Jonathan Lisle is a relative new-comer on the international DJ circuit, having first broken through with an amazing mix on John Digweed's Kiss100 radio show, titled 'Autobiography' it consisted of 60 odd minutes of Rabbit In The Moon, Future Sound Of London, Coldcut and various other seminal classics! Since then, a steady stream of inspired promotional mixes has kept him in high regard with the progressive crowd, and it all seems to have payed off with the release of his own Bedrock Original Series compilation O:S_2 Jonathan Lisle, forthcoming in February. When he's not DJing, Mr Lisle also heads M Theory Records with Kevin Clark, a heavyweight in the progressive scene already, and responsible for some of the most talked about records of 2004, as well as working in an A&R capacity for Bedrock Breaks! Not one to rest on his laurel's, it seems the only way is up at the moment, Jon unvail's a few of his future plans in this interview:

Q: 2004 was the year progressive-breaks came into its own. With yourself at the forefront, especially through your label M Theory, the sound has broken through and matured over the last 12 months or so, how does it feel to have 'your' sound in the spotlight after many years as the underdog?

Jon Lisle: Although I am playing a lot more different styles these days not just breaks, all types of house, techno and a bit of drum & bass here and there etc. I am still a huge fan of the sound. I think there were some great records within that sound last year, Sasha's mix of The Youngsters, Habershams' Unthinkable and Digital Witchcrafts Leaving Tifton were really special records. Some great stuff came from Australia too, Chable, Kaybee, and others. But I do think that sound needs more of a steady stream of top quality releases. There is still not enough records which are as good as say, Unthinkable.

Q: On the topic of your label, M Theory, you released some fantastic tunes in 2004, and I'm guessing some big plans are in the works for 2005... care to share any special news?!

Jon Lisle: Ive signed some great tracks for this year so I'm really excited. Steiger has a great 4/4 track called Warriors coming out on M Theory which reminds me of the old Slacker tracks. I think it will be pretty massive. Its not finished yet but that will come out as soon as it does. Noel Sanger and Habersham have some great breaks remixes for me and ive signed a couple of great new 4/4 tracks by a new artist called Orchid.

Q: You also A&R for John Digweed's Bedrock Breaks label, which must put you in the position of getting some fine tuneage, well before the masses. How has this worked out for you, and how do you balance it with your own label's runnings?

Jon Lisle: Things are going really well at Bedrock, I have helped secure some great signings for the label over the last couple of years. My favorite is coming up soon, Young American Primitive - Voyage To the Great Attractor. It's an amazing record. As for balance, its just a question of putting the hours in. I listen to every demo I get and I'm going through around 50 a week. Its worth it to find that one gem.

Q: Bedrock Original Series first release by Desyn was a great success, and it was obviously going to be a platform for pushing out some fresh new sounds, and innovative DJs. Naturally, you were up for the second release, how does that feel, and what are you trying to show with your mix?!

John Lisle: I wanted to try and give the full picture of me musically so the album includes a variety of styles. But i wanted to put these different styles and tempos together in a way which flowed and which made the most out of some of todays technology but at the same time was mixed live. I used 5 cd channels and chopped up elements of tracks, rebuilt them and mixed the product over the top. I spent 3 months solid on this cd and I am pretty happy with how it turned out.

Q: One thing I've always like about your mixes, is the inclusion of a lot of old and classic tunes, especially artists like Hawke and RITM. Are these just favourites that you enjoy playing over and over, or is it more a case of showing them to those who may have missed out the first time around, or a bit of both?

Jon Lisle: I sometimes throw in an old track because I just like good music regardless of when it was made but I think it is important to keep moving forward rather than looking back. So if an old track says something I want to say in a particular mix then I will try and do something new with it. I think the Bladerunnder mix on the album is a good example. I mixed two other tracks underneath it for pretty much the whole track, then looped the bleeps at the end, added some delay to create a new riff, mixed under a beat we made consisting of drum parts from the rest of the album, and then mixed another track over the top.

Q: Just to finish off, where do you hope to be 5 years from now, what goals do you have musically, and from a more business/label perspective?

Jon Lisle: 5 years? On the music side, be doing seamless live/DJ shows for 6+ hours, including controlling visuals, lightining, decor etc. Artist album completed. As for the label, continue helping the expansion of Bedrock Breaks, have 50+ releases on MTheory, MTheoryDigital well established to push more experimental sounds from underground 'undiscovered' artists. Expand the MTheory website into a portal to attract and collaborate with artists worldwide. M Theory club events/special parties well established. Plus a few things I'm working on but can't talk about just yet.

Check out the following websites for more info, and look out for Jon's new Bedrock Original Series compilation O:S_2 Jonathon Lisle, in February.