In recent years, the melodic house scene has seen the rise of several artists who have already become established or are well on their way to becoming stars. Boasting a dedicated fan base and a string of successful tours, Belgian producer Jerro is a prime example of this sentiment.
My first introduction to the 'Jerro-verse' was through one of his more unknown tracks from back in 2019 titled "Coil" via Lane 8's This Never Happened. Since then, he's gone on to amass millions of streams, release with Anjunadeep, and collaborate with high-profile names such as Sultan + Shepard. His long-awaited 2021 album Coming Home stood out as one of the best melodic house albums to arrive that year. In 2024 however, he exhibited his artistic evolution and unveiled the bright, glamourous, and immersive Chromatic - a body of work work that consists of some of Jerro's most emotional tracks. Throughout this interview, Jerro takes us through the making of Chromatic, working with collaborators, and much more.
When you first started making music, for you what was so appealing about the idea of possibly making music full-time and becoming an artist professionally?
Just to be able to make a living doing something that you love. In my opinion, that’s the best feeling in the world. It doesn’t feel like work. Okay, with every “job” you’re going to have bad days, and that’s not different with this, but those days are really rare for me.
What would you say was one of the vital things about yourself you had to let go of or change in order to get further in your career?
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The fear of being rejected by a label. It’s never a fun feeling when your demo is rejected, but it’s part of the game and it is essential to keep on growing. I’ve always asked for feedback and tried to implement that feedback in projects.
At which point did you have that "ah ha!" moment, and realize exactly what kind of music you want to put out to the world?
When I made my track “Foreign Woods”. That was the first time that everything really clicked for me in a track. From there on, I had soooo much inspiration and knew what I wanted my music to sound like.
After the making and release of Coming Home, what aspects of your sound and creative process did you aim to retain, and which ones did you seek to change?
I always want to keep some sort of emotion in my tracks. Coming Home was a project full of tracks with different emotions. Happy tracks, darker tracks,… And I always try to strive for that in my tracks. The thing that I wanted to do differently was work on my sound design more. It’s not that the sound design on Coming Home is bad, but after the release of that album, I knew I wanted to experiment more.
Chromatic sounds so much bolder, brighter, and more anthemic compared to your last body of work Coming Home. Why was it important for you to sonically head in this direction?
I wanted to challenge myself and go outside of my comfort zone for Chromatic, and that has been such a great feeling in a creative way. I really felt like the sky was the limit for Chromatic, and I’m still feeling that right now.
What were some of the significant life events or experiences that had a profound impact on the creation of Chromatic?
I think that my life as a touring artist helped shape Chromatic. I wanted to make tracks that I felt like were missing in my sets. That is why I wanted to have a solid amount of variations in the tracks on the album.
How do you approach working with vocalists and ensuring that they're able to express what they feel, while it still fits the narrative of your album?
I usually let a vocalist do their own thing first. I think it’s important to let them be as creative as possible. If I’m not really feeling the creative decisions that they made, I always give them feedback through a zoom call. Most of the time when an instrumental is almost finished, I already know what kind of vocal I want on it.
One of the tracks that stands out is definitely "How Does It Feel" with Kasbo! Can you elaborate on the story behind the making of that track?
The first version of that track was actually close to being finished. The only thing that was missing for me, was that extra little 10% to finish the track. I tried working with a vocal on it, but that didn’t turn out the way I was hoping to. That's when my team decided to reach out to Kasbo, because we absolutely love what he’s doing. And he came back with vocals shots and extra layers of sound design, and it made the track really really special in my opinion.
What is more important for your legacy? Being a groundbreaking DJ and performer, or putting out music people will love?
Putting out music people will love. I love performing, but I love producing music even more.
What's an area in your craft where you're feeling unsure about and really looking to improve on currently?
Working hard on improving my sounds even more. Having a lot of fun lately trying out new sounds and arrangements for my tracks.
So… 1) An artist/band you would have a D.M.C (Deep Meaningful Conversation), 2) An artist/band you’d love to party with. 3) Artist/band you would like to be within the studio for a week.
1) Bon Iver, he’s the greatest artist alive in my opinion.
2) Would love to party with Swedish House Mafia
3) Bon Iver as well
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