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Next Friday (November 13th) HiJack will be kicking things off in the main room at Matter as Chew The Fat! take over the superclub for the first time. He was recently interviewed by DJ Mag Brazil for a feature on the current state of House music. Now our Portuguese isn’t quite up to scratch but this translation is a good read, complete with not-quite-English questions.

Check out HiJack’s epic 90 minute jackin’ mix from last month if you haven’t already, now complete with links so you can easily find all the tracks.

DJ: ‘In the beginning, there was Jack, and Jack had a groove…’  I think nowadays there are a lot of artists bringing back that groove. You, Trevor Loveys, Jacob London to name a few. Do you think it’s about a jackin revival? Since when do you think Jack is strong in the UK?

H: I first started getting into the jackin’ house sound in 2000 when a ton of US producers were making funky, shuffly house music, full of jazz and funk samples. I bought records by the likes of Mark Farina, Jake Childs, Swirl People, Lawnchair Generals, and Jason Hodges, and played at small house events in England. US house was pretty big in the UK’s underground clubs, but artists like Solid Groove, Trevor Loveys, and Jacob London brought a bit more attention to jackin’ house with their new take on the sound.

DJ: Could you tell me three old records of jackin’ house that were important to your background?

H: One of my favourite tracks that made me want to produce house music was the East Coast Boogiemen Remix of Swirl Peepz’s ‘So Much Like Me’. The groove is so infectious, with bouncy beats and heavy sub bass.

Casual Bingo by Jacob London (on Classic) was also a big influence – especially ‘Regular Absorbency’ with its choppy samples and funky groove.

Another epic record on Classic was the Solid Groove remix of ‘About Love’ by Roy Davis Junior. I still play it all the time.

DJ: The beginning of 2000 was a good time for the Funk House, there was Classic Music Company and Music For Freaks providing a lot of releases. Have you kept up with this ‘freaky’ stuff before producing your own music?

H: Classic in particular was a label I followed for many years. The first release I bought was Derrick Carter’s ‘Nu Pschidt’ in 2000 and from then on I bought most of the Classic releases. MFF was a top label too – the ‘Notes From The Underground’ series was quality.

DJ: Do you think the Fidget house culture is showing the Jackin’ spirit to the new audience’s generation?

H: I think the original ‘fidget’ house music from the likes of Switch, Jesse Rose, and Trevor Loveys was a great new take on the jackin’ house sound. I think that some of the music that is now classed as fidget is more like electro, but it’s great to see new audiences getting into the scene who wouldn’t normally be exposed to house music.

DJ: What are your plans now for Jack Union and yourself? Do you want to release a full album?

H: There are some cool forthcoming releases on Jack Union, from new producers like Poligono (Mexico) and Carbon Parlour (UK), and new EPs from established Jack Union artists including Lee Mortimer, Nic Sarno, and Clark Able. Forthcoming HiJack productions include a new EP on Jack Union and remixes of Foamo and Magik Johnson. I’m hoping to release a HiJack mix album by the end of 2009 too.