Jon K has long been a revered figure in the UK music scene. For more than two decades, he shaped his craft as a DJ and designer in Manchester, becoming a staple part of of the city’s nightlife and throwing down parties as a resident at the legendary Eyes Down and Hoya:Hoya parties. Beyond the booth, Jon immersed himself in Manchester’s creative pulse, lending his graphic design talents, working at the iconic Fat City Records, and forging enduring connections with trailblazing artists like Equiknoxx and Demdike Stare. While he relocated to London in 2021, Jon’s legacy in Manchester will be felt for a while. During the pandemic, he co-founded the label Mal with Elle Andrews, channeling the fractured spirit of the times into a label that crossroads between sound system culture and the anarchic aspects of Punk/DIY. The two Pressure I & II compilations have been a real delight, clad in artwork by Yoshi Yubai of the legendary Re Search publications and filled with music spanning grime, dancehall, breakbeat, hardcore, gqom, and downbeat-adjacent styles. With also nearly a decade of Peking Spring on NTS under his belt—a show he describes as a vital outlet for self-expression—Jon’s unmatched ability to weave seamlessly between genres has cemented his reputation as one of music’s most inventive DJs. That talent has come with praise, with his past b2b sets with the likes of Joy O, Elena Colombi, Illum Sphere and Tom Boogizm leaving festival and club goers with a much satisfied feeling. His Truancy Volume is no different – two hours and 48 tracks on the Open Ground party soundsystem for an absolute ride of a mix.
Hey there Jon! Thanks for answering some questions for us! And when I say some I could really have asked like 50 here you must have stories for days haha So just to start how have you been recently? What’s the year been like for you so far? You mentioned over email that the last two years have been pretty great for gigs. “Yeh last year especially was good like that – loads of UK / EU stuff along with US & Asia. There’s not been so much travel this year but the good ones have been super special.”
How was the gig this month with Demdike Stare at Ormside Projects? You have such a long history with each other it must have felt like a special gig. “Those guys are like brothers, it’s kinda scary the amount of shared musical interests we’ve got and the capacity we’ve got for chatting shit about tunes!! We’d been trying to work that dance out for ages and it was as much fun as we thought it might be – gonna be our annual Chrimbo party from now on.”
Where are you currently based right now by the way? I know Manchester was your adopted hometown for a long period but I want to say you’ve been living in London since around 2020/21? How have you found the move and living in the capital? “Yep, I came down at the start of the first lockdown (March 2020) with my laptop and a few bits and didn’t get back to my flat til December that year by which time the landlord had served notice on me. I love London though. I’ve been coming down here to play for years but you see a completely different side to it when you live here. Mega green spaces & boozers etc, the list goes on – I defo feel like being used to Northern ways, South London frequencies are a bit more familiar to me. Tbh I still feel a massive connection with the Manchester as Elle and I have a residency with the Mire parties at the White Hotel so we’re up there pretty regular….when you’re up for a weekend you just do the best bits too.”
Do you think the move at all has had a say in the amount of great gigs you mentioned earlier or not related at all? “It’s quite nice when you see people you’ve played for before and they’re like ‘Oh shit, you’re down here now?’…..one less train and hotel to worry about I guess. That reminds me, I still haven’t changed the blurb on my NTS show – wtaf?!”
You must have set up your new label MAL with Elle Andrews around the time you moved down, correct? I read that you two met at Dekmantel Selectors in 2018 so was wondering how long before the idea of setting up a label together came about? What sort of records were you bonding over that inspired the start? “Yep, the label idea developed during Covid and its identity was very shaped by how broken things felt at the time. Ha, that implies that they’re not broken now – how little we knew eh? Elle and I have very similar ears when it comes to tunes and also share a lot of the same touchstones but I guess one point to imagine would be a crossroads where sound system culture meets the anarchic aspects of Punk / DIY and the sonics of the esoteric side of Industrial. Orrrrrrr a dinner party with Don Cherry / John Balance / Rob Gordon / Anthony Shakir / Count Bass D / Lenky / Dennis Bovel & Conny Plank – honestly speaking though, the last few years have been Sick for new music so that party could just as easily include people like DJ PH MPC, Gafacci, Knucks etc etc”
What can you tell us about putting out that first record from Ausschuss? How quickly did the subsequent records come together? Were you mainly reaching out to artists you wanted on? ” That first release will always feel special. Linus (Ausschuss) is a creative genius and whip smart but he’s also cantankerous as fuck so we hit it off from day one. The process felt like a genuine collaboration all the way through so it was super rewarding in that sense. The releases have been a mixture of people we’ve known to ones we’ve reached out to but tbh we’ve loved doing them all in different ways. We’ve actually had a bit of a gap this year but there’s some exciting bits in the pipeline.”
Can you tell us about working with Japanese street photographer Yoshi Yubai for both of the PRESSURE (I) and (II) compilations? How did that connection come about and what drew you to this style for these? You met in Tokyo last year, right too? ” When I was growing up the Re/Search books & zines were a big part of my intro to subcultures and I discovered Yoshi’s work as Re/Search released a couple of books of his street photography. The timing of actually meeting irl in Japan was perfect as it coincided with the release of Pressure I. He’s actually based in Hiroshima but we met up in Tokyo over a couple of nights. His photos have a rawness to them but quite often there’s a cheeky edge as well and this made perfect sense when we met him – he’s very easy to spend time with. There’s a part in the Wild Combination documentary about Arthur Russel where they talk about how he didn’t look fro people to fill roles a band etc, but he was just drawn to certain people personalities and if they clicked he’d find a way of working with them even if it meant playing the spoons or something like that. I’d say that was something we can relate to with regard to running the label. Ego driven careerists don’t seem to gravitate to us and vice versa.”
Do you think it’s important for labels to challenge themselves in terms of what they put out? What does it mean to evolve as a label owner? “I think labels should do whatever they want really. I mean I’m full of admiration for labels that have a sound that they just nail and over their catalogue they develop certain artists to create some kind of beacon for their thing – Basic Channel / Rhythm & Sound for example, or maybe Sahko, but tbh that’s just not us. I think we approach it in a similar to our DJing in that the well we’re drawing from is pretty wide but there are loads of common threads that might link the MAL artists together via mood, attitude etc – in a lot of cases it has something to do with having quite a skewed take on things. It’s nice when you talk to people about this stuff and they might explain it in a variety of ways but essentially they get why The Gav & Jord release is on the same label as a Malvern Brume record.”
How do you approach each new sleeve or cassette design you’ve done recently? Is there a lot of back and forth between the artists in terms of what ideas they may have too? “Although I’ve done designs for parties I’ve been involved with and have designed for various labels it’s kinda different when it’s actually your label. We really enjoy the back & forth of it all but at the same time as feeding off what the artist is after you want to make sure it sits right with the feel of the label. It’s hard to predict actually, some people are ridiculously relaxed and almost want you to just take full responsibility and others are super hands on and get knee deep in the process.”
In terms of DJing, are you able to anticipate how records will fit into your sets beforehand, or is selecting the flow more intuitive? I imagine you must have an idea with the particular different parties you play quite often so is there a lot of planning that informs your sets? “I was collecting a wide variety of records for quite a few years before I properly started DJing so I never really considered just playing one style of music. I’ve been around for a while so I was lucky enough to experience a lot of music from the late 80’s up to now first hand so when I’m hearing brand new music, a lot of the time I’m thinking what old stuff it’s being influenced by and how you can mash up the old with the new. Tbh, I know I’ve made a rod for my own back by refusing to pigeonhole myself to playing a certain style of music but as much as some people might be confused by it, there are enough people that get it – for me, most of my favourite DJ’s were people who were just known for having great ears for tunes. Someone like Abdul Forsyth for example – zero fucks given about convention but Ade’s selections would tap into your emotions in a very unique way!!
Ha, in answer to the question though – I treat each gig like a blank slate and quite often chat to the promoters beforehand to get a sense what the party is about. The crowd, the vibe, how the space feels (that’s a big one for me), that’s the starting point anyway but I’d say the most rewarding gigs are the ones where you have an idea where you might want to go but you have to do a load of improvising along the way.”
I feel like there’s been huge praise for some of your b2b sets over the years, Joy Orbison, Elena Colombi, Tom Boogizm, Illum Sphere to name a few. With the way you can take a set anywhere, who do you think has been more terrified, you or the people that you’ve DJ’d with? Do you have a method to how you’ve played these? ” I think the only thing that would scare me about a b2b is having to do one with someone that plays shit tunes but there’s no danger with any of that lot you mention there. I guess there’s been time where we’ve talked about some of the stuff we felt like playing but it’s always been loose as fuck. The only feeling of dread that comes to mind thinking back was a show Elena and I did in Amsterdam where we we playing al night at Garage Noord and my jet lag from a Japan flight the night before kicked in – for the last 2 hours of that I barely knew my name…..brutal.”
Which local or regional scenes excite you currently? Can you recall any noteworthy smaller clubs or parties you’ve recently played and what made them stand out? “Hmmm, that’s a hard one to choose as there’s a lot, I always really love playing the White hotel and the my faves down here like Ormside & MOT, obvs Bristol too but in terms of maybe smaller scenes abroad I really loved being in Taipei. Maybe it’s got something to do with things being quite precarious over there but it felt kinda lawless in a good way + that seemed to come through in the energy of party there last year.”
You’ve run your Peking Spring show on NTS for close to a decade now. What have you learnt about yourself and the way you play for radio in that time? Has having a monthly show helped with organizational skills at all? “One other thing I’ve realised is that I love working to a brief (I think that’s an art school hangover). Again, the radio is just a really good setting to explore different avenues. The name Peking Spring comes from a Mission Of Burma song and aside from being a cool track I liked the ring of the name. When I looked it up it turns out that there was a period in Chinese history known as the Beijing Spring and a later one called The New Beijing Spring. Wikipedia will explain it better than me but the gist of it is that these were short lived periods where the authorities over there flirted with the idea of giving people more freedom to organise and express themselves politically. Ha, I’m no staunch Capitalist by any stretch but I quite liked the idea of my show being my brief window of expression. I’ve also been very lucky to have a lot of amazing guests expressing themselves too.”
How does music fit into your daily routine? Do you regularly listen to music or search for new records? How do you focus your intentions and craft, and how distinct are your roles as a DJ, label owner, designer and music enthusiast. ” It’s all a complete mess….always tunes though!”
What sort of other hobbies or interests do you have outside of electronic music? Are there any books, films, shows or other things you’ve seen or been reading/watching that you might want to share? “Like most record people I spend most of my time down one wormhole or another but broadly speaking they fall into categories of things I can listen to, look at, or eat so no major surprises but here are some recommendations:
– The Werckmeister Harmonies by Bélla Tarr
– Marvin Sparks – Run The Riddim (Parts 1 & 2)
– Captured – 2008 Clayton Patterson Doc. (Shout to Brian Not Brian on that one)
– Anton Lavey – Into the Devil’s Den
Around the time of seeing that Anton Lavey doc I was reading his ‘Devil’s Notebook’ on the tube one time and this guy came over and dropped a church flyer in my lap and whispered “There’s another way” as he skulked off the train…..I nearly pissed myself laughing!”
So what can you tell us a bit about the mix? I understand it’s a recording from a recent Open Ground party. Can you tell us how the set went, how you approached the music and crowd, and some of the standout selections. ” Open Ground is such a magical place and the love and attention that’s gone into creating the whole experience is mind blowing on every level. In terms of approaching my sets there, once you’ve played on that system you’re instantly thinking of tunes you’d like to hear on it, so as well as lots of new material this set included plenty of older records I’d not played for a while. It’s hard to pick out individual tunes but there’s an old 4 hero tune called ‘Journey From The light’ (that I know is a fave of yours too!) which I particularly enjoyed hearing, there was an Abu Ama track near the end called ‘Nonformist’ that stands out in the memory too.”
Last, usual question from us, what was the last thing to put a big smile on your face and when was the last time you had a proper dance? ” I recently watched ‘Triangle of sadness’ which really tickled me. In terms of proper dancing, the first time I played Open Ground back in January of this year Felix K was on after me and I got completely lost in that set, but the standout recent time has to be my Birthday earlier this year. It was my 50th so Elle and the Mire crew got a 12 hour party together with a secret line up to die for + I got to play too so it was like a mixture of all the best things from a gig and a night out all rolled into one…..without doubt, one of the most special nights of my life!”
Jon K: Soundcloud, Instagram, Resident Advisor
Mal: Soundcloud, Bandcamp, Instagram
Photo Credits:
Jon K & Joy O at Dekmantel: Bart Heemskerk
Jon K at Carlton Bday Party: Elle Andrews
You can download Truancy Volume 340: Jon K in 320 kbps and view the full tracklist on Patreon here. Your support helps cover all our costs and allows Truants to continue running as a non-profit and ad-free platform. Members will receive exclusive access to mixes and tracklists. We urge you to support the future of independent music journalism — a little goes a long way. If you need any IDs though, please leave us a comment on the Soundcloud link and us or Jon K will get back to you with the track :)
