Eureka Moments

You are from The Hague - were you ever interested in the Italo disco/electro/acid sound that I-F and Bunker were pushing?

I wasn't involved with that scene myself, but I knew who they were. I wasn't born and raised in The Hague, I lived there for about eight years with a gap in between. Funnily enough it took a German roommate to put me onto those labels, he knew all about them. I think it's always been an underground thing in The Hague, it's not like you would hear it in the regular nightlife venues very often. We went to a couple of their parties; one I particularly have good memories of was in a basement of a restaurant, with just strobe lights and DJs playing raw electro.

Was Holland generally a good place to grow up if you were interested in finding out about techno -  it seems you got into electronic music at a young age?

Yeah, it goes right back to me being in my early teens and having access to all these compilations, some crappy, some really good, even in hindsight. It was normal in Holland for mainstream stores to sell all of these compilations or mix CDs by well-known Dutch DJs. At the time there was even a Dutch track called 'House Nation' (not the Chicago one), which in my perception demonstrated how Holland saw itself in the early to mid nineties. Of course I'm talking about this now from my memory, and from my own perspective too -  I was in my early teens at the time.

How did it feel to have access to the music but not be old enough to go to the clubs where it was all happening?

As a kid, it gave me the impression that there was something really big happening and eventually, when I was 17, clubbing did become part of my life in a big way. The single defining club was in Rotterdam, called Nighttown. I used to go there on a Thursday night to hear a DJ called T!m play in the basement. He never got well-known internationally, but he played great, pure quality techno, no gimmicks, no commercial shit, the real deal.



But it seems like your route to electronic music was quite different to most people, who have a 'eureka' moment in a club -  you'd been having those for years before you set foot in a club…

Yeah, I never really knew why I was so into this music, and the music was there first for me. I just found it intriguing. Maybe it's bullshit to analyse it in hindsight, I suppose I have always been fascinated by the unknown. When I used to look at the dance charts in magazines, I didn't know any of the artists or the tracks. I used to see photographs from raves and it made me curious. I wonder if people who are in their teens now, who have access to pretty much everything through the internet, have the same curiosity to hunt down music.

Technology has probably changed things a lot, in that there are no more secrets, all information is always accessible…

Yeah, but then again the experience may still be the same. Maybe the way that teenagers share the experience afterwards or react to it, putting photos and describing it on social media is totally different, but the physical experience of going to a club to hear someone play is pretty much the same.

Is that you on the cover of the album?

Yeah, that's me, and I think at the time, I'm like zero (laughs). I chose that particular picture because the music I sampled on the album is all from around the year of my birth (1979). Initially, I was looking for a photograph or a detail that captured the vibe of the era rather than a picture of me, but then I saw this photo in one of my parents photo albums and it just fit.

From that picture, it looks like you were interested in music from a pretty early age!

Well, my mother's notes beside the photo say that I was mostly interested in the amplifier because it has bright, flashing lights, but also that I actually managed to stop a cassette tape and pull it out once. You see I always was destined to become a selector… or maybe not (laughs).

Disco Disconnected

It seems like you grew up with a lot of music  - was it a big thing for your family, and were your parents disco fans?

My father is into music but not the same as me, he has quite a different taste, and neither of my parents were disco fans. I know a little bit about that period of music, and it's a super rich and varied sample source, especially if you include early 80s boogie records as well as late 70s disco. You have such a wide range of music at your hands, from organic live-played sounds and the grooviest drum breaks to the first drum machine appearances and freaked out sound effects.

Was it your intention to use merely disco samples and not to do a 'disco album'?

Yeah, the disco records were used as a sample source to write something completely new with, so it's not a disco album, but it is my disco album. You can hear traces of the original era buried deep in the track's textures. I just don't feel the music is my own if it's very overt. The way I usually work with samples is I take small sections of sounds and turning them into something different, using them as building blocks for my tracks.

How did you feel about the fact that you were using incredibly rich sample sources like live orchestras and reinterpreting them with new technology?

The way I look at it, it is like pulling something inside out and showing a different side to it. That was my goal with the album and it's a funny thought that in a distorted way my album has tens or hundreds of musicians are playing single notes or hits, channelled through a sampler. That said, I didn't theorise about such things too much - I suppose it is better to do that after you have made the music! The great thing was that I didn't have to think too much about this album, making it was a very pleasurable experience. Some people might think that it might be my tour de force, but it was quite easy to record.

Is sampling a big part of your approach generally?

When I started making music about 7-8 years ago, sampling was one of the first things that I learned to do. Now I can do a few other things as well (laughs), but yeah, it is still a crucial part of what I do, even in my releases where synths play the central role. I do music full-time now and there has been a year and a half between each album. After the last one, I thought I needed a break from it, but then the idea for this new album happened. I just make music when I have ideas - maybe some day when I run out of ideas, I'll do something else (laughs), but until then, I'll keep going.

On 'This is Hardcore' and 'Brasil Deadwalker' I hear maybe different samples, from old school rave and techno records - is this correct or is it a disco sample disguised?

With 'Brasil Deadwalker', I felt that the album needed something harsh. I already had the right sample - the one that is in the big breakdown - and was just waiting for the right track to use it in. Actually, I didn't even change the sample that much for 'Brasil', but it does sound like an old hardcore techno track. There is only one track on the album, 'Cheater', that uses a couple of samples that are not from that period, because it's the first track I made and at that point I hadn't set the rules that strictly for myself yet. I cheekily solved that by giving it that title. I can't tell you where those samples came from - telling you might take away from the romance of sampling and I'd like to avoid any chance of getting sued.

You have said before that you aren't the most technologically-savvy person - is this still the case?

After about eight years of producing, I still have a modest set-up and use the old gear that I started with. Why change if it works for me? It would also take me so long to get my head around new equipment or software that it's not worth it. At the same time, I do really know my current set-up well now. And a lot of the research I did for the album was online, so it's not like I'm a complete e-tard. I'm not going to pretend that I have a huge disco collection at home, there are loads of fantastic blogs out there who uncover rare and obscure releases that would otherwise be impossible or at least crazy expensive to get hold of. I still DJ with vinyl but also use CDs for new music, and CDs help if you are playing internationally - there are only so many records you can fit in your bag.



You have also expressed a preference for staying anonymous - do you prefer not to be in the spotlight?

I would prefer to be completely anonymous, but it's very hard to do in this day and age. So ironically staying anonymous could cost just as much time and energy as being in the picture. Even being anonymous can become a big thing in itself and the more that you try to operate anonymously, the more people want to try to find out who you are and that can detract from your music, which would be the opposite of what you wanted.

What do you think about the state of bass music generally?

I always find it really hard to talk about scenes and genres and where it's going. If I hear a good tune, I just play it, and my selection is really across the board. I do find that's much easier to do these days than it was a couple of years ago. I can now play everything I like regardless of genre with less chance of getting booed off the stage, so that's a good thing.

Did you initially see yourself as an outsider in what was very much a UK-centred scene?

To be honest, I have always been an outsider in general. I never made the effort to network in local Dutch scenes either, I just wanted to make music and get records out. I do have to say when the ball started rolling, I got a lot of support from the UK and I really appreciate that. My main goal with music making is to please myself, but if it makes other people happy too, then it's a beautiful thing.

What initially attracted you to the broken beat?

When I make music, I like to go somewhere new. You'll never make something totally original, but it should be possible to find some new ground, especially if you leave the 4/4 beat behind…

But broken beats / break beats have also been around since the early 70s with records like 'Apache'...

Ha ha, touché. I think how a rhythm is perceived depends on so many factors though, not just patterns but also sound colour, arrangement, production technique, the function within a track, the context in which it is presented. It's an interesting point you raise, maybe the real question is why a broken rhythm, especially when syncopated, has by and large become an underdog in western dance music culture over time. But frankly I don't think about things like these when I make music. It's more gut feeling than a conscious thought process. I just play with sounds until something get me going.

Can people dance to broken beats?

Well I can, so I'm sure others can! (laughs) For the majority of a techno audience no, I don't know if it's due to drug use or to being used to it too much, but they simply prefer a straight 4/4 kick drum to get down. It really depends on the context too. I can play certain records in a club in the UK and it goes off and then I can go to a club in say Holland or Germany and have no response at all with the same records - and vice versa. But the longer I DJ, the better the feeling I get for what I can get away with on a night.

'Brasil Deadwalker' is the most techno-sounding track on 'Fever'- would you be disappointed if it became the most popular track?

I wouldn't be disappointed at all, it's up to people to decide for themselves. I think things like this will vary from country to country and from scene to scene anyway. My own favourite is 'This Is Hardcore' though. I think it is one of the best things I've ever made.

Now that you've moved to Berlin, will you have to get a new postcode name?

No, it'll remain as 2562 - one postcode name is geeky enough!