Jens Lissat – Forty-Five Years of Dance Music, Label Management, and the Future of AI on the Virtual Sessions

Summary

In this Virtual Sessions episode, Jens Lissat joins from Cologne to reflect on his 45-year journey through dance music, from discovering disco in the late 1970s to managing more than 60 labels today. He recalls his first experiences seeing DJs mix in Hamburg, cutting his own slipmats from T-shirts, and teaching himself beatmatching long before BPM counters or tutorials existed. His early experiments with tape edits and bootlegs led to official remixes in the 1980s and eventually producing one of Germany’s first house records, laying the foundation for his enduring career.

 

Jens discusses his evolution from hardware-heavy studios to streamlined software setups, explaining how production times have shrunk while the industry’s pace has accelerated. While he no longer focuses on touring, he continues to produce techno tracks and runs labels spanning genres from house and tech house to new disco and Afro house. For him, success today comes from adaptation, curation, and helping younger artists rise through his network of imprints.

 

The conversation explores Beatport’s dominance in the digital marketplace and the potential of streaming to eventually replace downloads, though he believes both will coexist for years. Jens also shares insights on edits, the culture of short tracks, and how DJs are increasingly focused on two- to three-minute transitions that reflect modern audience attention spans.

 

Finally, the discussion turns to AI in music production, playlist curation, and creative support. Jens views AI as both helpful and inevitable, provided artists maintain the personal and spontaneous energy that keeps live performance authentic. With humor and honesty, he emphasizes health, balance, and curiosity as the keys to sustaining decades in such a fast-moving industry.

 

Topics

0:20 – Returning from Ibiza and family milestones
2:15 – New release “I Am A Pokin” and dedication to Commander Tom
6:50 – Discovering disco in 1979 and first DJ inspirations
11:30 – Learning beatmatching, BPM counting, and DIY slipmats
18:10 – Early edits, bootlegs, and first official remixes in the 1980s
25:22 – Producing one of Germany’s first house records in 1987
33:45 – Transition from hardware to software and modern workflows
41:18 – Running over 60 labels and focusing on Afro house and tech house
50:29 – Beatport, Traxsource, and the future of downloads vs streaming
1:06:45 – AI in music, short-form edits, and staying healthy in the industry

Call to Action

Follow Jens Lissat on Instagram @jenslissat_official for updates on new releases and label projects.
Discover his latest tracks and label catalog on Beatport.
Explore more exclusive interviews and live sessions at thedjsessions.com.

[Darran]
Hey everyone, welcome back to another episode of the DJ Sessions Presents the Virtual Sessions. I’m your host Darran and right now I’m sitting in the virtual studios in Seattle, Washington and coming in all the way from, I believe Jenss, you said you’re in Cologne, is that correct?

[Jens Lissat]
Yes, I’m in Cologne since 10 days. Just returned from my, with my wife. We have our residency in Ibiza now and so we stayed there from, since January and we just returned, yeah, 10 days ago because it was a marriage of my sis, of my sis, no, of my daughter.

My daughter married.

[Darran]
Awesome, I saw that on your Instagram, I wanted to talk to you about that, give me a few seconds, got a fire engine going by right now.

[Jens Lissat]
Yes, I heard you.

[Darran]
Even though I’m 16 stories up, they use our thoroughfare and drive right by here all the time. Living in the city, but I live next to the hospitals on a nice area of downtown Seattle, but sometimes it happens. So I’d like to mute the mic, but hey, it’s going by, hopefully it’s still not in the show.

They’re not coming for me, so that’s a good thing. You have been in the industry for 30 years now, you know, you’re moving to Ibiza. So I say Ibiza, I learned how to say it when I was over there last year, but most people say Ibiza.

How do you pronounce it?

[Jens Lissat]
You can say it, the English people, they say Ibiza, but everybody’s saying Ibiza, with a V, like the Z of Ibiza, it’s spelled V, Ibiza.

[Darran]
Yeah, and I had almost the opportunity, as I explained a little bit pre-show last year when I was over in Berlin for Ray of the Planet with Riverside Studios, I was this close to going there. I’ve never been there yet, but I’m planning to go there next year, maybe a couple of times. You should.

Yeah, it looks phenomenal, it looks awesome, you know, but I just need to get home. Although if I had more time, I’m probably going to just arrange another puddle jumper back to Bergen, or back to, what’s it, Bergen’s the airport there, right? What’s the name of the airport in Berlin?

Why am I…

[Jens Lissat]
Berlin, it’s Berlin. Yeah, Berlin, this is called, the Berlin airport is… It’s the Berlin airport!

No, it’s like one of our last chancellors. I don’t know what… Yeah!

Ah, I forgot the name.

[Darran]
I can’t remember. It doesn’t matter, we’ll figure it out online, there’s the internet out there, go find it. But I’d probably get flown back to Berlin and flown home.

[Jens Lissat]
It’s called Willy Brandt Airport, I think.

[Darran]
Oh, okay, okay, okay. But yeah, I mean, looking to do some world travel here coming up in the next year, so we’ll make it there, come down and see you there, it’ll be awesome. We’re not here to talk about my travels and outgoing and outward bound stuff from the United States, I’m here to talk about you and what you got going on.

You just released something, August 29th, I believe, I am a pokin’, did I say that right?

[Jens Lissat]
Yes, I’m a pokin’.

[Darran]
I am a pokin’. Tell us all about that track and what that’s all about.

[Jens Lissat]
This track is about, you know, it’s a techno track. A techno track, a fast peak time track, it’s not like these peak time techno tracks which are around now 130, 135 BPM, it’s 145 BPM. It has some classic acid vocals inside, at least from ACID POKIN’.

ACID A POKIN’, ACID A POKIN’. It has a Hoover sound in the break, like… Some little house chops of 100% dissing you.

I’m gonna diss you right now. And of course, strong bass, what techno needs. And this break, which is similar to one of my, it was first on my label, but it was for the original label called Noom Records.

Noom Records is a label out of the 90s, from techno labels. And it was managed by a friend and who died, Commander Tom, and he had a track also out with the same Hoover style of sound in the break. And which is, this is like, you know, dedication and on his label, you know.

[Darran]
You know, I mean, looking through the years, it’s funny you mentioned dedication. It’s kind of how the DJ Sessions was born out of something that went away. It was a channel that was here out of Seattle called Groove Tag.

And they would bring DJs in at the record store and do that. And when I saw that, you know, I think what I’m trying to get at here is it’s important to remember the history, the roots of people you’ve worked with, things that have happened in the past. And carry that forward, you know, and, you know, remembering the good times that people have shared through music, not just electronic music, and keep the spirit alive.

You know, you being in the industry for 30 plus years, me being in the…

[Jens Lissat]
Forty-five.

[Darran]
Forty-five. Forty-five?

[Jens Lissat]
Forty-five? Forty-five years. Forty-five years.

[Darran]
As a DJ, yeah. You’ve seen a lot come through, especially, you know, with obviously the culture moving from turntables and vinyl to digital. And the barrier of entry coming down or coming to almost zero for DJs now.

I can go to the store, pick up some decks, and learn how to DJ through YouTube videos. And I can get access to albums and records so quickly where, you know, you’re not having to press the vinyl and maybe make 5,000, 10,000, 50,000 copies if you had the money for it. You have to distribute those worldwide, you know, and get them out there, even from the label management side of things.

I’m sure you’ve seen all the changes. You’ve been there.

[Jens Lissat]
I saw everything.

[Darran]
Everything happened.

[Jens Lissat]
From the peak, you know. When I was a little boy of 15 years old, I discovered disco music, you know, and it was 1979. And, you know, I mentioned it maybe in our other story already, but I’m not tired to tell the story, you know, to people, to listeners, because this is my history.

So when I was 15 years old, we had a club here where I was born in Hamburg, Germany. It was like the Studio 54. And it was built from a design circuit company from New York City.

They built the light show and the interior around this club. They had the Richard Long sound system. And when they opened in December 1978, I was not there, but I came there in the summer of 1979, and I saw, the first time of my life, I saw a DJ mixing.

It was a US DJ. His name was David B. Goon.

He was not a famous DJ from the States. But, you know, when the club opened in December of 1978, they had a girl called Sharon Lee. Sharon Lee, she was famous because she was out of New York City and played there some shows, whatever.

I don’t know where she was, her history. But the thing is, she and then the owner, she left to New York City back and he had another US DJ. I came to this club.

You have to, you know, these days, back in the 70s, there were turntables like Sorens. There was also the first Technics, the 1200s, but they had Sorens with a belt drive system. And what I never saw before, until then, because I hadn’t seen any mixers until then, but they had a rotary mixer, a Bosak.

Because, you know, the mixers was in Europe. They were all with faders, but the rotary was brand new. And I was watching there with my 15 years old above, you know, I could look down on the DJ.

I said, whoa, what is he doing there with like… And I said, what the fuck is he doing? You know, and I saw this was mixing, you know.

Imagine in 1979, there was no newspapers for me as a kid, you know. I didn’t have a billboard or whatever. And I didn’t know information about, you know, like today when you could read everything on YouTube.

But there was nothing, you know. So I asked this guy in between two records what he’s doing. He said, yeah, this is called beat matching.

And you have to listen to the records and the beats, one that they are going to sing on one bar. And then, okay, what the fuck is he telling me? And then the funny thing is, you know, he was mixing and putting one record off.

And I didn’t know it was U.S. imports for me. You know, this music was not available in Germany that much. You know, we had a once…

I found out later then that there was one import store who imported these vinyls from America. But anyway, so I went home and said to my mother, Mommy, I need a credit for turntables and the mixer. I said, yeah, why?

I want to be a DJ. Okay, then. So I got the money.

I bought myself. Now listen, there was also a Technics turntable called SLB3. It was one of the early Technics turntables, also with a bell drive.

And I bought a mixer. The first mixer I bought, because I didn’t know what to buy, I bought a mixer with faders. And there was no headphone, you know, no pre-listening.

And I had my turntables, the mixer. And I said, yeah, I have now two records. And how can I listen to the other record while one is playing?

I only could hear the one which is playing on this kind of mixer. So I said, what the fuck? This is something wrong.

Then I went back to the store where I bought. I said, I have a problem. I can’t listen.

Yeah, you need to have a mixer which is upgraded, you know, with a pre-listening function. So I bought this mixer. Went home.

And the first thing I did was with two copies of Chic Good Times. I tried to mix it back and forth, you know. And then I found out to play both at the same time.

Like, good times, good times. Double them and phasing. I discovered phasing.

Then I discovered beats per minutes, you know. And nobody told me about beats. I only knew that records had different tempo.

One was slow. One was mid-tempo. One was up-tempo.

But I don’t know what beats per minutes was, you know. Nobody taught me that. So I found out with my watch.

15 seconds, counting 1, 2, 3, times 4. Then I had BPMs. Then I wrote the BPMs with my fat adding pencil on the covers. The tempo.

How fast. Then I said I have this slow beat file records. Mid-tempo and up-tempo.

So this could mix together. Then I found out with the pitch control. I can vary the tempi of the BPMs. So I had to discover everything myself, you know. And also a slipmate. I didn’t know what a slipmate was. I just watched in this club that night.

Underneath, when they put one record up, there was something out of cotton. I said, what the fuck is that? So I took my old T-shirt and put the record on it.

Cut it with scissors around my T-shirt. So I made my own slipmate. That’s awesome.

So then I practiced every day mixing. Because to learn beat matching with disco music. Which is no computer music.

Like drum computer sequences. So the drummer plays. And he plays like 1-10, 1-12, 1-9, 1-8.

Drum fill, 1-18. Back to 1-12. So disco was really hard to mix.

These days, when I play a disco set on vinyl. When you play it on a Technics. You go wild pitching.

It’s very difficult to mix disco music. So this was my beginning. Starting to spin records at home.

[Darran]
So moving forward though. As technology advanced. When did you start getting into producing tracks?

And making music? When did you start to make that transition? Was that early on as well?

Or was that after a long career?

[Jens Lissat]
The history about that is. It started when I had my mixing skills. In a couple of months.

Which I learned. Between 2 or 3 months I could mix. Then I discovered.

I made my mixes on tape. And then I said. What would be interesting is.

If I just put some breaks out of the records. So I had my tape deck. With a pause button.

I put a 1, 2, 3, 4 pause. And then put the next break from the next record. 1, 2, 3, pause, off.

And then record. So I made my own edits on tape. Then later I discovered.

My friend showed me a reel-to-reel. So with a reel-to-reel machine. I made then edits.

Cutting the tape. Re-to-re-editing. And I made bootlegs.

I made a lot of bootlegs. My edits of Madonna. Michael Jackson.

I made edits. I pressed them on vinyl. I went to the stores in Denmark.

Belgium. Germany. France.

Everywhere I sold my bootlegs. 1,000 copies. They were sold off.

Next month the next bootleg. By 1987. I made this 5 years.

By 1987. There was a record store in Hamburg. Where I sold also my vinyls.

He said. Warner Music wants to have. Lucas looking for.

Megamixer. For Phil Collins Megamix. I said okay.

They introduced me to Warner Music. And Warner Music. Gave me an address.

A studio. Where I should go. To make the edits.

If you can’t. Don’t lose my number. These 3 tracks.

I made the Phil Collins Megamix. This was my first official studio job. Before that.

In 1984. I made the first remix in my life. Official in the studio.

I came in the studio. With 24 tracks. A big mixer.

So many knobs. It was a track called. Mike Marine.

Dancing in the dark. A kind of Italo Disco. So I made my first remix.

In that studio. It was a very nice studio. There was a famous German band.

Modern Talking. Which was a huge name. In the 80s.

Dieter Bohlen is one of the biggest. German music producers. He was in the same studio.

He came after me. When I finished my remix. He came into the studio.

And made his first production. I can’t remember what it was. I think it was.

Many of the old people. There I started. In 1984.

First remix. In 1987 the studio guy. Said to me.

Do you want to do a production. Your own track. I said why not.

We started to do my first own track. We made the first. German house record.

It was called JMJ and Hardy. Work the house sound. I gave myself a name.

JM. J for Jenss. My first name.

This was the first German house record. Maybe one of the first. 1987.

Then I continued. To learn everything. It was a system called.

Notator. Create a notator program. With a.

What was it. An Atari. ST1040 computer.

This was a system. Where I learned. To program.

Sequence music. Playing in studio.

[Darran]
Would you say. You’re more of a hardware producer. Or software producer now.

With the advancements of everything.

[Jens Lissat]
In the beginning it was hardware.

[Darran]
It changed.

[Jens Lissat]
I sold all my. The only thing I still have is. Casio.

RZ1 drum machine. And the Roland. TR606 drum machine.

I recently discovered them. In my underground basement. I said.

Where are these machines. I thought I sold everything. But they were still there.

Imagine. If you’re starting. Very early in the 80s.

You buy all these hardware stuff. I had everything from Roland. Oberheim.

The Moog stuff. Everything. I sold everything.

During the years. Now it’s like this. I don’t produce anymore.

For me it’s no need. Sometimes. I do one track.

For me it’s no need. Because I’m not a DJ. Who is going out to play.

I’m not a fresh guy. Because I’m the first generation. Of techno DJs.

The kids want to see the young guys. They are young idols. I’m not a TikToker anymore.

But I still do. Some cool techno stuff.

[Darran]
What’s the longest time. You’ve ever. In using technology.

I won’t go back. To the early analog days. What’s the longest time.

You’ve ever spent. Working in the studio. On a track.

Using modern technology. 5 or 6 years.

[Jens Lissat]
The longest time. It was maybe. 6 hours.

Normally tracks. They go 2 or 3 hours. They are almost done.

The next day. 4 hours maybe. The next day you listen.

And edit something. 8 hours for a track. That’s very long.

Is that long for you? No. Maybe long for me.

You see. If you work. With vocal recordings.

Then of course it takes longer. Because a vocal session. Takes an hour.

The singer. Or the girl. Male or female.

Needs to warm up. And all these things. And then you record.

The verse. The chorus. You double them.

Maybe 2 hours. It’s a vocal session. Then you have to cut.

This takes time. In the last 5 years. I haven’t done a vocal track.

With recording vocals. I just do. The artist.

Normally they record at home. And send you. The cut and files already.

[Darran]
You said you haven’t done a vocal track. In a long time. Do you ever make music.

Completely out of your own genre. That never gets released. That you experiment.

[Jens Lissat]
No. Because I don’t have the time. For that.

I did this now. Since more than 30 years. For me.

I have a full time job. With my music labels. I manage almost 60 labels.

I run 25 on my own.

[Darran]
16 or 60? 60.

[Jens Lissat]
6-0. Like 63 or something like that. Wow.

I do 20 myself. And the rest I do with label partners. I have partners.

Which are. I manage the label. And we are partners in the label.

That’s what I do. My distribution thing.

[Darran]
Are these all different genres? I assume different genres. Because I saw.

From New Disco, Afro House, Tech House, Melodic House, Techno, Hard Techno. I see on your Instagram. You got Studio 3000, Monkey League, TCP.

[Jens Lissat]
These are quite a few. I do a lot of. A lot of funky house.

And New Disco stuff as well. And Tech House. Because the new generation.

The new generation of young kids. They are into pop. Afro.

Afro with melodic influences. A little bit in Ibiza for example. In the world.

Melodic House. Anima thing is going. But the biggest thing.

For streaming is Afro. Afro House now. And it’s Tech House.

These are the two. Most heard genres. And the best selling genres.

Which are really tough. Big concurrence. A lot of everybody.

What is the hot shit. Many people want to do this also.

[Darran]
We just launched on our site. Two new things. That we are really excited to start filling up.

And keeping the data going on. One of them is a music section. On our site.

We were talking a little bit. About the pre-show. About where artists we interview.

Come on the show. We can list their music. Not to sell.

But to definitely help promote. And get it out there. We are just about sharing with the world.

The artist music. And what is going on out there. We also launched a page on our site.

With the DJ worldwide rankings. Which talks about the top. 20,000 DJs in the world.

And then also. Top music genres. Table.

Tech house is definitely. Cranking up in that notch. Along with traditional house.

I’m looking at the chart right now. On our site. It’s a pretty comprehensive study.

That we put together. We update this once every year. We are using our data.

That we pulled from 2024. Tech house has definitely made it. A niche on the scene there.

Speaking of music and releasing music. And putting it out there. Do you expect Beatport to have another.

Serious competitor in the next few years. Or do you feel they are going to be able to. Maintain their monopoly that they got.

I know a lot of artists are. Looking at Spotify. Or moving away from Spotify.

Just because of political reasons. Don’t need to talk about that stuff. Things like band camp.

Where they might have a little bit more. Financial gain. By working with that.

Do you expect Beatport to have a competitor. In the next few years.

[Jens Lissat]
The only competitor which they have. Is Traxxas. Traxxas is strong.

But only strong with house. A little bit of. Disco.

Soul house. This is where. Traxxas is strong.

Let’s say. Like this. The DJs still buy.

The Traxxas downloads. Because some. Try to launch.

The streaming. That the DJs can stream from Beatport. But as a DJ.

It’s still like this. For me. You are hunting for a track which you like.

And you want to have it in your. In your crate. In your drive.

On your hard drive. On your USB. Streaming.

I haven’t experienced. How a Beatport or whatever. A Pioneer stream is like.

You put a library inside. Because I really can’t talk about. That kind of people.

But the thing is. The download site. Will always be there.

For still a couple of years. Until we have. The complete generation change.

Which is only going. With the streaming site. But for the artists.

The Beatport thing is for electronic music. The biggest one. There will be nothing else.

Because there is one. And there is a little number two. But there are many other people.

Who tried. This summer I was at the IMS in Ibiza. And I met some guys from.

I don’t know where they were from. Let me. I am not sure where they were from.

But they tried. I think they were from Spain or something. I don’t know.

They tried to launch a new download store. I said. What is new with your store?

We have the change. We have good prices. But the thing is.

If you have Beatport. Why should you go somewhere else? Because you get the tracks there.

30% less. As a DJ. If you buy a track for 2€.

It is not that much. And even. Now we come to the other side.

The younger generation of DJs. Many of them. They try to play their own edits.

Because these days. Editing is so easy. Or you go to Reddit.

Or you go to Soundcloud. And you find. Of a popular track.

Let’s say. 1000 edits. I mean that.

You get a lot of edits. From a popular track. If it is not a popular track.

Maybe you get 1 or 2 edits. And if it is not cool. You do your own edit.

Because everybody knows. How to use a cutting program. And you do your own version.

You play your own stuff. But still. As I can say from my side.

Because I have many labels. And I am pretty good. In the Beatport sales.

It went a little bit down. For me. But I can’t tell.

Because in Tech House. I have not the strong labels. Not yet.

Because these labels. These genres are really selling good. So.

I think the download is still there. But it will. In the future.

I think the future will be streaming. There will be still. Downloads available.

Of course. It is extra money. I don’t know.

I also work with. What you just mentioned. What was the other platform.

You just mentioned. Beatport Tracksource. No.

The other one. Spotify? No.

Spotify is streaming. I worked with. I forgot the name.

I sell tracks there. Also downloads there. On this store.

But it is not. That I am selling very much there. I don’t know.

I don’t remember. Who I said. We will go back.

This is. What I can see. Spotify.

You can say. What you want. Spotify is.

In the whole bunch. It is the extra money. If you are not using.

The Spotify place. Maybe for example. If you have 1 million plays.

That is about. Between 2 or 3 thousand euros. Between.

It depends on. How long it is going to be streamed. That is why.

It varies between. Then you have the label. The label has the cake.

Then you have. If you have an artist 50%. Then you have 50%.

If you have not 50%. The majors. For example.

They give you. Between 20 and 25% for the artist. They say.

We have the risk we pay. We invest here. We invest there.

You can imagine. If you have 1 thousand euros. For income.

Then the major gets 75%. It is only then at the end. It is 250 for you.

It is like it is.

[Darran]
What I have seen coming out. Something I want to touch base on. I am sure this is a topic for you.

The evolution of the electronic music industry. Music in general. What are your thoughts on these companies.

I am somehow getting meta ads for them. Seeing it all over the place. Of using AI.

To generate. To curate playlists. For DJs.

I want to sound like something. I want this BPM. Put together a playlist.

It will play in order. It goes. Spits it out for somebody.

This is my playlist. Do you feel that is in a way. Helpful.

Or cheating. For artists.

[Jens Lissat]
They are both sides. Yeah. For a consumer.

It is helpful. Do me this. Do me that.

If you don’t like it. Do me another list. Then it is okay.

Every track gets played. On the other hand. It is not about playlisting.

It is about AI. Using the tracks for you. It is already there.

They have the future. This is what I discussed. With some of my friends.

Some people say. Most of them say. The future in music is also AI.

They will always be. Like musicians. Live musicians, bands, singers.

They will all. Because. Some people.

They want to see their star live. For electronic music. AI is definitely.

The future.

[Darran]
I use AI. For some back-end. A virtual assistant.

Which is helpful. I don’t have to. Generate any content.

I have to research. Everything on my own. We have joked around.

Having an AI character. Jump into the interview. I am talking to you today.

As a fan question. Max Headroom. I find it useful.

I use AI. To take my transcripts. Of this entire thing.

And build my show notes. And edit that. Something we are looking at doing.

AI voiceovers. I can take the transcript. AI can separate.

His accent. And put it in your accent. And put it in my accent.

So we can reach a wider audience. Why not?

[Jens Lissat]
It will be cool.

[Darran]
As long as it is cool. Why not? Coming from a broadcast television world.

It took more money. To closed caption our show. Than it did to air our show.

This is an FCC requirement. To be on broadcast television. Unless you knew how to get around that.

Which I did. Closed captioning a show. A show for 30 minutes.

Hundreds and hundreds. Sometimes $1,500. $300 to air the show.

$1,500 to closed caption. Now I can do that using AI. Do it for my podcast.

In multiple languages. People from all over the world. They don’t have to know English.

They can read the transcript. Convert our website. Huge advantages I see.

From production. Definitely. I would never replace myself.

As an AI interview. And have you talking to an AI character.

[Jens Lissat]
This is going to be the personal note. The personal note is always allowed. This spontaneous thing.

Interaction. I don’t know. If an AI can do this.

In maybe 50 years. Until now. I don’t want to be interviewed.

By a robot. Exactly.

[Darran]
I talk about this. I just got the phone with a potential PR company. I’m sure you have seen this over the years.

We want to remain organic. I don’t know what you are going to say. I want to be able to respond to that.

I was just there. I had my feet in the beach. On the sand.

I know what that is like. You were there. 115 degrees on the sand.

The AI is not going to know that. They are not going to be able to pull that. They can try to BS it.

You are an AI generated character. How are you there on the beach? It doesn’t work like that.

I love that we have this organic approach. You get the article submitted. Here are 10 questions.

You fill them out. The questions are sent in advance. They are canned responses.

Here is another one of these. I’m not knocking any publications. There was an article that came out recently.

It talked about the death of the media coverage. In the electronic music industry. Because of AI.

Because people are now writing sound bites. Instead of long form stories. People want that quick instant.

I was there. Look at the pictures. Look at the video.

Here we go. Next. People are not doing in depth interviews like that anymore.

We will remain true to that. Thank you for being here. Do you ever get fed up?

With making and playing music? What do you do personally? To deal with that?

Any advice you give? Being in the industry for so long. Do you have a good mantra?

A good cool down? Take a break? I’m stepping away from the computer and the desk right now.

I’m going to come back.

[Jens Lissat]
A regimen. I have to work every day. Almost every day.

Because… When you have more than 100 releases a month. You have to work.

Because… The stuff needs to… The computer needs to be feeded.

There is a course of pages. Upload pages. Like Beatport.

Itunes, Spotify. They all need to be feeded with the material. This takes.

You have to write, generate codes. Besides the music which is made. I don’t do the music.

But it takes time. I work. I have breakfast.

Then I do some releases. Then I go to the gym. That’s my day.

Later I check my mails. If I’m in the mood. I do another couple uploads.

Because… Sometimes it’s really stressing. But you have to work always ahead.

I have to work for the next months ahead. Then somebody is calling you. I have the new track.

Can you help me here? What do you think of the track? What do you think about the arrangement?

Is it mastering? Do you have a mastering studio? Where I can master the track?

Is the mastering sounding good? You have to be there. Sometimes in the evening.

When I’m finished. I close the computer. For me it’s enough then.

Because I have music. There’s no day without music for me.

[Darran]
I can relate to that. People don’t see what people like us do. A lot of artists don’t see what we do in the background.

What goes on to make it in this business. I sometimes joke about the idea of putting a camera up in my office. Let’s do a reality television show.

So you can really think. I’m not just a guy who turns on a camera. What’s going on?

This is done. It’s in the can. I’m at my desk.

Now I get up at 630. I’m on desk. From 7 o’clock to 5 p.m. Five days a week. I try to take my weekend breaks and work on Monday through Friday. When you’re on your own business. There’s always something coming in.

You don’t want to wake up Monday morning with 300 emails in your inbox. And then you backlog. Trying to catch up.

I can relate to that. Congratulations on 60 plus labels. That’s phenomenal.

I can imagine the upkeep on something like that. We’re ramping up over here and doing a lot of stuff. You’re dealing with website submissions.

All that fun stuff.

[Jens Lissat]
The thing is. Coming back to the AI thing. I always had my artwork designers.

It was two months ago. When the art designer was not available. And I had this track coming in.

We have to put this out very fast. It’s Friday evening. Until Monday there’s nothing to do.

Then I started. I started to discover. ChatGPT for myself.

For creating my artworks. Now I’m also the artwork designer as well. On top of all the stuff which I did before.

Sometimes I can really smash into the computer. Do you want this color? Or that color?

Can I add? Shall I convert it to you? Yes, please convert.

Before we convert. I can convert it in a special size for you. Sometimes the AI makes me crazy.

AI excuses. Sorry that I’m not working the way you want it. You’re making me crazy.

Sometimes I type in German. But it is. Sometimes you have to be patient.

Because even an AI needs time to create something. Normally it’s done in the first request. But sometimes.

It really goes like.

[Darran]
I literally have had to add prompts recently. This is my secret prompt codes. Right up here for ChatGPT.

I can reference them quickly. One of them under utility control. Number 41.

Don’t answer until I say go. I had to do that recently. It kept asking me question after question.

I said. Do not ask me any more questions. Until you’ve output the file.

Then let me come in. It does the file. I sometimes wonder.

Should I get more personal with my AI? My ChatGPT. Thank you.

I catch myself saying. I don’t want to say it. It will activate my phone.

Hey. Can you set an alarm for this? Thank you.

You’re welcome. Wait a second. What am I doing here?

Am I building a dialogue. To build the familiarity of my language style. With my ChatGPT.

Or whatever I want to call it. They know my format and language. Could my ChatGPT start getting vindictive.

No. I don’t want to do that for you. You’ve been mean to me today.

I’m locked out of my ChatGPT. I’m sorry. I’ll buy you some flowers.

I’ll make a nice programming code for you. Or something nice. I’ll take you out to a virtual dinner.

Where would you like to go? Can I buy you roses? You’re nice.

I’ll give you everything. I heard about the one AI model. Where they threatened to unplug it or disconnect it.

It started blackmailing the company. I’ll send out everything on you online. If you disconnect me.

It was some story that came out. I don’t know if it’s true or not. I saw it a couple of times.

I’m assuming something happened. It threatened to blackmail the employees of the company. We’ll pull up all this.

If you try to take us out. There’s some funny stuff there. AI is definitely a beneficial tool.

I was referencing an interview I did with a DJ. A producer. A long time industry producer.

DJ Sama. I referenced this article I saw from Paul Oakenfold. Where he said.

Like you said earlier. It’s good and it’s bad. You have to no matter what.

At least embrace technology. And not shy away from it. To understand what it’s doing.

Or have a background. So you aren’t just left in the mix. It could be like a DJ that said.

I’m going to be vinyl for the rest of my life. This digital stuff isn’t ever going to do anything. Where are they now?

If they didn’t adapt and move forward. I’m going to be a purist. That’s great.

But here’s the industry.

[Jens Lissat]
But even the vinyl DJ plays. Plays tracks. Which are made with new technology.

[Darran]
New technology. Exactly. Only if he plays old vinyl.

Then not. Exactly. It’s just being technologically savvy.

Or at least have an idea. What’s going on. I take AI classes.

I know it’s going to be something huge. Just so I can have a basic understanding. If you could.

Go back. Say 30 years. Knowing what you know now.

Go back 30 years in music history. Time machine. Or go 50 years forward in music future.

And see where things are at. Which way would you go?

[Jens Lissat]
Both things are interesting. The knowledge. What you have now.

Transferred into the time tunnel. Back to 30 years. There are so many.

So many possibilities. But for me. Because I’m always hungry.

For new things. For me it would be interesting. What’s happening 50 years from now on.

What’s going on. Or maybe what’s going on in 500 years. Where we are in 500 years.

For example. The cars flying around. Just not driving anymore.

[Darran]
I thought we were supposed to have flying cars now.

[Jens Lissat]
And how long. How long could you live in 500 years. Is it like that.

What Putin. And Xi. Were speaking.

When they are in China. And picking on the parade. We can extend life now.

And see what they said. 70 years is young these days. So.

Possibility there. It’s gonna be maybe 150 years. To live already.

And how. Could you control the genes. That you don’t age.

Like the skin. It’s like. What’s it called in English.

Elasticity. And no more. Like this here.

[Darran]
Yeah.

[Jens Lissat]
So what’s gonna be in 500 years. Will we really be able. If you have no more cancer.

And all these things. That would be. But we will never know.

[Darran]
And you mentioned earlier. About the younger DJs. And the audience and the fans.

Wanting to see the younger kids. You know they are in the TikToks. The Instagrams.

All of that. And you know some of the seasoned DJs. I won’t say older.

But seasoned more educated. Or long term. Long standing people in the community.

Are not getting necessarily booked as much. Because they aren’t keeping up with their Instagrams. Or their TikToks.

Or making them hot in that way. What measures do you take. To actively promote yourself.

Your releases and your career. Do you work with a PR company. Are you doing this manually yourself.

[Jens Lissat]
Well you know. As I told you. I’m not taking care about this anymore.

Because my main business. Is not the label thing. I have the young people standing now there.

In the front in the first row. For me it’s like just having fun. If I play gigs.

I decide where I play. What I play. And sometimes I do a video.

I do a trailer. But for me. It’s not necessary anymore.

But if you are in the business. These days. Everything is so fast.

The tracks are almost only. If you can say. The DJs mix only two minutes.

And then there comes the next track. You know. If I was at some of the shows.

It depends where I was. For example I was this summer. In Ushuaia.

I was invited on the party. Because one of my artists. He played on this party.

From Dimitri Vegas and Mike. There was Steve Aoki playing. Dimitri Vegas of course.

And the new guy. The new Avicii from Sweden. I forgot the name.

They played two minutes. The next one. And then.

It was like this EDM stuff. But also in technology. It was like the DJ played the tracks.

Two and a half, three minutes. The tracks are shortened. Many people only play the edits.

Some of my artists asked me. Do you think it’s only necessary. These days that we only release the edit.

Not the extended version. I said yes. For downloads.

Some of the DJs still want. Maybe to play the extended. But the streamers.

Only want the edit. It’s a very. Everybody.

You know that yourself. It’s a fast. A moving thing at the moment.

Since a couple of years. I think it was after Corona. I think before that not.

But everything started to speed up. Hectic. Swipe.

We want the next. The newest. It is a generation like this at the moment.

It might be changing. But I’m not sure if it’s going to be changing. Because it’s.

The social media is there. Everybody wants more. And more.

And another information. For me personally. I don’t like these TikTok things.

It’s too much stress. It stresses me. I’m not like that.

When I see. You can walk down the street. Everybody is like.

I look at my mobile. What’s here and there. People are walking.

They are coming with their mobile. Besides you.

[Darran]
I’m glad you brought that up. Because there is a topic. That’s hot right now.

I know you have been witness to this. I have been witness to this. Night clubbing for 36 years.

Of my life. Cell phone use at events. Or night clubs.

In Ibiza. There was a club that just launched. I can’t remember the name.

Maybe it’s that one. No cell phones on the dance floor. TC10.

[Jens Lissat]
You get a sticker.

[Darran]
When I was in Berlin. I went to a club. Right around the corner.

Riverside studios. They put stickers on both my phones. They were polite.

I didn’t care. I’m old school. I love watching the show.

I’m in video production. I know it’s going to look like crap. It’s going to sound like crap.

I’m not going to put that out. I’m going to go back. Can I do a proper interview?

Can I get a proper mix? A video mix from you for my show? Most fans don’t have a live streaming DJ show.

That’s going to ask that. Or 30 years of video production. That’s sort of becoming trend now.

Here’s what I wanted to touch on. I just watched the video demo. For the new iPhone 17.

What they’re doing now. They have dual record mode. Now you can be filming the DJ.

And stage or performance. But then your front camera. This is your front camera.

Your back facing camera towards you. Can record you at the same time. With your reaction shot.

Now you’re watching the show going. Yeah! It’s getting you on both cameras.

Now in your video. Make for 6 to 20. Yeah.

I was talking with another DJ. Just recently. It’s sad.

Not necessarily sad. Kids that are 15 years old. They don’t know what it’s like.

To not be without a phone. To not be there to capture it. Did we go to the club?

The DJ was up in the corner. You didn’t ever see them. People were on the floor.

We were the dancers on the stage. Rocking the party. Keeping things going.

The DJ was in a booth. With a plexiglass window. Nothing got thrown up on the decks.

Playing. I would work my way up into the booth. Some of my first night clubs.

How do you get up in the DJ booth? I knocked on the door. The DJ said, do you want to dance?

Yeah, cool. I started getting into clubs. 19 years old.

With a fake ID. Going up behind the DJ booth. I started working the lights.

People would come up and ask me. Can you take requests? Go for it, dude.

We make a fake list of playlists. Here’s your request. They would leave us alone.

People thought I worked at the club. I’m 19 years old. If I was in Europe.

I would be 16 or 17 years old. It was interesting. Seeing that perspective.

I always focus on the music. I want to enjoy what’s going on. I’m not going to try to capture it.

Somebody said. A general quote. Nobody is going to watch the fireworks show.

That you record on your phone. Maybe a drone show.

[Jens Lissat]
That’s cool.

[Darran]
But nobody is going to watch it.

[Jens Lissat]
Every weekend there are hundreds of festival videos. Everything is the same. Oh, wow.

It is like it is. We have these festival moments. This mobile generation.

As long as we have Facebook, Instagram. Instagram and TikTok. This will always be a part.

This will be a part of the club.

[Darran]
I’m sure you’ve seen. Back in the day. They would have concerts and events.

No professional photography. No recording devices. No professional recording devices.

No professional cameras. Because they wanted to sell a video. Exactly.

Now the new iPhone coming out. Has three 48 megapixel cameras. This isn’t a commercial for iPhone by the way.

I’m not trying to sell any phones. No, they don’t endorse it. A 48 megapixel camera.

48 megapixels. And recording both ways. You have to look at it from the standpoint.

One. This is going from a legal standpoint. The venue.

Doesn’t give the rights to film. On premise and distribute. Two.

They don’t have the rights to the music they are filming. It is a privately closed area. With a privately set show.

Could we start seeing these clubs. Base no cell phone use on those two rules alone. And or.

Having the artists come in and say. I think somebody told me lane 8. Don’t quote me on this lane 8.

Lane 8 comes in and says. No cell phone use on our show and our writers. If you see people use it.

You are out. Please I don’t have a copy of the writer. I don’t have an official statement from lane 8 on that.

But I was told that they kind of request that. Will we maybe start seeing that from artists. Saying hey.

I want you to be here for the music. And if I’m playing and I see cell phones in the crowd. And they are not pulled.

You are still going to pay me my money. But I’m stopping my set in the middle of the set. Until you clear the dance floor.

How would that backlash it.

[Jens Lissat]
I tell you one other thing. Besides that. Cell phone.

Yes or no. The cell phone is only the moment of the drop. The break is.

When the beats is running. Nobody is filming normally. When it comes to the.

Magical break. The music. When it comes to the drop.

And then it comes to boom. Everybody wants to catch the break drop moment. On a cell phone.

And then the phones are going down. It’s always like that. And for a concert.

I don’t see. It’s a promotion for the artist. It’s a PR thing.

Everything is just a PR thing. And if someone sees a video. Oh this track is cool.

Maybe I’m going to stream this track. On Spotify. What you just saw in this video.

On Instagram. And put it to my playlist. It’s everything about the PR thing.

I think it won’t stop. It’s like that. And that’s the way it is.

In the 90s we had. In techno we had. Like sunglasses.

And this. And the strange crazy costumes. And now we have mobiles.

[Darran]
If we had cameras back then. In the clubs. What would the world have seen?

Just think about that. There are some documentaries. Which would happen.

To follow up on that last note here. I was watching a video. TikTok, Instagram.

And there was a girl standing at the front of the DJ booth. Like this. And the DJ goes.

Yeah. Yes. And the girl goes.

[Jens Lissat]
Don’t come up to the front and stand in front of my stage.

[Darran]
And you could see her with the person behind her. That was texting. She’s just up there texting in front of the booth.

Not dancing. He just goes. And I was like dang.

I would have done that maybe also. Yeah. Show some respect at least.

Come on. We could talk about that theory. And labels.

And I want to get you back on the show here. And talk more about the label stuff as well. Because 60 plus labels.

That’s awesome. When you’re not doing all this music stuff. And you’re moving to Ibiza.

What are you going to do? When you’re not entertaining others. Or doing your business.

What do you like to do to entertain yourself?

[Jens Lissat]
Well I have my little dog. Who is entertaining me every day. I have my beautiful wife.

Who is entertaining me. We have. The thing is.

If you’re living on an island. Like a small Ibiza. For me it’s not about the nightlife.

Because I’m not interested in going to the clubs. I have seen for example. I have seen the Unverse club.

The new super hybrid club in Ibiza. Which is going to be. This is a big thing.

And I was there. And I said. This is a big room discotheque.

With black walls. And two big bars. And a medium sound system.

With some nice lights. Which might go off in the night. A little bit more intense.

It depends which night you’re going. If you’re going Mondays to Eric Price. To a holographic show.

Or to Thursdays to Anima. With a wall of pictures. Which you can see on YouTube.

As well. But for me. This club was not.

It doesn’t kick me. Because I know this club from the 80s. Like it was cool.

Or privileged in the mid 90s. Until it closed. It was an open air club.

With a pool inside. And everything. And now it’s like a big room club.

Anyway. And. You can see everything.

From that. For me the Ibiza life is like. Going to the nice beaches there.

You have so many nice bays. Where you can go. Nice good Spanish restaurants.

Good life. Nice weather. Mostly every day.

Maybe Florida and California as well. It’s the military life. It’s not bad here in Seattle right now.

It doesn’t always rain like people think. It’s the military life. That’s why.

I was there the first time. In 1984. It was the year when the track came out.

People for me Ibiza. People for me Ibiza. This was my first year.

Until now. When you go there. It’s a magic island.

Either you like it or you hate it.

[Darran]
The biggest question for me. I need to know. What’s your most favorite restaurant.

In Ibiza.

[Jens Lissat]
We are living in a place. Called Calla Vadea. On the south west side.

We have a very nice spot there. It’s an Italian restaurant. Directly at the beach.

Very nice. What’s the cuisine? It’s an Italian restaurant.

You have so many hot spots. Where you can go. From the small.

To the big budget.

[Darran]
I write you a list. That’s awesome. I want to know.

I don’t want to do the touristy stuff. I want to know. Hang out.

If I go there. It will be work. I want to have fun.

I commonly ask artists. When they travel around the world. When they do these gigs.

Do they get time. To take in the sights. The sounds.

The culture.

[Jens Lissat]
Maybe you see them everywhere. It’s not that big island. You can drive.

In 45 minutes. From one end to the other. You go there.

You have the three big cities. Ibiza town. Santa Eulalia.

On the other side. San Antonio. Where the UK people are.

There you have. The Pikes. The club was famous.

Because Freddie Mercury was there. And Wham did the video. From Club Topicana.

I know that video. It was pretty nice. In the hills of San Antonio.

You have a club. 528. A completely open.

Air location. With inside clubbing. At 11.

There is a living area. Down the hills. At 11.

The open air area is closing. I discovered that in February. When the club was closed.

I could drive in with my car. It held maybe 20.000 people. It’s crazy.

You have 12 areas. There is a spot. There is a spot.

Inside. I was there at a party. From the Pikes party.

I discovered the inside. I didn’t know what was inside. It’s huge.

Crazy.

[Darran]
I can’t wait to make it out there. I wish I would have. Gone around the world a lot more.

For my youth. What it is like in other cities. Other countries.

Earlier in my life. I would have moved out of the country. A long time ago.

I don’t love my United States. I won’t get into what is going on right now. That being said.

Definitely want to explore the world. More countries. More cultures.

Final couple of questions. I may have asked you this before. If Hollywood were to make a movie.

About your life. Who would you pick as the main actor? In Hollywood.

The main actor. Maybe Sean Penn. Sean Penn.

Okay. Younger Sean Penn. The younger one.

[Jens Lissat]
Older Sean Penn. The crazy one. I was always a crazy one.

Yeah. Nice.

[Darran]
Is there anything else. You want to let our DJ Sessions fans know. Before we let you go.

[Jens Lissat]
Well. What I could say is. Stay safe.

Stay healthy. That is what I want to say. One thing we can’t buy.

In our life. Is health. It is the most important thing in life.

Take care of yourself. Everybody.

[Darran]
Definitely. I am always telling people. Stay hydrated when you go out there.

Alcohol consumption. And other kinds of. Recreational fun.

Can take its toll. Over time. Have a good work life balance.

I know I wouldn’t be where I am today. If I don’t get my sleep. And have a good work life balance.

And keep myself. Healthy as well. It is just one of those things.

Don’t have to be too. Don’t have to go overboard with it too much. At least if you have some regimen.

To stay in there. One of the three. Plato, Socrates, Aristotle.

Probably Socrates. Hopefully Socrates. Philosophy majors out there.

Don’t skewer me on that one. Where is the best place people can go. To find out more information about you.

And what you got going on. Would that be your Instagram?

[Jens Lissat]
Instagram is nice. I also have a TikTok. And I also have a Facebook.

Private one. Also official. It depends what age you are.

It is the people plus 40. Instagram is from 25 to 40. I would say.

TikTok is from. From 1 to 25. 25.

[Darran]
I got your Instagram up there. It is Jens Lissat official. Every single one of them is Jens Lissat official.

Awesome. Thank you so much for coming on the show today. I really appreciate it.

We are definitely going to be following up with you. I know we are going to be following up with you. Because I am going to be coming to Ibiza next year.

But I want to stay in touch with you. And all those releases coming out. And talk with some of the artists that you have.

On those labels as well. Jens Lissat, thank you so much for coming in. It is coming in from Cologne right now.

Correct?

[Jens Lissat]
Yes, I am in Cologne right now. In the middle of Germany.

[Darran]
In the west of Germany. Near the Dutch border. I am coming in from the virtual studios in Seattle, Washington.

I am Darran. That is Jens Lissat. For the DJ Sessions.

Don’t forget to go to our website. The DJ Sessions.com. Find out all the past episodes.

We have done 2700 past episodes. Just like this one. Exclusive mixes.

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That is Jens Lissat.

[Jens Lissat]
For the DJ Sessions.

[Darran]
Remember, on the DJ Sessions, the music never stops.

[Jens Lissat]
Exactly.