Twenty-four-year-old Sam Vogel was about to board a plane from London to Taiwan when the Weekly caught up with the genre-blending DJ better known as Jauz. He’s moving quickly through what’s shaping up to be his biggest year ever—landing a Wynn Nightlife residency, traveling the world and prepping a 17-track album that defies the current music model. But he sees his massive record as the beginning of a creative kick-start: “My career has progressed and evolved in a lot of ways in a [short period] of time, but the one thing I want to get back to is putting out as much music as I possibly can.”
Jauz, back on the Strip to play Encore Beach Club at Night on April 13, had a lot more to say about his travels, his music and his new Vegas home.
When you’re on the road, do you ever get frustrated because you don’t have time to explore the city you’re in?
Absolutely. This is my first time in Taiwan, but I’ve been to China a bunch of times. The main cities are so cool and international, but when you start getting out into the country, it’s a trip, real culture shock. I went to Xi’an and got to see the Lost Army [Terracotta Warriors], which is one of the coolest things you could ever see on Earth. And we made time for the Great Wall, but it required me to stay up after the show until 5 a.m., drive two hours and go at 7 in the morning, when it was like negative 25 degrees. But it was worth it.
How’s life with Wynn Nightlife so far?
Great. I’ve played quite a few shows already. I’ve been friends with everyone there for a long time and have friends who play there, so it feels like a natural fit. I think I’ve always known Wynn is the home for people with my kind of a sound and that I would hopefully end up there sooner or later.
How did you end up with so many songs for your next record?
I didn’t expect it to end up being as many songs, but yeah, now it’s at 17. I had closer to 30, so I figured to cut it in half was pretty good.
Can you break down the different sounds on the album?
I don’t want to give away too much, but it kinda plays out as a story, whether you look at it as a book with chapters or a play with acts. It’s broken into three sections with five or six tracks in each, so it doesn’t feel like so much music but each section doesn’t feel empty.
I grew up in the rock and metal world with bands that write an album, record and tour it, so there’s something sentimental for me about writing an album. Everyone is so focused on singles now and making every single piece of content last as long as it can, so I feel like there’s something to be said about not being so precious with music. Some of these songs are brand new, that I wrote in the last two weeks, and some I’ve been holding onto for three years. My thought process in putting it together is I have so much I want to get off my chest, so mentally I can have a clear slate to write more stuff and keep putting out music as fast as I can.
How will the album influence your performances?
I’m trying to figure that out. I think there’s a way to set that up in terms of the three different acts, incorporating that into a performance that is still a DJ set and then incorporating other people’s songs and some of my other songs into those acts. One cool thing is there are so many different kinds of songs on the album, they’re written for different scenarios, so some are for places like Vegas, some are for festival stages, some are for tiny dark clubs in the middle of nowhere. There’s a little bit of something for everyone.
JAUZ AT EBC AT NIGHT April 13, 10:30 p.m., $25-$65. Encore Beach Club, 702-770-7300.
