Exron Exclusive Interview: Jason Ross

Exron Music had the pleasure of speaking with Jason Ross about his new album and tour, Atlas, at Moonrise Festival 2022.

Exron Music had the incredible opportunity to catch up with Jason Ross at Moonrise Festival just one day after he released his sophomore album ‘ATLAS‘. The album was released on Seven Lions label Ophelia records on August 5, 2022. Shortly after speaking with Jason, he got to play some of ATLAS to a packed crowd at Moonrise on the Stellar Stage.

Jason is set to start the ATLAS tour at the end of August and continue into December with support from talented producers like Ray Volpe, Alpha 9, AU5, Ace Aura, Last Heros, and many more. He will be stopping at some of the biggest venues in the United States like Hollywood Palladium, Ogden Theater, and San Jose Civic.

Jason was humble about his hard work and dedication to his music. He spoke about the vision behind his project and what it means to him. It’s apparent he truly cares about his fans, doing everything in his power to keep them happy while remaining true to himself. 

Exron: How does it feel to be performing right after you just released your new album?

Jason Ross: It feels good it feels really good. It’s nice to play this new music out for fans. For the longest time I’ve just been hearing it in the studio by myself, so to finally release the album but also play the album the way its meant to be played and listened to feels good.

Exron: We saw that you named the album ATLAS because of the interconnectedness of the music, but what does that mean to you?

Jason Ross: It means this idea of building this community during the pandemic through live streams. We built this community of fans and they became the ATLAS fam, and then this idea I had going into the album was wanting to have a concept around the home. So, a lot of the songs on the album talk about this home–not a specific place but more so this feeling, like a relationship. When I thought about the title of the album, it just made sense to call this ATLAS because for a lot of people, including myself, ATLAS was home. I think that’s just what made it come to be.

Exron: Where are you looking forward to playing on the ATLAS tour? Is there somewhere you haven’t played that you are excited for?

Jason Ross: On the east coast we haven’t announced a lot of spots yet just because of radius clauses, but New York definitely going there, Chicago, but the Palladium in LA is a really big one and that will be the biggest show I’ve headlined so really excited about that. We had an album release party yesterday in LA, there was definitely a lot of hype building for that show in particular but I think just for the music it’s really exciting right now. 

Exron: There are a lot of artists featured on ATLAS, why do you think it is important to collaborate with artists when you’re working on a new album?

Jason Ross: Collaborations are important to me. I’ve just always been so keen on collaborations because I feel like if you do it right you can get the best out of the artists. Whether it’s a collab with Mitis or Grant, I always try to do my best on every song I make. I think that leads to working with other artists. Maybe they see that I’m working hard, putting my all into it, and then they are inclined to do that as well. I think vocalists bring so much to the table, and they are kind of like the unsung heroes in the way of without them, it wouldn’t be what it is.

Exron: Do you think collaborations help you blend different genres into one?

Jason Ross: Totally, I mean with Gryffin we got more of that pop-focused sound because that’s just where he comes from. With Mitis, the pianos and the melodies, and even with Blanke on “One More Day” I got to experiment more with dubstep or that harder-hitting bass music. So, yeah it’s really cool with the fusions of genres. I’m working on a hardstyle song now so I learn a lot from that. I always like to evolve and take inspiration from artists’ music and it’s a really cool way to evolve by working with other people in other genres that I’m not accustomed to.”

Exron: What are some of your tricks for staying creative and finding inspiration, especially when you’re on tour?

Jason Ross: I always try to find time to just be by myself with my thoughts. Whether its in my studio or listening to a playlist on Spotify that I’ve made personally for myself filled with songs that inspire me. It doesn’t even have to be EDM or dance music, it could be anything, like Coldplay. If someone releases a new album I’ll dig into it and pick apart things that I like. It’s kind of like this boiling pot of inspiration that I take in and put into my own mixing. I think I love this thing and I’m inspired by new music and old music. With touring I get inspired by my own shows and just seeing what songs work with fans. And I’m always learning while I’m playing songs in different cities, seeing how one song does really well here but didn’t do so well over there, and why is that? I’m always analyzing.

Exron: Trying to play to your crowd and find what they like?

Jason Ross: For sure, they are my core. I come from trance and I’ve evolved into doing more bass music and I think the fans have stuck with me. And so the fact that they are open-minded shows me that I can try new things and they will be open to it.

Exron: Do you have any plans for the rest of 2022? Maybe a remix album for ATLAS?

Jason Ross: Yeah definitely working on a remix album right now with some artists that I like some bass, hardstyle, and trance. The biggest thing is just the ATLAS tour. We’ve got 30 cities and announcing more in the next few weeks. I’m just excited to get on the road and starting playing all this new music for my fans.