Jon Anthoni : Nine Sixteen Muzik - The Interview

Instead of interviewing a Twitch DJ, we thought of doing something a little different and interview a producer/label owner. We reached out to Jon Anthoni as we’ve been hearing a lot of music from his record label, Nine Sixteen Muzik being played all over Twitch! We wanted to learn more about where all these House Bangers were coming from and what his label was all about. Although he doesn’t stream (hopefully soon), you can see him on the streets of Twitch supporting all the underground House DJs and scouting for new talents to give them the opportunity to share their art. Thank you Jon for taking the time out of your busy schedule to do this interview.
twitch.tv/jonanthoni

Jon Anthoni – Sacramento, California
Nine Sixteen Muzik
instagram.com/ninesixteenmuzik
instagram.com/ja_muzik
https://soundcloud.com/jon-anthoni
Traxsource & Beatport
jonanthoni.bandcamp.com

1. What’s your name and the name of your label and how did it come about?
My name is Jon Anthoni, And I own/operate Nine Sixteen Muzik which is a Jackin House & House based label based in Sacramento, Ca. Nine Sixteen Muzik was created to give those new artist, as well those established artist, An outlet for their musical Creations. Fun fact about the label, our logo is actually my now 19yrs old daughter as a baby holding up a piece of vinyl from my collection, her along with my son have a great appreciation for music and since family is big to me I decided to make her the face of the label.

2. Where are you based out of?
I was originally born and raised in the SF Bay Area but migrated out to Sacramento, Ca where I have been living now for almost 25yrs.

3. What particular genre is your music label focused on?
It’s primarily Jackin House & House, but we are hoping to one day put out some Lo-Fi/Mushroom Jazz type music in the future.

4. Who are your biggest influences in the music industry scene? First and fore most my Kids & my father are some of my biggest influences outside of the industry, But as for the music industry I would have to say I draw inspiration from folks like Demuir, Ray-D, Juwan Rates, Andrew Lozano, Jonn Hawley, Arturo Garces, Dj Heather, SubRhythm, Nesto Fuentes & Jspn just to name a few!

5. How do you discover and sign new talent to your label?
What’s the secret sauce? Social Media like FB & IG have been good sources to see/hear new talent or what existing talent is putting out these days, no real secret sauce…like many others I just try to keep my ear to the ground and keep an eye out for sounds that catch my attention.

6. Do you use Twitch to connect with your fanbase and promote your artists? I definitely try to hop on other Dj’s Twitch pages especially those whom I enjoy listening to in hopes they may drop some new Nine Sixteen Muzik promos. That allows me to see everyone’s reaction and gives me an opportunity to promote the artist and label at the same time.

7. Are there any few Twitch DJs we should look out for?
You definitely need to hop on Dj Heather’s “H is for Hustle”, “Jspn’s “Connective Grooves”, Frank Amodo’s “THISCO Thursday’s” & Ric Viera’s “Werk’n Wednesday’s”

8. Promotions are huge in the music industry. What are the criterias for a DJ in order to have them on your promo list?
Before I ever got behind the decks I was a dancer, battling & grooving to many different dj’s, so for me the criteria is simple, Make Me Want To Dance and you will always get my attention which means I’ll always have your Dj mix in my rotation.

9. Can you share a success story of an artist you’ve signed?
I don’t think it’s a success story per say, because most of the guys that I’ve had the privilege signing are pretty much already established in their own right, but I would have to say the continued success and praise that Ray-D has been getting especially most recently for his latest release “Pump The Music Up” has been great to see.

10. Can you tell us about any upcoming projects or releases from your label that you’re particularly excited about?
I’m excited about ALL the releases coming out this year but I would have to say there are 2 in particular I am really excited about. The first one is actually called “Maximo” which is being released by myself in February, this release holds a special place because it’s a track I made in memory of my late cousin Ricky “Maximo” Lara who passed away at a young age last year, And the other release that I’m excited about will be coming from the OG Pat Nice called “Get Money” which will be dropping in May of this year.

11. Can you share any unique collaboration or partnership that your label has had on Twitch or other platforms? No collaboration or partnership’s at this time, the label is still fairly new but I would always be open to that in the future if an opportunity ever presented itself.

12. So many DJ/Producers that I have interacted with said they have taken a long hiatus in the music scene but only got back into it because of the recent lockdowns/covid. Was this the case for you?
It was actually the opposite for me, I was pretty steady with Dj gigs and Production Pre Pandemic, And actually launched the label January 2020 which was Just 3 months short of the Pandemic starting but once it hit and even after things started to open back up I went into Hiatus mode for personal reasons. It was great to see the many Dj’s utilizing a platform like Twitch to bring the tunes to everyone at home during those dark times of uncertainty.

13. How does your label adapt to the ever-changing music industry and streaming trends?
As previously mentioned, the label is still to new to experience any of the many changes in the industry, maybe ask me this again in about 5 years lol.

14. I always hear the term, keep it underground. What is your definition of “underground”?
For me Underground is pretty much anything that is not publicly commercialized via TV and/or Radio. It’s usually something that you’d have to go digging to find, no pun intended.

15. Where can we purchase your music?
My Music along with the music we put out on Nine Sixteen Muzik can be purchased at all major digital sites like Traxsource & Beatport.

16. Anything else you want to add? (Good time to shamelessly promote yourself.)
Just wanted to say Thank You for the opportunity to chat a little about myself and the label. I’d like to end with a quote I came up with a few year ago, this is pretty much my way of saying Make & Create WHATEVER you want & HOWEVER you want because you’re not going to be able to please everyone in this industry…. “NOT EVERYONE IS GOING TO LIKE WHAT YOU’RE COOKING UP, AND THAT’S OK! YOU SHOULDN’T EXPECT TO FEED EVERYONE ANYWAYS! – JA”
ML&R Jon Anthoni