The Knockturnal got the chance to sit down and chat with one of the greatest techno/house music produces, Joris Voorn, AND experience what was an unbelievable set at one of NY’s hottest places, Output.
Joris Voorn was a name that I started hearing about when my interest for techno and house music began to grow. He has been in the game for such a long time now that his productions along with his sets have reached such a level of greatness, one that is unusual to come by. After having listened to some of his songs and seen some of his live sets on YouTube, he quickly rose to the top of my list of artists I needed to see perform. Upon the announcement of his set at Output, I was filled with eager and proceeded to tell all of my friends, all of whom enjoy his music as much as I do.
I knew his set was going to be good, but Joris Voorn surpassed my expectations. His ability to go from song to song so flawlessly, feeding the crowd with exactly what they needed, and giving them nothing less than spectacular tunes for a 4 hour set blew my mind. Joris Voorn has been one of my favorites so far not only because he has impeccable taste in music, but also a very broad one. His sets never feel stuck or too long, he knows exactly when and how to maneuver from one style to the other, giving a wide range of music without noticing a drastic change in the dance floor.
Throughout his set, he interacted with the audience by smiling at them, sometimes giving a fist pump or a high five, one could tell he enjoyed seeing his fans as happy as can be.
Towards the end of this amazing night, he began to slow the dance floor down by playing more melodic songs, at which point he played my personal favorite “Ringo”. As soon as this song came on, everyone started cheering. The slow build up of the song along with the anticipation of the crowd created this incredible energy in the venue. When the song finally dropped, it was as if the party had just started. Joris Voorn allowed the audience to become a community with his incredible talent. He honored some of the best in the game such as Eric Prydz and Daft Punk by playing some of their songs. Joris actually played Daft Punk’s best and most known to close what was a spectacular night.
Sitting down and getting to talk to this music genius really allowed me to understand him as an artist on a deeper level and appreciate him even more! We got the chance to hear about his new project Spectrum which seems like it’ll be incredible, and what his trajectory as an artists has been.
Hopefully this interview will help you discover, if you did not already know, Joris and see why he is the incredible artist he is!
Tell me about your project Spectrum.
Spectrum is kind of a way for me to host events and nights where I have the ability to play anything I want, which I guess I have the opportunity to do every single time I play at Output. I wanted to start my own nights and start curating parties. I believe in a wide variety of music, a wide spectrum of music, which I think is what interests me in music in general. I wanted to be able to curate lineups that represent this spectrum. Sometimes I might be playing a long set for about 3 to 4 hours, maybe even longer, just doing my own thing. Some other times for bigger or different crowds, I might curate a lineup around myself that’s representative of the wide spectrum of music in itself. It’s about trying not just focusing on one genre but pretty much everything goes.
What lineups do you have coming up?
We just did the launch of “Spectrum” in Europe (in Amsterdam, London, Paris, and Manchester), we did four shows in four weeks, kind of just to set the brand. We documented everything to see how it goes and we’re going to take it from here. We’re going to do very small events, for example in Miami for the conference this year. We wanted to first have a try out, and see if this is going to work.
Which artists have you brought in to work on “Spectrum”?
We had Maya Jane Coles for the Manchester show, who’s already quite a diverse artist I think, very interesting musically. We also had some locals from Manchester, who represent the scene, we did that in every city. In Paris we had Djebali, who’s a local hero, playing very percussive, kind of groovy sounds. I myself played a much more diverse musical set. We had Dusky for Amsterdam, who is very UK/melodic, almost sometimes of a vintage kind of sound. In London we had a local opener, who also plays very melodic, very deep kind of sounds. Everyone is welcome within the spectrum genre I would say.
Your photography for Spectrum is quite spectacular, was there some Bowie inspiration behind it?
There was absolutely no Bowie inspiration! When we made the first shots, people were commenting saying “Oh that’s Bowie”. I guess I see it because of the the light on the face. I had this idea, I was looking for a way to visually represent what I believe in musically, and the diversity, and the colorful approach to music. I was looking for what “Spectrum” needs, and doing a brainstorming process I came up with the concepts. I made a whole page with all kinds of reference materials, and there was always this shadow and light coming to the point that I was like “maybe in that direction”. I met this Dutch photographer named Jos Kottmann, sent him the page and then we went into the studio to photograph a few models (who were not actually models but normal looking people). He nailed it with his talent and his ability to create photography, he just nailed the whole concept, visually it really works. The next idea was, “Why don’t we just ask some people at the Amsterdam event (this was last year)?” to let them be part of the project. We took about 20 pictures of people coming from the US, and many other places. The next phase was to bring the photographer to the event, see if we could take pictures of the people inside the clubs, with the typical spectrum design. It has been a real added value to the concept because it has brought something really special to the people. You can see people are really excited to be a part of it. By capturing the public, I got a chance to really see who was coming to my event.
How do you prepare for a set like Output?
I always try to listen to as much music as I can before the show. I try to really pick a wide range of music that I think is going to work that night. I have played Output many times so I know what works, but then again you never really know what it’s going to be like. It depends on what the guy before me plays as well, if he plays a little bit more uptempo stuff, I can go down. Generally it’s going to range from deep/melodic stuff to more stripped down hard techno and everything in between.
You really enjoy photography as well, what is the connection between your photography and music?
I guess photography has been one of my passions for the last 20 years; pretty much since I have been DJing I have been taking pictures. I did art school back in the day, went into the darkroom, developed my own black and white pictures. All of my three albums have had photos taken by myself. Every single record that I have released on my own label, they all feature my own photography as well. For me it’s about being able to travel the world and capture it in a way that I like.
What made you start your own record labels?
I started the first one, “Green” in 2005, so it has been a while. I just wanted an outlet for my own music, I wanted to be able to control everything from the way I worked to the music I released. It was supposed to be my music only but then we got some really good demos later on and I decided to release other people’s music as well. My other label is called “Rejected”, which I run with my friend Edwin Oosterwal and was created in 2006. He’s from Holland, we have been friends for about 20 years now, we also just wanted to have an outlet for our own music. It was supposed to be a little bit more dance floor than the stuff that was put out on “Green”. “Rejected” was always meant to be more dance floor stuff, nothing complicated, no difficult melodies, nothing experimental, just stuff that works on the floor. That is still how it is.
How did you go from interior architecture into DJing?
I started DJing as a hobby, just like everyone. You don’t really go to school thinking “I want to be a DJ”, I was just doing that. At some point, even in my first year of art school, the teachers were like “your work is ok, it’s not bad but you’re spending too much time on music”. I just couldn’t help myself, I love music too much. Even before I discovered electronic music I was playing in bands, I was playing guitar, violin. I have always been obsessed with music. I did finish my degree in architecture and interior architecture but the masters that I was planning to do afterwards did not really work. I knew I was going to have to choose between that and music, I chose music.
You remixed a song for Bob Moses. When you have to remix a song like “Like It Or Not”, which has a lot of instruments, do you need to think about it more like which way you’re going to direct your style or does it come more naturally to you?
That’s a good question. It’s funny, they asked me to remix another track that I really liked, but it just was not my groove and I couldn’t do it. As much as I loved the track, I couldn’t make the remix, turn it around and make it something it’s me. They were persistent and kept asking me, then they asked me for another track. That track had a groove that actually matched my style, it’s still techno-based with some different elements like indie-sounding. It was quite a stripped down track, so it was going to work really well because I felt like all the elements were there for me to put my own mark on it, really express my own artistic approach with it. It is always interesting for me to remix songs with elements that are not usual for my kind of music because I can replay them, skip them all together, it’s just a very different inspiration.
Your roster of songs is so big, but if you could pick one, what has been your favorite song to produce?
I have done so many different songs… Some were made in one hour and some took me a year and a half. There’s one track called MPX309, which is one of my favorites. It’s just a 909 drum machine and a 303 acid loop and a reverb. That was probably made in just 10 minutes, I just cut it up to made it about 7 minutes. One of the tracks that took me the longest to make was for my son, “Ringo”. It’s very melodic and atmospheric but still quite driving for the dance floor and definitely in my favorites but it took me a really long time. The approach to every track is always different, sometimes it goes very naturally and organically. Usually the first sketches are quite easy but then the sounds need to be better and as soon as you start messing around with one thing or the other, that kind of the beginning of a very long journey.
What about Output stands out for you?
I think Output has very well curated line-ups. That’s really important because it really determines the crowd that you pull in. The sound system is amazing, that’s something that’s absolutely essential. The room is very beautiful as well. I am very happy that they lowered the DJ booth. Before I couldn’t really see who I was playing for. The last time I played in September, the booth was down and felt so much better! It’s the mix between the crowd, the line-ups, and the sound that make it great.
If you are into these genres of electronic music, I hope Joris Voorn will raise up to your favorites. There is a reason why this man has been in the game for so long. Listening to his sets, productions, and him speak about his craft has been a delight because one can tell music is where his heart lies. Give his soundcloud a listen and keep being delighted by this incredible artist.
