Jimi Polar (Tech House Producer/DJ)


Jimipolar has been involved in the production of tech house and electronic music for almost a decade, setting up a studio in Byron Bay to produce music in collaboration with friends and DJ’s as they travelled through the vibrant village. It was here that H-Foundation DJ’s Hipp-e and Halo discovered the Junkbeats collective headed by Dave Basek (now also represented by Sydney tech house DJ Phil Smart). It was with the Junkbeats crew that Jimi decided to get his productions flowing.

“Having good keyboard skills has always been handy”. Many of Jimi’s friends made beats, but got a little lost on the melodic and harmonic interpretations. Surrounded by all manner of keyboards lying around the house, he used a lot of old vintage gear to make tracks, Moogs, Arp synths, lots of Roland keyboards too. “I got right into tape echos, all manner of delays, phasers, ring modulators, filters. We were lucky to be surrounded by so many great musicians also.”

The Junkbeats collective has had a string of releases, the latest to come out on French label, Chocoflash.. Ripple Effect featuring the vocal thoughts and blessings of Shan Sol R System. With the H-Foundation album drawing remixes from SWAG, Fred Everything and King Britt. The next step was to collaborate with these writers. Fred Everything launched his own label Lazy Days with a Junkbeats collaboration featuring the vocals of Vanessa Baker. This drew a remix from talented Danish electro producer Anders Trentemoller, who was about to find his stride globally.

Jimipolar relocated to Sydney earlier this year, keeping up productions throughout the year with more than one trip to the US to collaborate on a series for NRK Sound Division with DJ Hipp-e, seeing his first international release as a remix artist on one of the featured 12 inches. Also notching up production credits for Tango and Detour.

Now focused on his solo productions, 2006 has seen Jimi sign to Sydey label Future Classic, with his debut 12 inch “Monster Park” dropping this September with a remix from German producer Robert Babicz. Jimi Polar has also been taking up his fair share of remix work for his new label mates, having already turned his hand to the works of Melbourne’s T-Rek and Sydney’s Kidzen with a Jamie Lloyd collaboration coming soon.

His mixes are a collection of some of his favourite electronic producers and are a good indication of his inspirations and aspirations. Brimming with well controlled deep and minimal electronica, Jimi Polar can frequently be seen performing in clubs and bars around Sydney.

“My favourite records are amongst the tunes I play in my sets, just about worn thru. Records that have something unique about their conception. For me a great record carries with it memories of all the previous events, the people that moved the floor. Every time I play it, I get to know it better, taking a few more snapshots to go with it. A little like the face of a friend that grows with you. They may be aging well, only slightly fatiguing. Easily recognisable, even from a distance . . . “ – Jimi Polar