Jonathan Cowan’s journey in the music industry began with his passion for underground electronic music, which led him to establish Generic Soul, organizing highly respected parties across South Florida. After a transformative stint in Dublin, he returned to launch Bliss Productions, a label with major distribution that rivaled top UK independent dance companies. Bliss quickly gained recognition through events at Groovejet, where he also began his DJ career. His talent propelled him onto the international stage, landing residencies at prestigious venues like the UK’s Renaissance and Bono’s club, The Kitchen.
Over the years, he played alongside world-renowned DJs such as Sasha, John Digweed, and Deep Dish at elite venues like Pacha Ibiza, The Cross in London, and Crobar in New York and Miami. His production work also earned acclaim, with his track ‘Please Call’ receiving a perfect rating in DJ Mag and Pete Tong’s essential track of the month.
Jonathan expanded his influence as a club owner and music coordinator, playing a key role in the resurgence of Miami’s The Shelborne Beach Resort by co-founding Shine. The venue became a hotspot for global talent, hosting legends like David Guetta, Paul Oakenfold, and Frankie Knuckles, alongside major poolside events featuring artists from various genres. His continued success secured him a residency at Pacha Ibiza, making him the only American on its prestigious agency roster. He has since toured internationally, performing at major festivals and top clubs worldwide. His production work remains highly regarded, with tracks featured on compilations like Café Mambo and Hed Kandi. With an ever-growing presence in the music scene, his career continues to soar, solidifying his status as a leading force in electronic music.
We had the chance to chat with Jonathan Cowan ahead of his performance to celebrate Danny Tenaglia’s 50 years behind the decks DJ Mag event on March 29th at Miami’s The Sagamore Hotel. Grab your tickets here.
EG: Hi, Jonathan! Welcome to EG. It’s a pleasure to have you here with us. How have you been? Where are you right now?
Jonathan Cowan: Hey! Thanks for having me. I’m doing really well. I am currently at my office in Hollywood, Florida, which is probably 30 minutes away from South Beach, where the events will be this weekend. And I am lying on my couch in the office, feet up, head on a pillow, trying to relax as much as possible before this madness begins next week, or tomorrow. Next week, what am I talking about? It starts tomorrow!
EG: Obviously, you must be really excited! First of all, congratulations on what will be DJ Mag’s return to the Sagamore Hotel in South Beach for Miami Music Week.
Jonathan Cowan: Thank you. I’m excited, you know, nervously excited. This relationship with DJ Mag is something that’s special to me. It’s been something that I’ve had for a long time. Used to do all the events at The Shelborne, from about 2008 through 2013/ 2014, and that’s when we initially started our partnership at The Sagamore. So it’s been a really nice relationship having them start the week with their DJ Mag Party, which obviously has the Martinez Brothers tomorrow, which is just going to be an amazing way to start off the week. But then, having them involved throughout the whole week as a media partner and Pioneer as a partner on site, it brings a lot of different artists into the property that aren’t even playing. So it really just makes the hotel a very unique, special place, and it’s quite an experience, so we’re really looking forward to it.
EG: What can Miami Music Week attendees expect this time around from the event series? And what can we expect from your performance alongside Danny Tenaglia and Nicole Moudaber on the 29th?
Jonathan Cowan: I can tell you it’s going to be an amazing week. We have all the best brands starting Wednesday with DJ Mag, Defected on Thursday. Then Friday, Hot Since 82 with Knee Deep. Saturday, obviously, like you said, with Danny Tenaglia, Nicole Moudaber, and me. And I’m very excited for Sunday with Glitterbox. Having DJ Jazzy Jeff playing a disco set…to me, that is just the ultimate booking. Really excited about that. I can’t really think of anything better.
As for Saturday, my set will be a nice, four-hour set, which is something I haven’t been able to do in a long time. I’m excited to do it. I always love doing the opening sets, always cherish setting the push the boundaries a little bit. And Nicole will start a little bit harder than I tend to play, so that definitely excites me. And then, you know, playing on the bill with Danny is something I’ve done countless times over the years, but it’s always a pleasure. He’s a mentor. He’s a friend. He’s an icon to me in this industry. So it’s an honor to share the bill with him, especially the way he’s billing this day…50 years of Danny Tenaglia on the decks. It’s just a special event to be a part of.
EG: You’ve been doing this for quite a long time, a true staple of Miami Music Week for over 20 years now. Congratulations on having such a lasting impact on the scene. How do you feel about all of the things that have transpired since ’92, and how much work goes into pulling something like this off?
Jonathan Cowan: It’s a labor of love, for sure. I think my passion’s always been for the music and the DJ side of things, and I think that keeps me interested in doing the events, but it also keeps me current with who the artists are, the DJs, the producers, things that are going on, and it’s been quite a journey.
We started, like you said, in the early 90s, just doing events under a production company I had. It started back then with Dave Seaman’s residency at Groovejet. It started off as a Cream residency, but then moved into a Bliss residency. We also produced the first ‘Renaissance America’ CD, and did all the ‘Dark Drums’ CDs for Steve Lawler. So, I mean, there’s quite a history that goes back, and it just kind of made sense to do and promote events. The hotel pool party thing kind of just happened, you know. I was doing the events at Groovejet, and then I had a club called Nerve, where we did a lot of programming for the Winter Music Conference and everything. But my family always owned The Shelborne Hotel. And they were doing events there, but they were renting it out to sub-promoters. Pacha was renting out some days, and other promoters from New York. Eventually, it just made sense to move everything there and to take over the pool parties. We also had a nightclub in the hotel called Shine, so we were able to go until 7 AM, and then the pool party would start at 12.
It was just non-stop, but it gave us such an opportunity to program special events and really get into the scene, and it kind of allowed me to foster my own DJ career as well, quite a bit. I mean, in the early 90s, I played a lot for Renaissance and Geoff Oakes. A lot in England, a lot at all the Renaissance parties. I did all the United States parties for them, but as we started getting into the hotel stuff, I was signed as resident DJ at Pacha in Ibiza, which was amazing. They would book three to four of us maximum, so the average lineup would be like “me, Pete Tong, and Sasha“. So we would all get three to four-hour sets, even as the opening set. And it was such an experience to be able to play on that stage. And those were the nights I had. I would play with Pete Tong on Fridays, and then with Luciano and Cadenza on Sundays. And we’re talking 10/12/15 years ago now. So it was really when Ibiza was still good, not as commercial. Not as cheesy, not as expensive. So, you know, I’m happy I got to live it during those days.
“It’s a labor of love, for sure. I think my passion’s always been for the music and the DJ side of things”
EG: Do you remember your first Miami Music Week as a DJ? Has your style evolved from those days? What has your experience been like from those early days?
Jonathan Cowan: I started going out locally to some events and different things, and then going up to Orlando quite a bit to a club called Oz in the early 90s. And that really changed my life, set my life. I remember the one night that kind of did it for me. I saw Sasha and Cosmic Baby on New Year’s Day. Couldn’t even tell you what year, probably 1993. And that was it. I was hooked.
Then, when I was going to college, I ended up doing a summer abroad in Ireland, living in Dublin. And that’s where I met a lot of the people in the scene. It’s where I originally met Dave Seaman. I remember hearing DJs that don’t play very much anymore, but it really kind of influenced me…being over there and, you know, seeing it firsthand, the scene and what it was like over there. It really kind of opened the doors for me. And I didn’t really have turntables or anything yet, but I already started buying vinyl back in Dublin. And then right when I got home, I got to the turntables and got into it.
We started doing these events with Dave Seaman, and, as you’d do back then, we would always have the after parties back at my house. And I would DJ a lot at the after parties. You know, it was actually him who really pushed me to be a DJ. We would always book opening DJs, and he’d always say, “Just stop wasting the money, you’re better than a lot of these guys”. So he started taking me around on all his gigs in the US, we started doing the Miami shows, and I started playing a bit at Groovejet. We started this residency at a club called Shadow Lounge, but after the first one, Groovejet recruited us, and the second show was actually a Winter Music Conference show. And probably one of my first as a DJ. It just snowballed. It never stopped.
25 years later or so, and we’re still doing it. So I guess it had a lasting effect. And as far as my style goes, I think starting, Sasha, Dave Seaman, Nick Warren, those guys were the guys who did it for me. The Pacha days and everything else. Luciano was a huge influence on me. He opened my horizons on music, letting me go in a bunch of different directions. I would say today, I have my progressive roots. I think the productions I’ve been doing lately have kind of shown that, but really, when you hear me play, I’m quite eclectic. I’ll play house, disco house, soulful house, and kind of go into techno. I like to use a lot of vocals, a lot of acapellas. A lot of stuff that I saw Luciano doing in those early Cadenza shows just really kind of blew my mind and changed my outlook and my style for sure.
EG: By the way, since we’re down memory lane, in which ways has Miami Music Week changed? What was it that made it so special to be a part of Miami Music Week back then?
Jonathan Cowan: I think back in the day, Miami Music Week was a different world. The music was exclusive. Now, today, with the digital era, you finish a track, and somebody around the world has it in five minutes. It’s a different world, it’s not as special. I think back then, you would come to Music Week, and you wanted to hear that track that was going to be the next phenomenal hit. You’d know you’d hear it, you’d remember it, it would stick in your mind, but then you might not see it again or hear it again for six months because only two, three guys had it. So really, it was a different world in the way it was done, and I think it was much more about hearing deals over a table late at night. It was just a different mentality. And the other thing that I think changed is that you didn’t have a digital camera or a smartphone. And I think everybody knows that it just changed clubbing so much. You used to DJ, you clap, they clap, you jump, they jump. It was like being a puppet master. Today, you’re looking at, you know, 1000 smartphones being held up. It’s strange, to be honest.
EG: Do you have any favorite Miami Music Week memory that you cherish to this day?
Jonathan Cowan: Definitely, there are so many of them going back. Carl Cox playing at Groovejet, playing for an 800-person room. We’ve had Macy Gray to bring a broader audience. I remember we had Lady Gaga years before she blew up. It was a Moonshine Records or Nervous Records party, I’m not certain. And then she goes on to become the next Madonna. But, I think the early parties with Dave Seaman, John Digweed, Sasha, Nick Warren… those are the ones that really stuck with me. Nick, Dave, and I would do these parties every year at The Shelborne, very informally, going back to back all night, and it was really special. Just a couple of friends enjoying music. And the early days with Luciano and Loco Dice, back-to-back, when they hadn’t come to America yet. Such a vibe, such a feeling. And I don’t think many people know this, I threw the first Music On party at The Shelborne. And it was just me and Marco Carola. To have been a part of that, it’s a special feeling.
EG: Now, looking forward, what can we expect from Jonathan Cowan in the coming months? Are there any incoming releases we should be looking out for? Where can your fans catch you next?
Jonathan Cowan: Well, I’ve got a new EP coming up on Dave Seaman and Steve Parry’s Selador, which should be out at the end of May. It’s a double tracker, with the first track called ‘Slater’ (which is named after my second son), and the second one is called ‘Sawyer’. I’m very proud of this one, so I’m very excited for its release. As I said, Dave has been instrumental in my journey as a DJ, and so, to have this out on his label feels like an honor.
With the release coming up, I will also be doing an exclusive mix for Selador, and I do have some shows in the pipeline, so stay tuned for more updates!
EG: Thank you so much for your time, Jonathan! We wish you the best of luck this Miami Music Week. Catch you on the dancefloor!
Jonathan Cowan: Thank you. It’s been a pleasure, and I hope to see you soon.
Jonathan Cowan will be celebrating Danny Tenaglia’s 50 years behind the decks DJ Mag event on March 29, 2025, at Miami’s The Sagamore Hotel. Grab your tickets here.
