We recently covered tech house producer/DJ John Summit and his new EP Touch Me, out now on Psycho Disco!. Eager to hear from John himself, we contacted him for an interview where we talked about music production, shows, his future releases, and more!
If you haven’t already, you should listen to his EP right away—Touch Me and Acid Emergency are some of our favorite tech house tracks of 2018!
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Firstly, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, we love the new EP! How’ve you been? What’re you up to these days?
JS: I’ve been great, just constantly working on new music every free second I get and having a ton of fun with it. Currently stocking up on a good amount of unreleased music that I’m extremely excited to begin sending out.
Chicago has a integral part in the history of house music. How has music and the city shaped you and what do you see for its future?
JS: Honestly, the city’s history gives me so much inspiration, and the fact that the true OG’s are still killing it shows that real house music is here to stay. Hearing the records those guys made back in the 80’s and 90’s and how they still hold up today is incredible to witness. This past weekend I shared a bill with the legend Mike Dunn, which is crazy because I’ve sampled some of his work that was made over 20 years ago.
Chicago has been really accepting towards the new generation and it’s super exciting for me to be at the forefront of it. I really believe that house/techno will only continue to improve and become more popular as many of the EDM sounds are slowly dying out.
Your productions are clean, but have gritty elements like your use of bass and vocals. What are some of your tools and techniques you use to achieve your signature sound?
JS: I actually distort almost every sound I make (with both FabFilter’s Saturn and Soundtoys’ Decapitator). I find those plugins to be great at really dirtying up my sounds and giving them that grit, while also maximizing the harmonics. Along with distorting my bass lines, I’ve been using reFuse Software’s Lowender to enhance the sub and make sure my basslines really have that extra pump inside the club. Afterwards, it’s really about sound selection to make sure every element has its own space. If I make a dope sound, but can’t find space for it, I throw it into a folder to use in a new track so that the best sounds never go to waste.
Who’s on your radar for new envelope-pushing techno and house music?
JS: The more melodic sound within tech house is getting huge lately, and I definitely love to throw a melodic weapon in my sets every now and then. Will Easton has had a massive 2018 and I can’t get enough of his new track 023.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VTCNpDjULT8]
On the bassier side, Zendlo has been absolutely smashing it. His mixes are so clean and his sound design is phenomenal.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=obsryhrA9N4]
When it comes to the tech house realm, Dead Space has been on a tear. His new Repopulate Mars EP is class all the way through; he uses so many little details that all add up so well (and there may just be a couple collabs between us coming out in the near future).
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SX1LaM0w-HQ]
What’s next for John Summit? Any tours or releases to watch out for?
JS: Have a few upcoming EP’s on some of my favorite labels that I can’t quite announce just yet, but there is certainly much more to come!
We want to thank John for taking the time to answer our questions and we wish him luck in his musical endeavors! If you like his music, make sure to follow him on his socials and SoundCloud.
What’s your favorite John Summit track? Let us know in the comments below!
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