Meet Jorge Duarte | Music Producer, DJ & Record Label Owner

We had the good fortune of connecting with Jorge Duarte and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Jorge, can you tell us more about your background and the role it’s played in shaping who you are today?
I’m originally from Barranquilla, Colombia and grew up in a hard working family of entrepreneurs. My family always emphasized the importance of travel and living different experiences in order to “expand my horizons” which has definitely influenced my decision making and my career. After graduating high school I went to Northeastern University in Boston where I explored the world of banking and technology that ultimately lead me to Reykjavik, Iceland where I worked for a few years before moving to LA. My family has always encouraged me to start my own business and pursue my passions which is what ultimately lead me to co-founding my own record label “This Is Dance Music” with Nima Cheraghi (2plus2 Mgmt & USC Music Industry Graduate Student).

Please tell us more about your work. We’d love to hear what sets you apart from others, what you are most proud of or excited about. How did you get to where you are today professionally. Was it easy? If not, how did you overcome the challenges? What are the lessons you’ve learned along the way. What do you want the world to know about you or your brand and story?
As a producer and DJ I go by Jörgen. During my time in Iceland I got deep into music production with my friend Yambi and that was the nickname I got around Reykjavik (I guess Jorge is not nordic enough haha) so I decided to own it and make it my artist brand. You can find me on social media as @thisisjorgen_. As a producer my focus is on house music. I love the old school 90s/early 00s house music and in my productions I always try to keep that essence alive. I’ve been DJing for about 12 years and I got used to playing long nights in different formats (From 3-12 hour sets) which I have come to realize sets me apart from others in terms of stamina, song selection and crowd reading. I’m very proud of my production skills as that’s a totally different beast to handle and I can say that in every set I play I incorporate my own productions. I’m very excited for the future, especially with This Is Dance Music as even though we’ve only had a couple of releases and parties to go with them, we’ve already received support from some of the worlds biggest DJs while also building a community who enjoys good dance music with no rules or limitations.

It has definitely been a journey to get where I am today and even though looking back the path might look rugged and misty, I wouldn’t say it’s necessarily been hard. In my opinion, to get things done in life you need to be consistent and of course that involves hard work but in the long-run it would be much harder to live a life that has been dictated by others peoples terms & dreams. There’s a saying that I always love to come back to which goes along the lines of “If you don’t build your dreams, someone will hire you to build theirs” and that is not a life I want to live.

I’d like the world to know that if you come to a Jörgen show or a This Is Dance Music event you will be in for a unique experience. No night is the same as the other but it is important to keep the same vibe and essence alive for each. Musically, nothing is really planned as every night and every person is different, so the best experience to curate is something that needs to happen organically in the moment. We are of course in the business of dance music, so definitely don’t expect me to play Bad Bunny haha (Unless it’s a remix or edit)

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
It is very hard for me to give you an itinerary as similar to my DJ sets, I usually take things spontaneously and do most things last minute (When it doesn’t involve work of course) but I’ll try my best. If a friend is visiting and they’ve never been to LA I would take them either to The Getty where they have incredible art and city views for free or take them on a hike to the Griffith Observatory. On a similar note we would go for a walk around Venice where it’s a bit hectic and there’s very interesting people but where you also have the canals which is a great balance in my opinion. For food there’s two spots that I really like in MoguMogu (Incredible noodles) and Kazunori (Their handrolls are so good). I do like to go out so if we were going to a show or club I would take them to Sound in Hollywood followed by Blind Tiger. It really depends on the day/night and the mood as LA has so many great places and there’s always something happening.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
I would like to give a big shoutout to Nima Cheraghi who started the This Is Dance Music journey with me (We basically talk 24/7) as well as Elijah Davis who joined the team shortly after and has helped us catapult the label to new heights. I would also like to shoutout the USC Thornton School of Music where I’ve had amazing mentors such as Kevin Lyman, Mike Garcia & Andrew Leff. Finally I’d like to shoutout Danny Klein (SPIN Mag | Robot Sunrise}, Matt Bauerschmidt (Co-founder of The Revels Group), Bob Stein, Yambi (Incredible producer and mixing engineer) and the Blind Tiger familia. I feel very lucky to have so many incredible individuals and organizations that have given me the chance to grow and learn.

Website: https://www.thisisdancemusic.co/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thisisjorgen_/?hl=en

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpojiwXtfVwkN4e_OnfDBsQ

Other: Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/thisisjorgen Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/5VyeEMMtjmwHLmbXj0T3uM?si=Ffxln06PRQaDvZScXERZfg