INTERVIEW: DJ JIGAR

With more than two decades behind the decks, DJ JIGAR has built his career around a simple but increasingly relevant idea: music should not need a label to have an identity.

Rooted in House and Tribal music and shaped by his Indian and African heritage, JIGAR’s sound moves naturally between Afro House, Afro Tech, Deep, melodic and electronic influences, always with percussion, groove and emotion at its core. Rather than following the constant evolution of genre terminology, he remains focused on what has always mattered most to him: the connection between music and the dancefloor.

His journey has also been shaped by encounters with artists such as Todd Terry, Carl Cox, Erick Morillo, Black Coffee and Dennis Ferrer, as well as collaborations with voices including Mr V, Toshi, Aytıwan and Lazarusman. His latest work, “Return To Us”, featuring Lazarusman, reflects this balance between hypnotic rhythms, organic percussion and a deeper emotional dimension.

In this interview, DJ JIGAR talks about his musical roots, the creative process behind his productions, the rapid evolution of Afro House, the importance of authenticity and individuality, and what it means to continue growing as an artist after more than 20 years in electronic music.

Your music sits at an interesting crossroads between Afro Tech, melodic elements, and more spiritual influences. How would you describe the sound you are trying to build as an artist today?

I think my sound today is really a reflection of who I am and everything I have experienced over more than 20 years in music. I have Indian and African roots, I grew up surrounded by different cultures, and at the same time my musical education came very much from House music and the dancefloor. I don’t want to be limited by one specific genre. Afro House and Afro Tech are obviously important parts of my sound, but there is also House, Tribal, Deep and sometimes more melodic or electronic influences. Percussion has always been very important to me. I never try to categorize it as its done nowadays, once Todd Terry said to me that there´s only 2 genres: House Music and Techno, all other subgenres derived from those. Back in time, when I started as a DJ, i was more keen into Tribal House which I see that lately it was transformed into Afro house then even nowadays with the new wave people try to call it melodic, electronica, deep tech or progressive, but everything for me his House Music.

What I’m trying to build now is a sound that has identity, emotion and groove. Something that can work in a club, but that also has a story behind it. I want people to hear a Jigar record and eventually recognize something in it that feels like me. And i tried to be influenced for many things which surrounded me.

When you start working on a new track, what usually comes first for you: the groove, the melody, the atmosphere, or a specific emotion you want to capture?

Most of the time, it starts with the groove. I’m a DJ before anything else, so I naturally think about how something is going to feel on a dancefloor. A drum pattern, a percussion loop or a bassline can immediately give me an idea of where the track wants to go. But after that initial groove, emotion becomes very important. Sometimes I’ll remove elements rather than keep adding them because I want the track to breathe. I’m always looking for that balance between something hypnotic enough for the dancefloor and something with enough emotion or atmosphere to stay with you afterwards. And sometimes that inspiration to work in a track doesnt appear in 9-5 job like, sometimes any sound in any place in any hour can provide that click for an inspirational idea.

“Return To Us” combines African rhythms and percussion with Lazarusman vocals. What was the initial idea behind the track, and what made you feel that his voice was the right fit for it?

The initial idea was to create something deep, hypnotic and very organic, built around percussion and a groove that could slowly pull you into the record. When Lazarusman’s vocal came into the picture, everything started to make sense on another level. I’ve always loved artists who don’t simply sing over electronic music but actually bring meaning and storytelling into it, and Lazarusman has that ability. His voice has a very distinctive presence. You listen to him and you pay attention to what he is saying. You just listen to the song and you already know that's his vocal!

With “Return To Us”, the vocalist gave the instrumental a purpose beyond the groove. There is something almost meditative and spiritual about the combination of his words with the rhythm. It became one of those records where the vocal and the production don’t feel like two separate elements – they belong together.

Your productions often have a strong sense of positivity and spirituality without losing their dancefloor energy. How important is it for you that electronic music communicates something beyond simply making people dance?

Very important, although I never want to overthink it. The dance floor itself can already be something spiritual. You can have hundreds or thousands of people from completely different backgrounds sharing the same rhythm and the same moment. For a few hours, many of the barriers that exist outside that space disappear.

After more than 20 years of DJing, those are still the moments I remember. So when I produce, of course I want the record to make people move – that’s fundamental to me – but if I can also create a feeling, communicate something positive or make somebody connect emotionally with the music, then the record becomes much more powerful.

You have worked with artists such as Mr V. Toshi and Aytıwan, exploring different sides of Afro House and Afro Tech. What do you look for when collaborating with another artist, and how can a collaboration change your own creative direction?

For me, a collaboration has to bring together different identities. There is no point in working with somebody and trying to make them sound like me, or the other way around. Working with people like Mr V, Toshi, Aytıwan and now Lazarusman has allowed me to explore ideas that I probably wouldn’t have reached in exactly the same way on my own. Every artist has a different musical language, since I started djing I always dreamed of collaborating with legendary artists which I always loved their songs or used acapellas in my performances, such as the vocals from Mr V, Roland Clark, Idd Aziz, Toshi and Lazarusman. I look for chemistry, first of all, but also for artists who have a strong identity. The exciting part is finding the point where our two worlds meet. Sometimes another artist will send one vocal, melody or idea and suddenly the whole direction of the record changes. I really enjoy that unpredictability.

Afro House has grown enormously in the global electronic music scene in recent years. Do you think the genre is entering a new phase, and what do you feel is still missing or unexplored within it?

Definitely. The growth of Afro House has been incredible and it has opened doors for a lot of artists, sounds and cultures to reach audiences that perhaps weren’t exposed to them before. But whenever a genre becomes very popular, there is also a danger that everyone starts following the same formula. You begin hearing similar drums, similar arrangements and similar drops. I think the next phase needs to be about individuality. Afro House shouldn’t be one sound. Africa itself has an enormous variety of rhythms, languages and musical traditions, and then you have producers around the world bringing their own cultural backgrounds into it. Now people even sometimes say that Afro House is evolving towards melodic/progressive but for me everything is House Music. People just need to always put categories to label everything which sometimes can be dangerous. Real Afro House was already around for much more time then recently, but similar to everything, people are looking for the next new trend.

For me, that’s where it becomes interesting. I’m increasingly interested in bringing elements of my own Indian and African heritage together with the House and Tribal influences that have been part of my musical life for years. There is still a huge amount of territory to explore.

After more than two decades in electronic music, what still excites you about making music and playing to a crowd, and what would you like DJ Jigar to represent five years from now?

The crazy thing is that the feeling hasn’t really disappeared. When you play a record and see a crowd react exactly the way you imagined – or sometimes completely differently – there is still an adrenaline that is difficult to explain. Until I start to play the first tracks I'm always nervous and anxious, but as soon as party people are vibing and dancing with me, I will be connected and continue to keep the vibe for them. And when it’s your own record, that feeling is even stronger. Production has also given me another level of motivation because there is always something new to learn. I don’t think you ever really finish developing your sound.

Five years from now, I want Jigar to represent consistency and identity rather than a particular genre. I want to be able to play around the world, continue releasing music with artists and labels I respect, and have a catalogue where you can hear an evolution but still recognize the person behind it.

If someone hears one of my records without seeing the name and says, “this sounds like Jigar,” I think that’s one of the biggest achievements an artist can have. Still a lot of improvement in my production skills.

What artists, records, or sounds have influenced you most recently, and have any of them changed the way you approach your own productions?

I’m constantly influenced by what I hear when I’m travelling, playing and listening to other DJs. Recently I’ve been especially attracted to music that combines strong percussion with simplicity – records that don’t need twenty different elements to create an impact. I still take inspiration from the African electronic scene, but I’m also listening again to a lot of older House and Tribal records. There was a rawness and freedom in many of those productions that I really love.

Since my young age, the first artist who brought me to electronic music was Carl Cox, in that time I liked more techno and tech house, but music keeps you evolving and wanted to explore more, then discovered Erick Morillo, which inspire me to build that unique energy and to perform with smile and happiness for the crowd. With artists like Black Coffee, I understood how you built a legacy and authenticity transforming a subgenre/underground music until it reached global spotlight and in House Music production, Dennis Ferrer, inspired me with his unique sound, which can be played by any DJ no matter the genre!

All of these artists have been important references in the evolution of my electronic sound, but I also get inspiration from completely different areas of House music. And obviously too many others artists have influenced me to change things in my sounds as I tried to listen to everything and filter what sounds good for me.

More and more, that is influencing me to simplify my own productions. Instead of asking what else I can add to a track, I’m often asking what I can remove while keeping the emotion and the groove.

Can you share some advice for new DJs and new producers that would want to succeed in the electronic music scene?

Don’t be in too much of a hurry. Today it’s very easy to look at social media and think that careers happen overnight. You see the big festival, the release on a major label or the viral record, but you don’t see the ten years that may have happened before that moment. Of course there are people that made it quickly, but it's like winning the lottery, they were in the right place at the right time, which wont be the standard.

Learn the craft. Play small rooms, play weddings, private events. Learn how to read ten people before worrying about playing for ten thousand (which is the easy part). Listen to music outside whatever genre is currently popular. And if you’re producing, finish records – even the ones that aren’t perfect – because every finished track teaches you something.

Networking is important, social media is important and branding is important, but none of those things can replace having your own identity. It's a combination of factors, no one knows the perfect formula! Keep building.

Trends will always change. If you build your career entirely around what is popular today, you will always be chasing something. If you build your own sound and stay consistent, eventually people can start coming to you for what you do.

And most importantly, enjoy the process. I’ve been doing this for more than two decades and I’m still learning. That’s probably one of the reasons I’m still here. And sometimes I feel that there´s still a lot to grow.

DJ JIGAR