Norwegian DJ and producer SJUR releases his brand new single ‘Back To Life’ featuring rising US singer/MC Brandyn Burnette, via Sony Norway.
With over a million monthly listeners on Spotify and global streams reaching into the hundreds of millions, SJUR has very quickly amassed a huge following for his unique brand of melodic, electronic music. ‘Back To Life’ marks a change in direction for the talented producer and an opportunity for him to explore new sounds with some exciting new collaborations.
SJUR said: “I wanted to try something different on this one. I experimented with synths from “Future Bass”, drum patterns from “Drum & Bass” and added melodic verses to design the vibe I was searching for. Working with Brandon was amazing – he completely clicked with the structure of the song, and came up with the verses and chorus in virtually no time at all.”
Born and raised in the small Norwegian town of Sandane, Sjur Kristian Gimmestad grew up around DJs and nightclubs. His father was a DJ in the 80s and 90s, and ran a couple of clubs in his hometown. It was this family connection that saw a young Sjur entering a nightclub for the first time – underage, but hanging out during the day, watching visiting DJs and artists soundcheck. However, it wasn’t until high-school that he started playing himself.
Sjur moved to Bergen at the age of 19, to study computer science at university and got a job as a bouncer at a club while simultaneously taking the time to develop his craft. It was serendipity that saw him move back behind the decks for real. On a night off from his bouncer job, he received a call from the club owner; the booked DJ had failed to turn up, could SJUR stand in at the last minute?
“I dropped everything I was doing and went to the club. I played a set which, when I look back, can’t have been great” he laughs, “but it was good enough – I was booked to play one night a week from then on.”It didn’t take long for SJUR to make the transition from DJ to a producer. Spurred on by his friends and fellow local artists including Kygo, Seeb and Sonny Alven, SJUR started learning to make music with the aid of YouTube demonstrations and the help of his friends. His first proper releases on Spotify were covers of Major Lazer & Bieber’s ‘Cold Water’, and Mario’s ‘Let Me Love You’ followed, the latter seeing his debut on a major label, Sony.
He started with an unofficial remix; a tropical house version of Justin Timberlake’s ‘Can’t Stop The Feeling’. Getting around Soundcloud’s stringent copyright control algorithm, he sourced a new vocal topline from an artist he found on YouTube, Chris Chrone. The resulting track achieved over 1 million plays in just a few weeks – and support from his peers including Kygo, and even getting played at that year’s Tomorrowland Festival – an impressive debut!SJUR has been nominated for a remix award for his mashup for Fisher and Justin Timberlake “I’m Losing Sexyback.”
