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Roots is their third album on the venerated German label Sonar Kollektiv. Having focused his attention on catchy hooks and a series of guest vocals on the former, and deeper break-beat exercises on the latter, Joris felt it was time to offer something that sits comfortably in a space between the two. . The LP features not only a host of vocalists from around the world, but also sees the producer playing with samples and dark sounds, as he tries to discover a new direction and find that sweet spot between dark and light; major and minor; new and old; Uplifting electronics and soul.
We have had the pleasure of interviewing him and this has been the result.
How did your latest project come about? What do you want to convey in this work?
It took me around two years to work on my third album 'Roots'. The process wasn't easy this time. I had to kill a lot of darlings. In this process I made a lot of tracks, around 27 and picked the best 14. I'm happy with the result, there are no fillers. I wanted to convey making an album that's eclectic to listen to; for at home and for the club. There's a lot of soul on the album.
What is the concept behind it? As for your studio, what is it currently made up of? The concept behind the album is actually in the name 'Roots' already. It's called like that for multiple reasons. Obviously, there’s a lot of rhythms in there, which definitely refers to my background as a drummer. As a youngster, I had a very wide taste in music; I played / listened everything from latin to stoner rock and electronica. That’s - in a way - what you hear back on my new ablum, it’s very eclectic. There’s also a lot of African / soul on the album as well, talking about 'Roots'! And about my studio? I like to work a lot ‘in the box’. Diva, Soundtoys, Serato, Valhalla, Omnisphere and Rob Papen’s SubBoomBass are my go-to plugins. And of course, I've got my vintage drum kit set up for recordings next to all that, which kind of became my signature so to say. What's the one instrument you would never get rid of, no matter what? My drum kits, all of them really. But mostly my warm vintage Premier drum kit. It's my favorite for recordings. Phat and deep with some damping; very open and soft tuned high / jazzy. All the recordings on my album (if there are any) are coming from my Premier from the '60's. Do you have hope for the future of music? Yes definitely. Of course there's AI coming up. It's scary, but it don't think it will replace the actual producers. Not yet, at least haha. Can you reveal some future projects to us? I'm working on my live set right now. It's so much fun to try out the new tracks in front of dancing people. I'm really enjoying that. Next to that, I'm working on smaller projects right now, focused on EPs and singles. So stay tuned for new tracks! What makes you happy? Music obviously! But other than that: cats, my girlfriend, daily routine, fitness and hanging out with my friends.
