Exclusive Interview with Zak Joshua

With the release of his latest single ‘You don’t love me like you say you do’, we got to sit down with Zak Joshua to find out about the production process along with what he has in store for the fans and how the new label (NEMESIS92) came about

Please describe your sound in 5 words…

Melodic, Driven, Passionate, Emotional, Polished.

Checking out your incoming release in ‘You Don’t Love Me Like You Say You Do’, we are digging this Deep Progressive House joint. What was the inspiration behind this one?

Thanks! I started it around the beginning of lockdown, in April. As  we were all stuck at home, I wasn’t able to get in the studio with any collaborators; so I decided to play around with some vocal samples I had on my hard drive, and the track fell together pretty quickly. I wanted to make something that was a bit darker and more electronic than my previous releases, and I think I managed to do that!

One of the tracks that we liked over here in 2020 was your track, ‘I Don’t Wanna Wait’. We really liked the vocals on this one. How did this release come about?

This was a track that I had sitting around on my hard drive for a few years. I think I made the original version in 2014! I knew that it had a good idea in it somewhere, but couldn’t quite make it work. Alice Kübe is an artist I work with closely. One night I showed one of the drafts to her and we wrote the vocals in my flat in about 2 hours! It’s amazing how a track that had been floating around for so long can be finished so quickly with the right people involved.

Talk to us about the new Label (NEMESIS92) and how it came about and what is it’s main goal?

Most of my tracks up until now have been at the more mainstream and accessible end of the spectrum, and I’m lucky to have labels like ‘House Essential Records’ and ‘Selected’ that I can work closely with on those. That being said, I am quite a prolific creator, and I am constantly writing new tracks in all sorts of styles, taking ideas and influences from a whole range of different places. I wanted to set up a label that would give me an outlet for these creations, without the pressure of having to have the right ‘sound’ for a particular label.

The name of the label is taken from my father’s rave company (NEMESIS), who were one of the first large-scale legal rave promoters in the UK back in the 90’s, working with acts like The Prodigy and Carl Cox at the start of their careers.

What 5 non Zak Joshua tracks do you have to play on a regular basis?

I listen to such a wide variety of genres on a daily basis that it’s difficult to narrow down!
I will list some tracks that I come back to from time to time and always give me what I need at that particular moment.

Depeche Mode – Walking In My Shoes

Drake – Do Not Disturb

Fightstar – Grand Unification Pt. 1

Rob Dougan – Furious Angels

The Smiths – Still Ill

Who would be your dream collaboration artist be with?

The dream would be to work on one of FKA Twig’s albums, they are absolutely breathtaking sonically.

My dream vocalist for my own tracks would have to be Elena Tonra, of Daughter & Ex:Re. Her voice is so pure & heart-wrenchingly beautiful. I feel that it would work really well on a dark, melodic techno track.

What’s next in the pipeline for Zak Joshua?

I just plan to keep doing what I’m doing! I have all of my releases for next year finished or thereabouts. There will be a few more tracks on my own label at the start of 2021, and a couple of collaborations as well. I am hoping to be able to play some shows when we are able to to do so!