Today we’d like to introduce you to Jace Covingto0n (NeoQor).
Hi Jace, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
I started DJing back in 2011 mainly just because I thought it would be fun. I loved electronic music and as I got older and discovered “raving”, it was only a matter of time before I experienced a good DJ set.
I remember going to a packed all-ages party at A-Kon in Dallas, seeing the DJ just feeling the music and rocking the crowd and thinking, “Man, that looks fun as shit.”
No longer after that, I finally decided to pick up a cracked copy of Virtual DJ.
I was instantly hooked and obsessed with mixing. I stopped playing video games and doing a lot of other stuff I used to do in my free time just to come home from school and mix. It was like crack.
Eventually, I upgraded my gear and landed some gigs at some small venues and hookah lounges, which was cool, but then DJing wasn’t enough.
I got tired of playing other people’s music and wanted to learn how to make the music I heard in my head a reality.
Shortly after, I picked up a copy of FL Studio and became even more obsessed with music production than I already was with DJing.
This compounded even more as I got old enough to attend actual clubs, festivals, and underground raves in Dallas– doubly so as I started to get booked to play at some of them.
So all throughout high school, college, and beyond, I tried to carve out any little chunk of time in my schedule as a full-time student to make music and improve my skills.
I remember the first time I actually played one of my tracks for a crowd… it was one of few tracks I’d made up to that point that I thought was “ready”– their reaction was priceless. Watching everyone go crazy and dance was a high better than any drug I’d ever done (and up to that point, I’d experimented quite a bit, haha).
By the time I graduated college, I’d experienced enough to know music was exactly what I wanted to do and that I wanted to make this obsession a career.
To this day, that obsession has so far led me to play in literally every corner of the United States– North, South, on the east coast and west coast– from small underground warehouse and bar shows to packed shows at massive venues & anime conventions.
One memorable highlight so far has been playing support for Angerfist (one of my all-time favorite artists) for his first appearance at the Green Elephant in my own city, Dallas, in 2016.
Another was in 2019 when I finally got to work with one of my favorite and most respected artists, S3rl, and this year I released a remix on his new label, “M4 Music” being the 2nd-ever release on the label.
I’ve also released remixes of my own music from other artists overseas, including one of my favorite UK hardcore producers to this day, Eufeion, which to this day is still pretty cool to me.
If you’d have told 15-16 years old me (who spent most of his free time outside of school and studying just smoking weed, hanging with friends and playing video games) that in a few years, I’d be working with some of my favorite artists that I grew up listening to, I’d have told you you were high.
Today, I continue to release music largely independently on my own label, Qortex Records (formerly Qor Values).
I’ve released on some labels here and there, but my main goal is to build myself up as an independent artist and label owner.
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle free, but so far would you say the journey have been a fairly smooth road?
I’m sure mine hasn’t been the hardest, but no journey is without its bumps here and there.
Some of the biggest challenges early on were just making the time in my schedule to actually practice music production enough to get tracks that I was actually happy with and were “acceptable” to most in quality, especially when I was in college.
When you’re a full-time student who’s a theatre major with rehearsals and working part-time, it can be a challenge to fit it in. I ultimately just had to say “fuck it” at times and make the time despite whatever other obligations or deadlines I felt looming over me.
Another challenge has been getting comfortable with knowing my worth and saying “no” when an opportunity just doesn’t feel right. A lot of promoters want you to play for free for “exposure” or will guilt you for requesting payment at minimum for your time.
As time has gone on, it’s gotten easier for me to spot when an opportunity just isn’t worth my time. This comes with experience and getting more clarity on what I really want, not just out of a career but in my life in general.
I think the biggest challenge though has been the psychological aspect of how I relate my identity to my identity as an artist. As time went on and I got deeper and deeper into this journey, I started to only live for the accomplishments. I didn’t really know who I was outside of being “NeoQor”. I really lost touch with myself and who I really was outside of grind of being a musician.
In 2019 and 2020, I had a sort of identity crisis where I didn’t really know who I was anymore and what my brand even is or stands for.
I can’t say I’ve still 100% figured it out yet, but in taking a step back and looking at my old thoughts and associations from a greater level of awareness over the past year, I definitely feel a greater sense of clarity in who I am and what I want going forward, and that is now starting to attract more people and opportunities that are in alignment with that.
As you know, we’re big fans of you and your work. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about what you do?
The #1 thing I do is produce extreme rave music under the artist name “NeoQor.”
When I say extreme rave music, I mean generally loud, fast, hard, and, in varying degrees, aggressive.
I guess the main thing I specialize in nowadays is that I don’t have a “speciality” — in that, I don’t stick to one extremely specific sound or subgenre of a subgenre. I just can’t.
There was a time where I used to think I needed to be “this sound” or “that sound” to be successful or to please a certain section of my fanbase, but no matter how much I’ve tried, I just can’t stay in a box.
Essentially, I just make the kind of music I want to hear.
It might not all be the exact same mood or subgenre, but you can bet for sure it will hit you hard when played on a club system and make you either want to party or break stuff.
The main thing I’m most proud of is going from a dipshit teenager who idolized certain artists to now either having played the same shows as them, having made (or making 😉 ) tracks with them, or both.
It’s just a testament to what happens if you just blindly put your faith in what you’re doing and don’t stop.
I’m proud of the fact that I get to demonstrate that for others because that’s what the guys I look up to did for me. They opened a door to potential.
I’m proud of my mindset that I believe in limitless potential when most people are quick to dismiss something — even their own dreams– as a possibility.
I just hope that by doing and showing what’s possible through my own actions, it can spread to others and somehow make them realize just what’s possible for them.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
I’m not from Austin (Dallas boi here), but I have visited there more times than I can count.
One of my favorite things about it is visiting Lake Austin and grabbing a drink at Hula Hut.
It’s been a little while since I’ve been by there, but I have fond memories of it, and whenever I’d go there to play a show, I’d make a point to grab food and some drinks there. Something about margaritas on a lake, man.
I also gotta give a shout to the Area512 crew for hosting me out there to play for Pixel Invasion. Probably one of my best memories there and they put on a great and memorable show and took good care of us.
As far as dislikes, lately it seems like there haven’t been a whole lot of hard dance shows there. I get informed about stuff in Dallas and everywhere else in North America it seems, but not so much lately in Austin, but then again maybe I’m not looking in the right places.
I don’t really spend a whole lot of time just looking at things on social media nowadays anyway, as I post when I need to and then I’m back to work in the studio on the next track.
Contact Info:
- Email: neoqor@gmail.com
- Website: https://neoqor.net
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/officialneoqor
- Youtube: https://youtube.com/channel/UCc577algTlfcJ2YxRCGgm5Q
- SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/officialneoqor
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/artist/7h6a5DQjsCBBEAQaWy8Qnm?si=AdPiVgFJS1mm7qM-IFe9wQ&dl_branch=1
