Solid Connections: A Quick Chat With Jaunt

With their roots in the north of England, Jaunt are a party crew who have confidently spread their wings to further corners of the world making themselves known in Newcastle, London and Ibiza for their intimate party spirit. It's kind of like a family thing with 7 members at its core all operating on the same level of passion and maintaining their ethos across all their enterprises and, after throwing parties for 7 years now, they're just getting ready to launch their imprint, also called Jaunt. We learn about this new venture and more in greater detail in our interview with Chris Blackhall, one part of Blackhall & Bookless who will be DJing B2B at their next Room Three takeover on the 8th February. So read on to get the story of what Jaunt is all about and what we can look forward to from the party crew in the coming months. So, let's talk about Jaunt, where when and why did you decide to start it up? Jaunt was set up in Newcastle in November 2007. Our first ever party was in a small 150 capacity venue called the Red Rooms. We were all around 21 years old at the time and were regular attenders of a number of other club nights in Newcastle. These parties educated us nicely but after going out more regularly we found we were getting into more underground artists the other nights weren’t going to book, so we decided we would just do it ourselves. A few of us had been DJing in and around Newcastle for a few years as well so this provided a good platform for us to play alongside and warm up for all these other artists we were into. In the beginning it was started as more of a hobby, I don’t think any of us thought that the brand would grow how it has. Who makes up your core crew can you tell us a bit about what they do? The core crew is made up of 7 people. Myself, Chris Bookless, Richard Rowell, Tom Rankin, Michael Thomson, Liam Vance and Guy Blackhall. Myself & Bookless, Richard, Liam, Guy and Tom are all residents. Me and Richard do most of the behind the scenes planning, booking, email and admin work. Bookless also helps with the planning and creative direction of the brand and does all the design work.The other lads do most of the promotion work for the Newcastle events. How would you sum up the party’s ethos and how do you ensure the vibe is maintained across all the venues you host at? We try to keep things fresh without following trends or booking the biggest artists or the artists who will get the most number of people through the door. For the first 4 years of running events in Newcastle we only ever invited artists to play who had never played in the city before. Over the years we have used a number of different venues from 1400 capacity clubs to 100 capacity secret loft and unit spaces. We never run an event which we aren’t 100% feeling and if something doesn’t feel right then we don’t do it. We also have core crew of friends that have really supported us over the years so we really do have our own vibe and atmosphere. You are part of Blackhall and Bookless – can you tell us a bit about that project? Myself and Chris Bookless have been best mates since middle school and were bedroom DJs since we were 16. We grew up together and started playing in clubs in Newcastle from when we were around 18 then started Jaunt a few years later. We always DJ back to back, one tune each and club depending we use a Q2 dual DJ headphone box in our sets. We don’t hunt for music together but our styles are pretty much identical and the sets flow really nicely, probably a lot more than other B2B sets but as we find our own tracks we rarely know what tune the next person has played until it is coming out of the speakers. Nothing is planned and is all off the cuff. We also produce together and have had previous releases on Ryan O’Gorman’s VItalik label and DJ W!ld’s Catwash label. In the near future we have EPs ready to land on Tough Luck records with a remix by Ed Davenport, and our own imprint Jaunt Records which is due to launch in March, where we have two EPs lined up on with some heavy remixes. And hear you’re also starting a label up too - can you tell us a bit about it? Yeah Jaunt Records is due to launch in March. It's going to be a side project away from the parties, and will be run by Myself, Bookless and Richard Rowell. It has been our goal to launch the record label for a few years but didn’t want to rush into anything, and we feel the time is right now. It was the next step really. Over the years we have made a number of solid connections and really found the sound we want to release. We are really excited about this project as it’s a creative outlet away from promoting. The label will be available on both vinyl and digital, with some vinyl only releases along the way. A lot of work has gone into the project so far and we can’t wait to get it out there. We have some really nice names on board as well. The first EP is going to consist of 2 originals from me and Bookless, alongside remixes from Virginia (Ostgut Ton) and Fred P. The 2nd and 3rd EPs are also confirmed but we will keep those quiet for now!