JPOD spends all week working on his music. On the weekend he tours. He has done this since quitting his part-time job as a software programmer in 2010 and turning to music full time.
The talented beat chef from Vernon, B.C., says it is beginning to pay off.
"Coming to Whistler is part of a short tour of the region. Thursday, Friday, Saturday; Whistler, Squamish and Vancouver. I was on one this past weekend in Alberta, the weekend after that I go down to the States," JPOD says.
"I have my studio here in Vernon and during the week I do that side of things."
Is the balance intense?
"The way I look at it is that the two different activities are definitely polar opposites. And 'intense' is a good way to explain it. When I am at home during the week, I'm completely by myself. I'm in my studio focused, working hard. That's one extreme side. When I go to play shows, it's the complete opposite. You're bouncing off people, having conversations, interacting with everyone," he says.
Looking at it another way, this means JPOD is spending a lot of time in his studio making music.
"I'm always driven to be writing new music. I always have this underlying feeling that I need to be making things, I've got projects in mind and I feel like if I am not doing that I am falling behind," he says. "I'm working on an EP right now and I've got a pretty big list of remixes to make for other people and collaborations that I want to do as well."
JPOD says he is now at the point where it would be silly to not continue this pace and commitment. He has no intention in holding back.
"The momentum I have now, it really is at that point where all the years of work is paying off. There's more global recognition, I'm getting down to the States more. The music I could come up with over the next little while, there could be some good collaborations."
JPOD runs his own digital label —Swing Set Sounds. He believes the future of DJing is edits, remixes and live work. He has already released several EPs; his debut album Halfsteppin and two remix albums use bluegrass, gospel and folk rock.
He plays Maxx Fish Thursday, Dec. 5.
Whistler fans will hear a wide range of music that comes out of what JPOD describes as his "A.D.D. character."
"I get bored with myself if I stay in one place for too long. The consistency throughout is bounciness, a swing and funky feel. I'm always trying to fuse the familiar with the new. I use a lot of recognizable a capellas, like something by the Jackson 5 that everyone knows, but then I will remix it into something else," he says.
He is also playing some new remixes for several European DJs.
"I always get great feedback from gigs and online. It tells me I am on that steady progression."
For years before he took the plunge into full-time music making and touring, he would think about how he could make it all work.
"But now that I am at this point, I am feeling really satisfied with how things are. The most common feedback I get from people is 'Please, keep doing what you're doing!' and that helps me to keep going through those dry studio times. Every artist often tends to go to the moment of creative questioning."
He laughs and says it would be fun to record those conversations with fans and supporters.
"People are so, like, serious about it. That really helps carry you through those artistic struggles."
