Byron The Aquarius is the jazz house virtuoso making an Impact

Impact is a series dedicated to profiling raw talent that's about to turn dance music on its head. Next up: Byron The Aquarius

As a trained jazz pianist, expect to hear some wicked keys on a Byron The Aquarius record. Characterised by live instrumentation bursting with soul and melody, his music has been released on Detroit staples Sound Signature and Wild Oats. Last year, he left USA borders for the first time, touring Europe and Australia.

Born Byron Blaylock in Birmingham, Alabama and raised on records by jazz greats like Herbie Hancock and Chick Corea, he was taught piano from an early age by an old band mate of Duke Ellington. He went on to study jazz at college in Jacksonville before dropping a collaborative EP with French beats producer Onra in 2007 which lead to work with one of the LA scene’s biggest names: Flying Lotus. That was followed by a move to Detroit to make mainstream rap with D12 producer Denaun Porter before Blaylock discovered house music in the less-traditional setting of Atlanta.

It's been a nomadic journey both physically and musically, and for a lot of artists, that kind of musical growth spans a lifetime. For Blaylock, it all happened before he turned 28.

While he still produces plenty of music inspired by the low swung hip hop beats of his hero J Dilla, it was in Atlanta where he met Kai Alce who introduced him to the sounds of Detroit and Chicago. Having played keys on the NDATL Musik boss' records, it was the natural progression for him to try his hand at the genre himself. His first album ‘Planets Of Love’ on BBE was a mixture of jungle, house with a smattering of footwork for good measure. That was followed by the 'High Life' EP on Sound Signature and then releases on Wild Oats and French label Sampling As An Art.

With 2017 shaping up for more of the same, we caught up with the talented multi-instrumentalist to talk about not staying tied to one genre, hanging with the Detroit crews and heading overseas for the first time.

Exclusive interview and mix below.

I read that you moved around a bit and didn’t get into house music until moving to Atlanta and working with Kai Alce.

Correct. The first training I got [in Alabama] was from Doc Adams from Birmingham, Alabama and he played for Sun Ra and he also played with Duke Ellington. He passed last year. Then I went to Jacksonville State University where I was doing jazz training. But when I was going to that campus I was going to Atlanta and I met Kai Alce. I used to just go to his parties and party all the time with my friends. So, basically after that influence of just partying, one time he saw me and I had my laptop and my equipment and stuff ‘cos I like to go to different clubs and just create music, just give me a different type of energy. So when I went there and I was doing it he was curious. You gotta think, I had this laptop, I’m standing out. So he kinda walked up and he was like, “Yo, come by.” So we ended up kicking it.

So, what was your first taste of house music?

He had me in the studio with him so I was playing on top of his tracks and then he’s playing Omar S, Theo Parrish to Mike Huckaby. He was kind of giving me an introduction to Detroit house and stuff and the more I started playing keys on top of his production and listening to different inspiration from those guys, then I started doing it on my own and creating and adding the hip hop feeling, the jazz feeling on top of house to give it a whole different feel.

The Sound Signature EP was released a year ago and was described as your “comeback” release – what impact has it had on your career?

Man, I’d say it made a huge impact on my career based on the connection starting in Atlanta. Kai set that up for me. It kinda put me out to more people out there to kinda recognise my talent, which already you can see it in history I been doing it, but I can say it put me more in the audience where people really paid attention and kinda paid more respect for my live musicianship.

Do you feel an affinity with Detroit dance music thanks to releases on Signature Sounds and Wild Oats?

Yes, I do feel a connection as far as that and not only just as a release. I’m super cool with Kyle Hall, we hang out. Mostly the Detroit cats, even when they come to the festivals and stuff, they give me respect. Like Marcellus Pittman, Kyle Hall and Theo so, yeah, I do feel like that because, like I say, it feels like they gave me a key with their respect because of my music so I think the music speaks for itself.

You’ve been around strong musical role models all your life. Do you think mentorship is important when it comes to making it in the music industry?

Yes, because sometimes, especially when you’re making music or even if you're playing an instrument or just programming tracks in Ableton, they got you in the right pattern. Not only that, you learning from their mistakes and you learning from what they been through. So it’s kind of giving a full overview to make you a better producer or a better whatever.

If it wasn’t for Doc Adams that played with Sun Ra and Duke [Ellington], for how he was teaching me and teaching me scales and chords, I wouldn’t know how to apply [that] to arranging the music, and the same with Kai. If he hadn’t showed me dealing with the house, as far as the house programming and how house music is supposed to sound and just given me the samples. It’s like a bird: you a baby at first, you in the nest. But it gives you a point where you can fly by yourself.

With a background in jazz piano, do you have a more band-orientated project lined-up?

I do have that planned and hopefully if I do something live it’ll probably be with Funkineven, probably Apron Records or with Kyle Hall on Wild Oats ‘cos I kinda like Wild Oats because he gives me full freedom as far as dealing with the creativity.

What other artists are inspiring you when it comes to jazz-influenced house music?

Oh, Yussef Kamaal, Henry Wu. From the first time when I saw them play and when I heard their full project, that Yussef Kamaal really just opened my mind. That’s one of my main inspirations. I still bump that in the car.

You posted to Facebook just before the New Year: “Music is about feeling and expression, wish some cats can understand that when they create music….” What was this in response to?

It’s kinda just showing that when you make music it should just be about house music or whatever. It should be about feeling. Like, when I create music it’s like a situation that I went through or even going somewhere, looking at the ocean, anything. It could be an argument. I think that feeling is what makes music sound good [rather] than trying to do it from a perspective that's thinking about money. Because when you doing it just to do it, it’s like, I know a lot of people who are doing it for a trend. It’s kinda like, “This is hot, this is why I’m gonna do it” but when you just do it from feeling then I think more things impact in life

You’re an incredible jazz pianist by trade, when did you start learning to DJ?

I will always say about two years or a year-and-a-half ago ‘cos I started as a musician, then producing. But when I was in Atlanta and floating around I was kicking it watching DJs all the time so I think nowadays it’s really about good taste in music and I think I already kind of had the ears for a good taste of music. It’s kind of just coordinating it and putting it together. Kind of like art, that’s how I look at it. When a person is playing I think it’s like a painting: you’re trying to make the listener go through a journey and take them through a journey of the person [who] painted it on a canvas.

How was your first overseas tour last year?

Oh man, it was a great experience and not only that, but the point that I’d never went overseas before. So it was a huge impact. I made a sacrifice too at the same time because I was dealing with the police force and then I end up leaving that to do the music so in a way it was worth it, it was a sacrifice but it was worth it. I felt like overseas, the Europeans, people kind of appreciate the music a bit more. There’s more of an appreciation and loving it and partying and having fun.

Tell us about your impact mix

I played stuff that gives me inspiration. Tracks and music that I like and music that kind of gets my day moving forward or music that I ride in the car to. I started from playing house music, deep house and also playing some fusion records, some jazz-fusion records and Gil Scott Heron. I started with an atmosphere type of sound and the stuff that I listen to. I was more trying to take the person on a journey.

Louis Anderson-Rich is Mixmag's Digital Intern. Follow him on Twitter