about the mix you’ve recorded for us – what are we to expect?
We wanted to include a little of everything really; Kicked with Body Trip, followed by some bouncy vocals, chunky tech and finished with our remix of “U Got My Body” by Nora En Pure.