Interviews

We had the pleasure of catching up with French producer JILO to discuss his stunning new Mirage's Colours EP, out now on NuNorthern Soul. The release follows his fantastic debut on the Dream Chimney label and showcases the evolution of his sun-drenched, Balearic sound. We dive into the central ideas behind the project, his background in computer music, and what's next for this rising talent.

Hey JILO, it's great to reconnect. Feels like just the other day we were releasing your debut EP on Dream Chimney, and it's great to see your journey continue. We're huge fans of the new tracks. Congrats on the stunning Mirage's Colours EP!

Hey Ryan, thanks a lot — it's always a pleasure to connect!

Dream Chimney holds a very special place in my heart.

You were the first to release my debut EP, and I've been a big fan ever since, a true aficionado of Dream Chimney releases, radio, and website. It still feels like a lighthouse to me, for the ears and beyond.

What was the central idea or vision behind the new Mirage's Colours EP, and how did you land on the title?

From the beginning, I wanted a title that could spark a strong imaginary world.

The vision was to offer a kind of sonic wandering - a dreamlike, narrative experience, like a series of musical tableaux that work almost like tarot cards, where each listener can get lost and find their own meaning.

I wanted to craft a narrative journey that takes you by the hand but lets your imagination run wild in the spaces between.

The title Mirage’s Colours came out.

It evokes, to me, a kind of desert dreamworld — something magical, warm, surreal, maybe even slightly psychedelic. A mirage can be beautiful, sometimes deceptive, always hypnotic… and in my mind, a mirage also dances.

So why not dance with it?

How did you connect with NuNorthern Soul, and what made the label feel like the right home for this collection of tracks?

Once the EP was finished, I shared it with a few of my musical heroes, - guides, really - just to get their thoughts, some feedback, and maybe a sense of where it could find a home.

That’s how I ended up connecting with the great Coyotes, who were incredibly kind and immediately introduced me to Phil Cooper, the head of NuNorthern Soul. Huge thanks to them — it meant a lot.

As an emerging artist, it’s not always easy to get heard.

I’ve admired Phil’s work and the NuNorthern Soul catalog for years. Within my collective, La Rennes des Voyous, we’ve been passing NuNorthern records around like little treasures. So many artists I look up to have released music there: Ryo Kawasaki, Lova, Gold Suite, My Friend Dario… the list goes on.

Being invited to join that roster felt like stepping into a community — a gang of Balearic dreamers.

The house that Phil built is welcoming, beautiful and I love the warm vibe.

How would you say your sound or production process has evolved in the time leading up to Mirage’s Colours?

With this second EP, I really wanted to sharpen my aesthetic while staying curious. I've gotten better at recognizing which colors and rhythms truly resonate with me, which has allowed me to polish and refine those elements more intentionally.

Even when you start to gain some mastery over your tools, I think it’s essential to keep learning.

I love discovering new approaches, digging into techniques - I see myself as a perpetual apprentice.

Mirage’s Colours is a reflection of that: a deeper exploration of what defines my sound, blended with new techniques and experiments.

Tell us more about your background — you hold a PhD in computer music. How does that highly technical knowledge of sound engineering and synthesis influence your more -Balearic” side?

Yes, I was lucky to work in that field for about four years, and it was incredibly formative.

It taught me the spirit of research, where you often don't know if an experiment will succeed. You have to persist, believe in a concept, and dig deep.

It also shaped the way I think about musical form, texture, and structure.

In simple terms, my PhD focused on analyzing melodic patterns and explaining them through mathematical models. The research team I worked with developed a theory that could visualize segments of music as geometric forms, and map the relationships between small motifs. It was genuinely fascinating.

Even if I don’t directly use those tools now, I know they left an imprint. That experience gave me a kind of structural instinct - a way of thinking about composition that probably lingers somewhere in the background.

I like to believe that everything we go through lives on in what we create - even unconsciously.

'Aurora’ is such a gorgeous, slow-burn closer, ending with ambient textures and field recordings. Can you tell us more about how you use those recordings in your work? Are you often capturing sounds around you?

I'm one of those who almost never walks around with headphones - I'd rather listen to the music that's already happening around me.

The ambient soundscape of any place has its own beauty.

I wouldn't say I'm obsessively recording my environment, but when I'm in a creative phase, I do collect sounds – usually just simple recordings on my phone. It's more about capturing a feeling than achieving perfect fidelity.

Field recordings add this organic texture that sits outside your usual instrumental palette. They create spatial depth, expand the listener's sense of space.

With Aurora, I really wanted to explore that — to see how environmental sounds and ambient textures could coexist and create something immersive.

I'm really happy with how it landed.

How do your different roles — DJ, producer, listener — feed into each other? Does DJing shape how you build tracks?

Honestly, I spend more time in the studio composing than I do DJing.

I love DJing, but with a full-time job, I’ve had to make choices about how I split my time. Still, the two roles absolutely influence each other.

I’m constantly discovering new music, and I mentally sort it into two categories: one is for what I’d call “listening music,” and the other is more dancefloor-oriented stuff that I collect for DJ sets. Of course, some tracks sneak into both boxes - and that’s often where the magic happens.

I'd love to create DJ spaces that allow for more of that "listening" side – slower, more immersive sessions. That's something we're exploring with La Rennes des Voyous.

As for my productions, I rarely write with the club in mind – most tracks start as music for the mind… but sometimes the groove sneaks in, and the track becomes something else. Oopsie.

At some point, I’d love to merge those worlds — maybe through a live set. Something that allows for both introspection and movement.

What have you been listening to lately? Are there any new tracks or albums you’ve really connected with?

Ramzi — An artist I truly admire. Her latest album is a Balearic dub gem, full of floating textures and dreamy grooves. You always wish the tracks would last longer — it's a little heartbreaking when they end.

Gaussian Curve — I can’t say enough how much I love this trio. They recently released two tracks from a live session, and “Winter Sun” is just stunning. These tracks are radiant slow-burners: breezy guitar lines, warm Rhodes, softened drum machines — everything melts like sunlight on waves.

Richard Sen – India Man — A brilliant and eclectic album. The record draws from Sen’s rich heritage and decades of dance music experience, spanning cosmic disco, proto-house, and cinematic funk — each track a sonic postcard from India’s past, reimagined for the club.

“A Lo Hecho, Pecho” by Los Tres Moretones — that's Max Essa and his brothers — is an instant favorite. So playful and irresistible.

Erika de Casier's latest album has everyone in agreement that it's brilliant. I caught her live earlier this year — incredible presence and control, it completely blew me away.

“Patron Saint Of Elsewhere” by Sewell & The Gong — a gorgeous album. I may have discovered it through Dream Chimney, actually — thank you for that!

Domenique Dumont – Deux Paradis (Antinote) — I was already a big fan, but this blend of dub and Balearic house hit me right in the feels.

The Kyoto Connection – Four Seasons in Kyoto — I often listen to it during quiet moments. There’s a meditative, cinematic purity to it I find deeply moving.

What’s next for JILO? Any exciting gigs, new projects or sonic territories ahead?

I’m always working on new material — sketching moods, layering sounds, exploring ideas.

Lately I’ve felt more and more drawn toward ambient territories… we’ll see where that goes.

There's also a radio show brewing on Radio DY10 – mixing musical discovery with conversation and sonic exploration.

We’ll keep nurturing our Balearic Ballroom events in Rennes (at Penny Lane) — and who knows, maybe bring the vibe elsewhere too.

But the big one: next year marks the 10th anniversary of La Rennes des Voyous. We're already plotting something joyful and beautiful to celebrate this amazing journey together. It's going to be special.

Thanks so much for your time, JILO. It’s a truly beautiful record, and we wish you all the best with it.

Thanks so much — it’s always a joy to connect with you!

Check out the latest release from JILO.