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Jen Hartley is a woman of many talents. 

Between running a booking agency, Eminent, and DJing across Bristol and beyond under her Yushh alias, she's been curating some of the city's best parties. She's also started up her own label, Pressure Dome.

What was your first avenue into electronic music?

Since I got my first Walkman, I've been a big collector of tunes. I think being brought up listening to my dad's jazz records, and being taught classical piano, definitely shaped my music taste.

But when I got to a certain age, I wanted to find music that was completely different. Electronic music ticked those boxes.

How did you become the manager of Eminent?

I was lucky enough to meet Josh (Tramma) quite soon after moving to Bristol. We shared very similar taste in music, partied a lot and met Hywel, Jonski and Don soon after.

Hywel had been running Eminent for a year before the rest of us joined in December 2017. We all contribute in different ways, and we've run some great parties over the last two years.

You've got a label start-up in the works - what can we expect from it? 

I've been working on Pressure Dome for the last few months, focusing on broken, UK-influenced, bassy techno. The first release is out now and features a full Bristol lineup including Syz, Mulengasound, Mish, Balouu and myself. We'll be hosting a monthly radio show on 1020 and occasional club nights.

What can you tell us about the process of starting up your own label?

I was in a really good position to start off with as Bristol is full of amazing producers and a lot of my friends are making music, so finding tracks has been a really nice process so far.

I'm also lucky enough to be working with Nick Harris (A Sagittariun) who's been working in label management for a number of years. He's taught me a lot. Setting up a label doesn't have to be difficult - it's just about finding what's right for your sound and audience.

What are you looking for in a track for Pressure Dome?

The main thing I look for is detail. I want the tunes to be doing their own little thing, while also referencing and crossing over into multiple genres. I love beautiful, interesting tracks and I want to release good music - not just dance music.

Bristol has so much talent, but I never feel like it's competitive. Everyone pushes each other in a really great way, so it's really nice to be part of it all.

Where are some of your favourite venues in the city to either host parties or party yourself? 

I've been to some good parties at Dare2Club in Old Market and the Queens Head in Easton. They both have late licences which means extra partying, which is always good.

Eminent parties generally rotate around Cosies!, Crofters and The Love Inn - they all have slightly different crowds, so we try and book a suitable headline for the venue.

How healthy is the landscape right now for music venues?

It's really sad to see venues disappearing and the constant threat of some of the bigger clubs closing, too.

Even though I don't really go to Blue Mountain or Lakota much, they would be a big loss to hundreds of students that would be stuck for a party venue and will probably lead to the smaller venues being even more overrun.

Massive big ups to the DirtyTalk crew for hitting their funding target, so they're able to open Strange Brew – that's a big step in the right direction. 

Any new records you've been bumping lately?

So many to choose from! I've been loving the latest two on Livity Sound reverse, Cando - Bleak/Sundown; and Bakongo - Momoweb/Disposition/Goulbap. Both great releases - they fully pop off on the dance floor while still maintaining their individuality.

The last two Wisdom Teeth releases from K-Lone & Lurka, and the new Konduku on Idle Hands are absolutely killer, too. Bristol doing the business.

What's a tune that gets you through bad days? 

I generally don't like getting too emotional, so on bad days, I try and just force away the negativity with real heavy tunes. One I picked up recently is Hamilton Scalpel on Concrete Cabin - definitely makes me want to screw my face up and forget my worries.

Weirdest DJ name you've ever heard?

The last booking for Eminent was called DJ Fart In The Club: pretty original name but has to be one of our favourites so far - she absolutely smashed it!

Who should we be watching out for in Bristol right now?

I mentioned Cando earlier - definitely ones to watch.

Henry Greenleaf, Glances, Zobol, Joe Craven, and all the artists on the first Pressure Dome release are all making amazing stuff at the minute, so I'm sure people will be seeing their names popping up in the near future. 

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