Still only 24, Brazilian artist JP Castro, now based between Miami and São Paulo, has developed a fully self-contained process. He writes, produces, records and mixes his own material, with a background that leans as much on songwriting as it does on club music. Breakout single Through My Mind reached the Beatport Hype Top 5 and secured editorial backing from Beatportal, alongside support from Black Coffee and a wider circle that includes Zerb, Kevin de Vries and Maz.
His new single Every High leans into a more refined, song-led approach. The production is clean and controlled, built around layered pads and a restrained vocal that carries the track without overstating it, and with more than enough weight in the low end to hold its own in club.
You’ve spoken before about handling every stage of the process yourself, from writing through to mixing. At this point, does that level of control feel creatively freeing, or does it sometimes become difficult to step back and know when a track is actually finished?
Today it feels very freeing, but there were times years ago were t could go somewhat into a little bit of perfectionism, but if you stay true to what you love and to you, it’s very liberating!
A lot of artists moving into more crossover territory end up sanding away the edges that made them interesting in the first place. With “Every High”, how conscious were you of keeping enough tension and weight in the production for it to still work in club settings?
That is very true, sometimes I think that might happen when artists forget the reasons of why they started in the first place, I believe. I guess I’m never really thinking about if the song is going to please a certain kind of audience etc, you know, I think for me it’s really about making music that you love to the best of what it can be. When you achieve that, the rest seems to fall into place. In “Every High” it was pure flow, and I like my songs loud! I love to just remember making it now!
Growing up in Brazil but now moving between São Paulo and Miami must expose you to very different ideas of nightlife, rhythm and songwriting. Do you notice those environments pulling your music in different directions, or have they started blending into one sound naturally?
I’d say starting to blend into one sound, but I always really enjoyed researching and listening to all kinds of music, new music, older music, more recent music, etc. I feel like that mainly led into a lot of inspiration and influence in my music, more than where I was at, specifically.
Your catalogue seems to sit in an interesting middle ground where it can fit into electronic spaces while still being heavily driven by songwriting and vocal structure. Do you see yourself as part of the dance world first, or are you deliberately trying to move outside of those boundaries now?
Yeah, I see myself as a dance music artist. I’m very much a melody guy, I played instruments growing up and was very connected to music at an early age, and when I started producing music, maybe those prior years might have helped me not to actually “see” any boundaries further on the journey, looking back at it now. I always wanted to share the music that moved me.
Closing for Black Coffee and sharing stages with artists like Eric Prydz or Diplo exposes you to very different audiences. Have those experiences changed the way you think about pacing or emotional payoff within your own records?
Absolutely, they were amazing shows, and I remember that I left feeling inspired, I kind of do get inspired quite often in very different ways not just when I’m playing. But, those shows influenced me in a very cool way!
The success of “Through My Mind” and “All For You” could easily have pushed you further toward chasing streaming numbers or obvious formulas. Have you felt pressure to repeat what worked commercially, or are you still approaching each release quite instinctively?
That kind of pressure never really came to me, I remember when those two songs arrived to me on the piano, I was making what I was feeling inside, and it was so much fun! I’m not one to copy trends, maybe that could be why I don’t feel this pressure, I just kept making music that I wanted to listen to, that was real. That’s the road I always wanted to go.
Working on Gilberto Gil’s “Vamos Fugir” alongside Jota Quest feels like a significant crossover into Brazilian musical heritage. Did that experience change the way you think about your own identity as a Brazilian artist making electronic music with global ambitions?
Working with them was an honor, I remember those times, It never crossed my mind my nationality in respect to what I do which is making music, music that I love, that comes from within, clarified by feelings, a story, that’s really exciting. For me, it was always about how the music made me feel, I want others, no matter where from, to feel this amazing feeling too.
There’s a polished quality to your recent records, but they never feel overly maximal or crowded. When you’re producing, are you actively trying to leave space in the music, or does that more restrained approach come from the songwriting itself?
Restrained is very funny to me, because I’m so obsessed with melody, I really have to throw out so many ideas, and really choose my favorites to finish a record. So I feel the opposite of restrained in the processes sometimes hahahah. Further on, When I do that, every other part of the song should help the main part. Once you have an idea that you think is great and it feels really great to you, sometimes less is more.
Every High is out now