Juan Ton “Kingpin”

Riding behind his club-stomping “Karaoke” collab with Sleepy Tom on Fool’s Gold, Juan Ton is about to kick down his latest single next week. Coming directly at you from Finnish imprint My Techno Weighs a Ton, the Canadian producer tips his hat to the French electro scene by offering up this ear-zapping romper. Almost straight out of the gate, Ton brings forth a hunk of bolting basslines and supercharged synths that are delivered with a shock-and-awe plan of attack. It’s lethal. As long as he keeps pumping out bad boys like this one, Juan Ton is poised to be one of the heavyweights. Just you watch.

Available February 19 via My Techno Weighs a Ton.

Were you impulsive on this track, or did you have a sketch in mind before you started?
I’m impulsive on every song I’ve ever made. I usually start out with a chord progression or a rhythm, and I’ll make synths around that. Then I mess around with the track, creating about 10 different versions until I don’t hate it and I’m ready to mix it down. Usually the creative process starts when I hear a song that inspires me to sit down and work on music. This one in particular was a Cause & Affect track, and you can hear a bit of the influence on the bass.

Describe the best setting/activity to hear this track.
“Kingpin” fits right in between being a song you could hear in a bright, bottle service place and a darker underground club. I wanted it to be a bit ahead of the casual dance music listener but not be too forward that it seems pretentious. No other intention from the beginning of writing this one to be a high-energy, club-oriented track.

Who is the ideal person to remix this track, and why?
There actually is a remix coming from a producer by the name of Heartbeat(s), part of a really good Canadian label, ASL Singles Club. I wanted to have a remix that was more “underground” then the original track, and he killed it. I love when you can hear the sounds of both the original and the remixer, and I think that resonates perfectly in his.

How does this production reflect your personality/ethos?
I think every piece of music reflects some sort of past experience or characteristic of the writer. Every song I’ve made is pretty sporadic, and that definitely is parallel with my personal decision-making and tastes. I like to draw off of all music that I enjoy. The moving bassline is based off UK garage/house, while everything on the higher end is inspired by French electro.

Have you played this one out in any of your sets? If so, what was the response?
I haven’t yet, and I don’t actually play that much of my own music. I get really excited about “digging” (sitting on my laptop in my underwear, browsing SoundCloud and Juno). I spend so long finding new songs that people won’t be playing yet, that I overlook my own work. I’m playing a bit in March and April, so maybe I’ll find a time to throw it in.

Head over to the MTWAT online store to score a free download of “Kingpin” before the release date.

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