Erik Jong aka RX-101 is a Dutch producer who made some amazing tracks in late ’90s. Thankfully, work of this gear enthusiast is finally released which was the reason for asking him a couple of question and his interesting answers you can find below. Enjoy!
Hi Erik, would you like to introduce yourself to our audience?
My name is Erik Jong. I’m 40 years old and I live in a village in the Northwest of The Netherlands.
When were you starting to get interested in electronic music and decided to make your own?
As a child I was fascinated by synthesizers. In 1982 a dutch synthesizer band called Nova had a top 40 hit with their single Aurora and I was blown away when I saw them on television with all those synths. I was about 6 years old then. Back then we used to have an electronic organ at home I’ve also had electronic organ lessons for about five years. In the 80’s my brother and I were always listening to dance music from that period and in the late 80’s I started to listen to House and Techno music more and more, so with my musical background it was quite logical to make my own music. I bought my first synth in 1992 and it took me about 4 years to build a small studio.
Tell us something about your music? How would you describe your sound and what influenced on it the most?
Techno eventually became my favorite music and I listened a lot to music from labels like Underground Resistance, Plus 8, Transmat and also to English labels like Rephlex and Warp. For example the Artificial Intelligence series on Warp was a great source of inspiration, but of course Aphex Twin and his Rephlex label was pherhaps an even greater source of inspiration. All this music has influenced me in making my own music and I made music in many different styles. When you listen to my tapes you can hear this too: first an ambient track, thereafter an acid track, then a more IDM style track and then some techno stuff… It varies a lot 🙂
We recently discovered “EP 1” and you are about to release “EP 2” and the album “Like Yesterday”. Could you tell us something more about these releases?
These releases are all selections from my archive. All music is made between 1997 and 1999 and it wasn’t made with the intention to release it. In 2015 I came in contact with Suction and they compiled several EP’s from this archive. More releases will follow next year. 
This is music you made in the period between 1997 and 1999 so what made you decide that now it the time for releasing?
All tracks were recorded on cassette and in the end I stored these cassettes in a box. About three years ago I found this box in my attic and I thought that it would be a good idea to save my tracks on my computer. After a while uploaded about 15 tracks on Soundcloud, just for fun. A year later I started to upload more stuff and I placed a link to my Soundcloud page on a couple of websites. Not long after, I got a massage from Jason (Suction records) and so we came in contact.
Tell us something about the equipment you used and what do you own today?
I used some classic boxes from Roland like a 101, 303, 707 and 808. Furthermore a Juno-106, which was actually my first synth, a Yamaha FM synth and an Akai sampler. Together with an Atari computer, a mixer and FX unit that was basically it. I still have most of this stuff supplemented with more, mainly analog, gear.
Have you been making music since late 90s? And if so are you planning to release it?
Actually not so much. Last year I made some tracks after a pause of 15 years. The fact that my music will be released inspires me a lot to make music again.
What is your goal in making music and what do you consider a good track must have?
I never had a specific goal with my music to be honest. Back in the days I found it a bit too much hassle to sent demos to a records labels for example. I just liked to make music and I was a little bit lazy I guess…
What are your upcoming plans or projects for the near future?
My focus now is mainly on the future releases on Suction. A lot o stuff will be released and like I said before, I also want to make music again, but very concrete plans are not there yet, we’ll see.
You must be logged in to post a comment.