Level Head

San Fran DJ/producer Jay-J doesn't hear the same things you hear.

by Sean O'Neal

"Producing music has ruined listening to music for me," admits Jay-J, on a break between exhausting recording sessions. "I don’t listen to music anymore. I analyze it. I analyze the production, the writing, the EQing, everything."

In other words, he's a master chef who's lost his appetite. And when he eats, he only tastes the ingredients.

Known for his Midas touch, Jay-J is mostly responsible for warm, organic, top-notch production work for Miguel Migs and others on the Naked Music label. His discography lists well over a hundred 12-inch releases on a gazillion labels -- many of them collaborations with artists like Andy Caldwell, Chris Lum, Julius Papp and Rick Preston.

"I would never turn down a session," he remembers. "Someone came in once and said, for example, "I need to record a saxophone.' And I was like, "Yeah, no problem.' So I gave myself a week and I'd go online and read everything I could about recording a saxophone, I'd figure out what mic they wanted, I'd rent it and then we'd record a saxophone."

He spends all his time at Moulton Studios, a world-class home base he set up in 1998. Once it opened, it changed San Francisco's house sound. "I built it and it's all I've known for the last four years," says the sharp, smooth-talkin' West Coaster. "It's not a home studio by any stretch of the imagination."

Except it sounds like he lives there. His production schedule has him in the booth seven days a week, 12 to 16 hours a day and sleeping only five or six hours a night. The long hours obviously paid off; He and partner Chris Lum earned a Grammy nomination in 2003 for their remix of Jill Scott's "He Loves Me."

Born in Camden, N.J., and raised in San Jose, Calif., Joseph John Hernandez grew up playing the guitar in garage bands. He took up DJ-ing in high school during the mid-'80s, generally mixing electro and freestyle. At age 18, he moved to San Francisco and discovered house at a small club where Doc Martin was spinning. The inspired Jay-J has been there living and breathing house music ever since.

As a DJ, he loves to play house music loaded with male and female vocals, ranging from gospel-influenced to deep and jazzy, to upbeat and disco-heavy. And everything is infused with the emotion of soul music.

"Even from '80s glam rock, there was a lot of good vocal performances with conviction," he explains. "Like Bon Jovi, where the performances had a lot of energy to it, and it felt real regardless of what they were singing about."

"There's a reason why 2Pac and Ice Cube are able to be convincing as actors," Jay-J continues. "They're actors in the studio who are able to make a believer out of the listener. The slickly produced, auto-tuned R&B stuff doesn't really move me, but Jill Scott, Alicia Keys, Angie Stone -- that's the type of stuff that draws me."

Most recently, Jay-J released a new mix-CD, Loveslapped Vol. 3 (Loveslap! Recordings) -- a soothing joy ride through rich house music chock-full of heart-rending vocals and jazzy melodies -- featuring tracks by Inland Knights, Kaskade, K. Hand and himself.

"I think it's a good representation of a style that I do," Jay-J contends. "It's a little more slow and soulful than my Defected [label] CD (In the House -- a mix-CD split with Miguel Migs). But if you come hear me in 10 gigs, you'll hear both of those sets." Currently, he continues a soul-oozing DJ residency at San Fran's Endup along with Julius Papp and Miguel Migs.

Sat., Feb. 14, 10 p.m.-2 a.m., $8, with Rob Paine, Zacharijah and Willyum, Silk City, Fifth and Spring Garden sts., 215-592-8838.