From spinning Britpop records on Portuguese radio at 16 to engineering sound at Berlin’s Blackhead Studios, João Silva, known globally as Jepe, has built a career that defies shortcuts and embraces evolution. As one half of the celebrated duo Johnwaynes and now a formidable solo artist with releases on Diynamic, Moodmusic, and Disco Halaal, Jepe’s story is one of patience, persistence, and unwavering creative integrity.
In this conversation, Jepe opens up about his formative years in Portugal’s golden era of club culture, the decade-long journey from bedroom producer to professional sound engineer, and his philosophy on collaboration through his label Eastern Standard. With fresh releases like “Universo Parallelo” featuring Gianet and the upcoming “Elise” with Bar.ba, both on Disco Halaal, Jepe reflects on finding his sonic fingerprint, the risks of AI in music production, and why true artistry can’t be rushed.
Read our interview with this fantastic producer who believes that resilience, mental strength, and a little bit of luck are the real keys to longevity in electronic music.
1. You had your first radio show at 16 and were playing at major clubs by 19 in Aveiro. What drew you to electronic music initially, and do you remember the moment you knew this was going to be your path?
As most of the people of my age and at that time in Portugal we grew mostly with Rock and Pop and American music influences. Not only from Radio but from family and friends. I am a radio passionate and my first show was mostly uk Influenced pop. “ brit Pop and Manchester sound from Happy Mondays, to Stone Roses, and the early days of Chemical Brothers or Goldie . Also Trip Hop started to appear with Portishead and Massive Attack or UNKLe. SO electronic came gradually all influenced by those bands and not specifically straight to House or techno. This came later already on club environment. Curiously Kraftwerk for example was discovered on a later stage of digging backwards to 80s electronica. The seed for my love for music was there but only after 10 years or more after finishing university and start to work 9-5 I considered living from music.
2. Growing up in a coastal town near Porto, how did that environment shape your early relationship with music and rhythm?
Around 1992 and 1993 there was a lot happening in Portugal. Uk “raves” were imported and there were raves taking over normal clubs that usually we playing some house disco or pop rock. In a small country like Portugal was usual to travel from North to South just to go to a party. Friends, youth, the willingness to discover and experience different things. Portugal was the heaven of club culture.mostly due to 2 or 3 promoters. Were magical years of discovery.
3. Your sound is often described as balancing analog warmth with digital precision. Can you walk us through your production setup and philosophy? Are you more hardware or software-driven these days?
Being a producer for me came on a later stage after being almost professional DJ. Hardware was a bit too much for me so software was for me the first and direct go through. Things escalated for me productionwise very fast. I was invited to do a remix. And i had almost no idea how to do it . I discovered Antonio and Joao randomly on a showcase.( which whom the Project Johnwaynes started) . Both are experienced musicians and producers and I learned a lot with them about hardware and production. Johnwaynes followed up during 8 years successfully until I moved to Berlin and started alone as Jepe. Took me years to have my comfort zone between hardware, software and sound engineering. I was obsessed with German producers’ cleanliness of sound and I invested years learning how to do it and somehow appeared my sound and fingerprint soundwise.
4. As a mix engineer at Blackhead Studios in Berlin, you’re working on both your own music and other artists’ projects. How does wearing that technical hat influence your approach to your own productions?
We learn everyday. I also share a lot of knowledge. I don’t agree that knowledge should be a secret. I learned a lot about Mixing with Klas (Sasse) from sharing ideas and opinions and techniques. As people may understand form my music i do a wide range of music exactly because sometimes i just like to try some new technique or mix a newsynth with a new groovebox. Most of artists that approach me to mix their tracks is because they like my sound.Bit i need to understand how they also do it to try to adapt to their own sound. So each track is a learning process. There is a lot of talent and creative people out there where we learn everytime with each other.
5. “Universo Parallelo” with Gianet dropped in September on Disco Halaal. A track that blurs the line between dancefloor and dreamworld. How did this collaboration come about, and what was it like integrating Gianet’s haunting vocals into your production?
Gianet is a natural talent. Not only as a vocalist but as a artist in general. She is passionate and rebel and has no rules or follows a trend or sound. This resembles a bit with my approach to electronic music. The track started simply with the arpeggio sound over and over until piano appears. I was not sure if the track could go further apart from being a nice tool. I was having a chat with Gia and told her I may have something for her. And she simply understood the whole track and did that magic. Moscoman was the right person to see the deepness of the track.
6. You have “Elise” coming out soon with Bar.ba, also on Disco Halaal. How did you and Bar.ba connect for this collaboration?
This is another example of how Moodmusic creative hub fromStudio to the labels can bring people together. Bar.ba released on Moodmusic and i am a fan of his music. We spoke about trying something together. And we worked on 3 tracks same time. Elise was the first one to be finished and i show it to Moscoman who signed it:) . In the meantime 2 others are finished too.
7. As founder of Eastern Standard, what’s your vision for the label? What kind of sound or artist are you looking to champion, and how do you balance being both artist and curator?
Eastern Standard is under Moodmusic hub with a more edgy risky approach. Its a shame that we see a lot of big names playing someone else music demos on big stages and only a few can thrive and be “ seen”. Its the way market and business works.
With Klas came the idea of open a sub label with the willingness to expose people’s creativity. We dont expect hits or trends neither i use the label to promote myself or my music. We are keen for artistic freedom. Thats why we have different ranges of music on the label. We want to create more a legacy musically than be a top trend seller.
8. You’ve lived and worked between Portugal and Berlin, two very different electronic music ecosystems. How do those scenes influence each other in your work, and what does each place bring to your creative process?
I moved to Berlin 13 years ago and recently was 3 months in Portugal. I am not sure if Portugal electronic music ecosystem at the moment can influence me. Rather the weather, the sea and the nature can push me to do something different. I am very influenced by the environment that surrounds me. In the past and before Berlin Johnwanes were influenced by the music and producers we admired but as a duo where a jazz / contemporary musician exists, things flow with a own perspective of a project. Back to Berlin i was more influenced by the club atmosphere, the sensations, the experiment and drive through the unknown. All this shaped the Jepe sound till today. Time and life creates your Inner self.
9. AI is increasingly present in music production and even DJ culture. What’s your perspective on these tools, are they something you experiment with, or do you see them as a threat to the craft?
This is a recurrent discussion topic. And is till dont have a clear answer. I am sure i cannot deny it or refuse it. But i am afraid that generally instead of push boundaries or creativity it may takes us to laziness and copy instead of promoting experiment. People want success and want it fast. It’s part of the human culture unfortunately to go short ways. This may bring a state of uniformizing and copy old successful formulas that took years to be slowly crafted. I recently tried “Splice” and i see how easy is to do a track. If from one side is good to try something different I ended up doing not exciting tracks. Because the formula is to use known tools and loops and recreate. Its the old formula of sampling and copy paste. I know some people that can be extremely creative with it. More moderAI tools do literally all to you. Which artistically wise can be very weird to understand. Definitely AI is here to stay and we all need to adapt. I am afraid that full brain creative process and natural art, perception and errors that are inside each artist could be lost and we end on a uniformization or standardization.
10. For upcoming producers and DJs trying to break through today, what advice would you give based on your journey from Aveiro radio to Berlin studios? What matters more – technical skill, networking, or finding your unique voice?
Work, resilience, mental strength and willingness to create something solid without short cuts. Things take time and sometimes are extremely frustrating . Most of the respected successful artists over the last 20 year have their own path but i am sure none had short cuts or paid to be there as there are so many examples nowadays.
Art and business are different. Every 3 or 4 years is someone new and hyped on the business that fades out after some years because they are a product of business. We see the circle come and go in waves. But if you stay true and work hard you are recognised for that.And after all this work just need a little luck to help.