Since bursting onto the scene, DJ, producer and label owner Jeremy Olander has been described as the savior of the melodic house and techno style.

Prior to his appearance at Vujaday Festival this coming April in the Island of Barbados, we had to chance to speak with him about various musical topics.

Electronic Groove: Hi Jeremy, we want to thank you again for your mix for the EG Podcast. So to get things started can you let us know where you are right now and what are you up too?

Jeremy Olander: Hey! My pleasure. I’m sitting in the dark in front of my computer with a serious case of jet lag and trying not to make too much noise and wake up the rest of the family.

EG: You’ve been very busy with your label Vivrant. After the latest one with Constantijn Lange and Tim Engelhardt, are there any new releases in the horizon?

Jeremy Olander: I don’t think we have had these many releases in the pipeline before. The closest one is my new ‘Docks’ EP that dropped on February 22nd. The other ones that are completely done is a new EP by André Hommen, which I’ve been playing out quite a bit. We also have a killer remix EP of Khen’s last release with Karmon and Magnus International, which is due soon. Apart from that I don’t want to spill the beans quite yet.

“I want to keep things interesting and overtime dip my feet in other creative areas outside of music”

EG: Talking a bit about Vivrant, what was the reason to create it? Would you say it’s grown to its initial vision?

Jeremy Olander: When I first got into dance music I noticed how many of the DJ I was following had their own labels set up where they would release music from friends and themselves. I just loved that idea and thought to myself that’s what I want if I ever get to that kind of level. And a few years ago I kind of felt that I had. It’s amazing to be in full creative control of your outlet and not having to worry too much about if other labels aren’t into your sound. The initial vision I feel has been reached but as time goes on the vision keeps developing. I want to keep things interesting and overtime dip my feet in other creative areas outside of music. So in that sense, there’s still a lot of work to be done.

EG: Does releasing on different labels affect the production style or inspiration behind it?

Jeremy Olander: Not really, I very rarely work that way since it really messes up the flow in the studio. I do what I do. When I’m finished with something, me and my management look around and see where it can be a good fit, and we pretty much take it from there but the initial idea is to always put it out on Vivrant.

EG: Moving onto gigs, we saw your part of this year’s edition of Vujaday alongside Sasha, Lee Burridge, Octave One and Moodyman to name a few. What are your expectations for this unique event?

Jeremy Olander: I couldn’t be more excited for playing at Vujaday! Some of my personal favorites are on the bill and the location looks like something else. I plan on having a few days off as well so I can get to enjoy what Barbados has to offer and get the chance to check out some of the other sets.

EG: Will you be preparing any special material?

Jeremy Olander: I never plan my sets but now that you mention it, maybe a Rihanna edit would make sense.

“I think throwing a festival in the Caribbean is something a lot of people have thought about”

EG: What do you think makes Vujaday such a unique festival?

Jeremy Olander: The location. I think throwing a festival in the Caribbean is something a lot of people have thought about, but few have been able to properly pull off (cough cough Fyre). So kudos to the promoters for actually doing it so well. I also think that the lineup fits the setup properly, I feel that they have really thought it through instead of just booking the top 40 artists, which will be great for the people going as they might hear something they haven’t before. Very nice and diverse!

EG: What other gigs are you looking for during the season?

Jeremy Olander: Asia holds a special place in my heart so I really look forward to heading back to Indonesia, Bali and Malaysia a couple of weeks after Vujaday.

EG: Back into production, do you have any work coming out under your “Dhillon” alias?

Jeremy Olander: I’m still trying to figure out what kind of sound it would be since lately the music under Jeremy Olander has gone quite close to what I used to regard as Dhillon material. We’ll see where I end up.

EG: Could you let us delve a little deeper into the world of Jeremy, what’s been bringing joy to your world of late? Not specifically music-related maybe a place you’ve been, a show you’ve seen, a book you’ve read or a movie you’ve watched?

Jeremy Olander: Cooking food for my family is like therapy to me. I love planning meals, I usually start planning dinner first thing in the morning. So that and exploring local cuisines while on the road for inspiration and being out with my camera capturing the places I visit on tour.

EG: Thanks for your time Jeremy. See you at Vujaday!

Jeremy Olander: Thanks for having me!

Get your tickets for Vujaday here!