Jason took a few minutes to chat with Entertainment Editor Cookie about remaking a classic, teaming up with Bimbo Jones, and his thoughts on the house music vs. EDM debate.
“Tell It To My Heart” is getting so much buzz around what is turning into one of the hottest songs of the summer! What made you want to remake what is such an iconic track?
Did you ever think that remaking a track was risky? I mean how do you decide, stay true to the Taylor Dayne original 80’s vibe, or put your own spin on it?
As far as the vocals, I really wanted to stay close to the originals, I mean I can’t hear it any way. I definitely had to give Taylor her props. I mean, the way she sounds now is almost better than she used to sound, she is amazing!
Speaking of, has Ms. Dayne herself weighed in on your take on one of her biggest hits yet?
You know, I haven’t. I think that if I heard that she didn’t like it, my feelings would be hurt. I’m not gonna hold my breath, I don’t think I’m going to hear from her, I haven’t expected to in all honesty. But hey, anything is possible.
You worked on this track with Bimbo Jones, who are one of the premier duos for remixing and producing in the business. What was that team up like?
They’re great! When Bill (Coleman) sent me their final production of “Tell It To My Heart”, I couldn’t wait to listen to it. When I hit play & the chorus kicked in, all the hair on my neck stood up! What they did was insane; it was right on the pulse of what club music is currently doing, right on the money.
Many people nowadays are starting to jump on the bandwagon of calling house and club music “EDM” music and dumping it into one category. After working in this industry quite some time, howdo you feel about that shift?
I absolutely hate it. I feel that way because I feel like this music has been around for a long time. There have been producers, remixers, artists, and vocalists who have been sweating out this music for years and years. All of a sudden it’s like this is something brand new. In my opinion, this is nothing new; it’s been around for years. There are now people taking credit for music that’s been around, and it bothers me.
I have nothing against the music. There are people though, that are acting as if this sound is new; people like Junior Vasquez, Larry Levan, Danny Tenaglia, and Frankie Knuckles have been creating this sound for years.
Speaking of those legends, do you miss those days of old New York, with Twilo, Arena, etc?
I definitely do. I just got to hear Danny Tengalia at a 10 year Vinyl Anniversary! Some of the music now is just soul-less; there’s not a lot of rhythm in it, there’s not a lot of soul in it, and there’s not a lot of feeling in it. It’s like they wait for the breakdown and then it’s like…oh there it is. Sometimes you do catch a hint of that old music in some newer music, but not that often. It just doesn’t quite measure up to what it used to be.
Do you think you can see yourself covering another classic 80’s track or do you want to give us some original Jason Walker again?
I have some brand new stuff coming out, and I do have a couple covers that I’m working on that I hope to see the light of day as well. I’m not afraid of covering classics, but I do think that there are some covers that should not be touched. I definitely like to see old classics getting a new spin. Covering “Tell It To My Heart” made me comfortable since there had not been a cover of this track, and it was Bill’s idea, and he doesn’t have any bad ones that I’ve seen! The positive buzz on this track has far outweighed the negative.
What are the rest of your summer plans?
So many shows coming this summer! I have a couple things to iron out but I’ll definitely be hitting the road very soon!