We’re honoured to welcome onboard for our Select Cuts series this week the Boston based DJ/Producer J Paul Getto. The artist has been busy over the last few months, going from the US to Italy, Ibiza, Amsterdam and lots more to play, share and enjoy music! With his 200th release comin’ up on Fogbank, J Paul Getto shares his thoughts on his career, the last summer season, and the decision to go solo. Read our full interview below, while listening to the groovy tape he provided for the occasion 🙂

WWD: Thanks for taking the time to chat with us!

Thanks for having me!

WWD: How are you this week?

Doing great! ADE is in less than two weeks…I’m getting some new tunes and special edits ready. Looking forward to seeing friends and playing the parties.

WWD: Even though you’ve been crowned the new minister of funk, do you dig any other genres of music?

That’s funny how that stuck after all these years. A couple of bloggers wrote that in the bio years back and I still haven’t changed it. Does anybody read bios?
I am always listening to different types of music and try to keep an open mind. I subscribe to different podcasts and love hearing curated playlists on various sites. I still love my 90s hip hop though…will never get away from that!

WWD: I read somewhere that during winter time you lockdown yourself in the studio and work non-stop, do you consider this period has the most creative for you?

I live in the Boston area and in the winter it’s freezing! It’s the best time to get production flowing because I am way less distracted and don’t feel the need to be outside. I put myself in a different mental state.

WWD: You’ve come from a duo originally, can you tell us a bit about why you decided to go solo ?

I often get asked about why I went solo and people think it’s a taboo subject for some reason. We never made an official statement about it because we didn’t think it was necessary and wanted to keep things low key…but let me tell you this:
Maurice Tamraz was an integral part of the JPG project when we started in 2009-2010. It wouldn’t have been the same without him.
When we started out, we decided to make music that made sense to us and that showed our personalities and influences. We weren’t paying attention to what was going on in the industry.

We worked for almost a year together in a studio in Plymouth, MA and accumulated about 50 tracks before we released anything…
We resurrected and took over Armand’s label Fogbank that he used for his Sampleslaya project and just wanted to release all of our music on it. It was a special time for me and we were guided from one of the best people in the dance industry, Neil Petricone. He is Armand Van Helden’s manager since his start in the early 90s.

We didn’t expect things to happen as quickly as they did but at the same time, there was also some bizarre and unfortunate resistance going on from a certain artist that didn’t want us to be part of the roster at that time. From that point, we had to continue working on everything without management or outside help but we had amazing support from new friends we were making in the industry.

When the DJ bookings started coming in, we realized how hard it was to fly in from two opposite coasts (Maurice being from Cali) and then have to split a fee in half. It didn’t make much business sense and we had to figure out what to do.

In 2013, Maurice decided to separate himself from JPG and it was mostly a business decision. Even though I miss having him around and talking to him daily, life somehow just takes people in different directions. Things unfortunately can’t stay the same forever!

Working on music alone is a very different process but it allows me to have more freedom and can take risks. I was able to tap into my love of old school hip hop and dig into samples a bit deeper beyond Disco.

WWD: What does living between the US and Italy bring to your sound?

I grew up constantly moving back and forth between age 8 and 22. I can’t begin to tell you how crazy it was to adapt constantly, especially changing schools every two years. Music has always been my only constant! I started DJing in the early 90s while living in Italy and it was right around the time some amazing House records were emerging on the radio (Basement Boys, David Morales, Masters at Work etc). I was exposed to a ton of underground dance music that I would have never been able to hear in the US at that particular time.

In Italy, I was already clubbing at 14-15 and eventually started going to underground clubs all over Italy, taking trains to different cities every weekend during a short period of living in Rome.

At the same time, I was obsessed with De La Soul, NWA, Public Enemy, Tribe and even Italian Hip Hop (I can go on forever). It was a tiny niche in Italy at that time. My love for both worlds eventually defined my sound.

WWD: Why house is for you all about the Groove?

A lot of producers are starting to forget the purpose of House Music. It’s supposed to make you DANCE. Listen to any record that is considered “timeless”. It’s always one loop, groove or vocal hook that defines it. If it doesn’t have that groove or feeling, it’s not House to me.

WWD: What are J Paul Getto’s favorite meals in the studio?

I definitely don’t eat in the studio but I’m constantly pressing the button on my Nespresso machine!

WWD: What’s been the highlight of your Summer?

I had a lot of fun this Summer. Had to a chance to finally go back to Sicily after many years. See family and friends, eat my favorite food and relax a bit. While there, I took a quick trip to Ibiza to see Carl Cox play one of his last shows at Space. That was incredible to say the least!
Earlier in the summer, I had some fun gigs too and was particularly blown away by the vibe in Halifax and Montreal this year. I met some amazing people in Canada and can’t wait to go back.

WWD: You going to ADE next month, you enjoy going there?

This will be my third ADE in a row. I really enjoy going because it’s the one weekend where some networking actually gets done. You get to see friends that you only get to email or message on Facebook all year while listening to artists that pretty much never make it to Boston.
This year, I’m playing the CLUELESS party with Man Without a Clue, Kenny Dope, Mr V, Curtis Gabriel and others. Also was invited to play the NATIV party with Blaqwell, Todd G and Matthew Warren.

WWD: Can you tell us more about your upcoming releases?

My 200th release on Fogbank is coming out shortly. It’s a track I did with rapper Born I Music. It’s sort of a hip-house record. Something different from the usual. We’ve been tweaking it for a while and it’s finally coming out this month. I have a new Glasgow Underground collaboration with Alex Herrera coming in November, along with a remix for Bordertown, called ’99’ on Nurvous. Trying to calm down a bit on the remix tip and hoping to finally get a start on an album in November/December. It’s something I’ve been putting off for a while.

WWD: What’s the next goal for J Paul Getto?

I started Fogbank Radio this year with the goal of spreading my sound to a different audience. It’s easy to fall into the trap of making music for DJs but other DJs and Producers won’t necessarily come to your shows and support you in that way. The DJs will support by playing and charting the tracks so you have to expand the fanbase somehow. The radio show has been working towards that goal.

It’s been getting great response all over and the syndication list keeps growing. Now I need to land some cool guest mixes from some of my favorites artists!

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