Let’s go back to where it all began, to the where it all started. What got you into this?
Music played a major role in our lives since our very young age. Our dad is a huge jazz melo-man, we both studied at the music academy and were already jamming with our dad and friends all our youth. It is when we moved to The Netherlands for our studies in 2009 and 2010 that we really got into electronic music and more specifically into the underground scene. It was just a matter of time for us to join forces and created a duo in brotherhood.
What is both a blessing and a curse in being a Duo?
Actually many people often asked us how our relationship keeps on functioning and how do we get along so well.
There isn’t a secret recipe, but what we realized is that family is sacred and brothers are forever, but even with this in mind, the solution is to really listen to each other and talk frankly about disparities. Being indulgent and understanding of our personalities and go along with it. We focus on the things that matter and most importantly we thrive to push each other up. And this is our biggest blessing.
The only curse that we could think of is the cost of logistics for the promoters but we cannot really call that a serious curse. Haha
Your performances are always hypnotic, groovy and dancey. What challenges do you face when you perform live in a club music context?
As soon as you involve microphones, instruments and launch pads in a set, it becomes more challenging. Firstly from a performance perspective, many more variables come into play, a lot more possibilities offers itself that allow to make more melodic or groovy choices. But this also means more challenging risks. Then there is the technical part of sound quality where the objective it to avoid all sound issues that could happen, especially in club where it resonates a lot.
Talk to us about The Gardens of Babylon Family? When did you join? How did it all happen?
We met Shishi almost 3 years ago, and a growing love starting from then. It was during ADE, in the early stages of The Gardens of Babylon, and we had this amazing dinner at “Meneer Nieges” before going to her show “Do Not Sit On The Furniture”. This was our first encounter with The Gardens of Babylon family. We were so impressed by the amount of care, love and affection these gatherings had. And it is beautiful to see uplifting events, where music is sophistically curated, where the conscious is brought higher and the experience through the senses is offered. Life is about giving and we feel that it is the essence of The Gardens. We figured a lot of friends were part of it and we slowly got to know everyone else and really felt part of a family in Amsterdam. The memories are countless, from dancing all night to French songs with Manon, to our late studio nights with Joe Finch after the TGOB parties, our multiple laughter’s with Ahmet, the most memorable Shishi birthdays and the endless dancing with many friends, we’ve created really strong friendships within this family.
What about the Monastery? Everyone left filled with love and joy? What were your favorite memories?
The Monastery has become a ritual, the annual gathering with all our friends, we really cannot miss it! It’s quite impressive when you put 3,000 people that share the same love for nature, music and art. The alchemy gets super strong and the memories becomes countless!
Going from the super fun b2b with our brother Sam Shure, to premiering and talking about our upcoming short-movie “A journey in the Bush” and seeing all the people interest and inspired, to dancing on magical set of our best friends, the festival was completely overwhelming!
There’s something so special about you as a duo that leaves the crowd hypnotized and that is your presence and your interaction with the audience. Do you believe that the presence is as important as the sound of a DJ?
It’s all about energy! Music has an energy and your presence has one too and both have an impact on the crowd’s energy. Music itself has already the strongest power, it vibrates through our all body, it takes you into a complex feeling of emotions. And our presence comes from vibing, vibrating and enjoying the music. When you go to a concert, it is always beautiful to see performers enjoying so much their music. It definitely gives this extra thing that can make a difference.
During these rough times that the world is passing through, you are spending a lot of time in your studio. Tell us about your creative process.
We have immersed ourselves al lot into music lately, which is the best thing to do during this isolative times. Our creative process usually starts by jamming, finding a good melody or a theme and then starts recordings many instruments, percussion and tools we have in the studio. Then the track makes itself. Lately, we’ve been working on a new electro acoustic live performance re-interpreting some jazz classics into electronic music, we can’t wait to show you.
If you were to explain music to a deaf person, how would you do it?
Music is just like a painting, it has different melodic layers, straight and curvy symphonic lines, and it tells you a melancholic darker, a surprising purple-ish or a brighter colored story.
Lastly, what is the advice you give it to upcoming artists through times like these.
Be as creative as possible. With this length of free time given to us, now is the time to dare, to increase your skills, to learn new ones and come back even stronger.
