Jonas Rathsman has dropped tracks on labels such as Mobilee, Bedrock and Crosstown Rebels.

Jonas Rathsman is an influential figure in the world of melodic house and techno who has dropped many releases on influential record labels.

Also a talented DJ, he is a popular headline booking who has played at festivals and nightclubs across Europe and other parts of the world.

Most recently, Jonas Rathsman dropped a new release on his own label ELEMENTS, and it’s an impressive single with a rolling bassline and enthralling melody.

Excited to learn more about his new release, plus some of his other passions in life, we invited him for this interview…

Hi Jonas, it’s a pleasure to be talking with you today. What part of the world are you currently living in, and how is the local club scene recovering after the pandemic?

Thanks for having me! I’m Swedish and I’m living in Gothenburg which is a beautiful city on the west coast. The club scene is definitely suffering from the pandemic but it’s slooooowly recovering. Promoters are more careful in their decisions, and don’t want to take as much risk which is understandable. The underground scene has exploded during the pandemic though, which is amazing to see and will be healthy for the scene.

You have a long history in music, when did you first discover electronic music, and at what point did you decide to become a DJ/producer?

Yes, I guess I do. Time flies when you’re having fun. Back in the early 2000’s I started running some club nights with friends. As we couldn’t afford to pay for DJ’s, we didn’t have a choice but to start spinning records ourselves. That was such a memorable time in my life, we spent all the money we made from the club nights on vinyl records and beer. It was a friend of mine who showed me the world of electronic music. Dj Nibc, he had been running club nights for years, booking some of the biggest names in the scene. He started bringing me to Berlin and the many clubs incl. Berghain, Tresor etc, but also OFF Sonar, ADE, WMC. During this time we started a duo together named STUFFA and we released some great music. When Dj Nibc moved to Berlin I started to produce music as Jonas Rathsman and in 2011 I released Tobago. I think it was during that year I decided to become a DJ/Producer.

Talking of your involvement in music, can you tell me about your label ELEMENTS, and what inspired you to launch the imprint?

ELEMENTS actually started off a mix series that I did every month, and I was getting so many unreleased tracks sent to me for it! And so many people asking for the ID’s – so it just made sense to turn it into a record label. Artists were actually asking me to release their music before I even knew we were going to do it as a record label! But it’s been a really great community of artists and fans, us all discovering music together. And to give people the opportunity to release music is a real joy for me, it’s a responsibility I take really seriously.

ELEMENTS’ cover art has a strong design, who does the artwork, and how does it link with the music, as I understand the latest release is your own music?

I have been doing all the artwork for ELEMENTS for the last couple of years! I like to create in all ways and forms. Previously I worked as a designer and illustrator for many years, but I decided to put that aside when my music career started to progress more and more, I just didn’t have time to do both. So it has been so good to be able to use all of that experience and passion for design and put it into a project like ELEMENTS.

I have always been deeply drawn to nature and it’s mystique, so it was only natural to incorporate that into the design.The sphere in the ELEMENTS artwork has always represented something otherworldly in a way – and in the Heartbeat artwork I wanted to take it into nature and explore how the sphere could look in the physical.

I worked with my friend Jonas Quant who is amazing at creating 3D environments and it felt perfect for this to have fun making something that felt ELEMENTS deep in nature but having the sphere just emanating from the middle of the forest! Jonas Quant is super talented, and it’s always the best to collaborate with friends.

It’s cool you do the label’s artwork yourself, who are some of the graphic designers that have influenced your work?

Oh, there are so many. When I was working as an illustrator I’d probably spend more time scouting for inspiration than illustrating. I think it’s more a combination of all the inspiration you’ve gathered through the years that have shaped me as a designer. But a really strong influence is Parra from Amsterdam. His way of working with typography is incredible and it made a huge impact on me in my early days of illustrating

Going back to your new release, I understand you have also co-produced a music video, what was that process like?

Heartbeat is a very special release to me, as it’s the first piece of music to come out “after” the pandemic. Like many others, the pandemic made me creatively drained and I really didn’t feel too inspired in the studio. An old friend of mine, Jonathan who is also a photographer told me he felt the same way, he was bored and wondered if he could shoot a music video for me? I had just finished Heartbeat at the time and I said yes straight away. I’ve had this music video idea in my head for years but I never felt like I had the time to do it, until now. Jonathan loved my idea and introduced me to his friend Andreas who’s a director. Within a couple of weeks, the director had turned my idea into an amazing script. We gathered an amazing production team with stylists, actors, drivers, etc. just by pulling favours from friends, followed by an intense weekend of shooting in the forest. The project got me feeling inspired again and it was nice to forget about the pandemic for a second.

What are the music videos linked to tracks by other artists that are most memorable to you?

I love the format of music videos, as music and film combined can have such an emotional impact. It’s not an easy task telling a story in just 3 minutes, which makes it even more impressive when it’s really good. I mean, there are so many, but some of the videos that are most memorable to me are ‘Praise You – Fatboy Slim’. ‘Around the World – Daft Punk’ and ‘You Can Call Me Al – Paul Simon’. There are so many amazing modern music videos, but the old stuff ones seem to stick better.

Thanks for taking the time to talk with us today, is there a message to fans or anything you would like to add before we finish?

Thanks for all the support you’re giving me, it means the world to me! Take care of each other and keep creating and I’ll see you on the dance floor!

You can pick up a copy of Jonas Rathsman’s new track ‘Heartbeat’ on ELEMENTS from HERE