alia

Couldn't live in another Belgian city at the moment. There’s a lot of diversity when it comes to music, culture, art. And it’s also convenient as a hub for travelling to gigs abroad. So I feel at home here, especially since the inauguration of projects like Kiosk Radio, which make the local music scene much more connected.

The city could use even more projects that have a local community approach. My experience in social work during Uni opened my eyes to the value of genuinely working with locals. Many institutions nowadays preach the community factor but don’t apply it in practice. For instance, you can’t start a project with this in mind and then just hire a bunch of random people, instead of focusing on integrating with the people in your neighbourhoods. What we get as a result from this approach is a big divide between the world of professional music and social work/cultural centres.

I've always been interested in multiple genres. My mixing style has always been like this. In fact, I recently went back to my first mixes (still on SoundCloud by the way), and there’s already a combination of many genres there. That’s how I started putting mixes together when I was 14 years old, and it stuck. I’ve got a lot of influence growing up listening to jazz music from my dad but also for instance from the future beats, post dubstep/DnB scene in Leuven which is where I actually got into this world.

I’m occasionally playing sets focused on specific genres too, so sometimes I get messages from people really confused after listening to one of these, asking if I switched genres or something. For example, I’ve recently played a set with Mala that was dubstep focused and then right the next day with Kyle Hall, focusing more on house music.

It makes sense that artists from previous generations were influenced and had their style shaped by strictly one genre but growing up nowadays it’s hard to say that’s the case because of all the stuff we’re exposed to. So, for me it’s more about trying to do something new and incorporating many different influences into my style.

Still, I can’t say I don’t go through identity crises related to this. I like to be broad and cross many borders but sometimes it’s too much and I get lost in my music. My structure tends to be chaotic and a total mess to be honest. And it doesn’t help the fact that there’s so much music available nowadays, and you download more and more stuff, so it gets overwhelming.

I agree that 99% of DJs come from the dance floor. Going out and being mind-blown by local artists has been a recurrent thing for me. In fact, I think going out is a super important thing as a DJ. I can’t imagine DJs that don’t go raving. However, I understand it’s hard when you’re playing gigs all the time. That’s also why I get sick so often... I try to find opportunities, especially with my friends here in Belgium and then fix my sleep during the week. If I don’t have to play, I’ll definitely go out because I think it’s super important for checking DJs and stuff. For me it’s the best thing when you see a big DJ dancing next to you on the dancefloor. At least, I try as much as I can, I'll enjoy staying home and having cosy weekends lately much more.

In my opinion, the ideal dancefloor crowd is a mixture of young and old people. In fact, I love to see super young and super old people dancing together, which is unfortunately not a common thing in Belgium when compared with other countries.

I also value respectful crowds a lot. I think people being conscious of their personal space and for instance, apologising when bumping into others is key to keeping a good vibe. I was in Berlin recently and was very positively impressed in that sense.

I think on a macro scale, our scene should be more protected by governments, and on a smaller scale, venues should make more proper investment in good sound systems. It’s such a shame that venues in Brussels don’t have a sound system like the one at Funke, for instance.

I think it’s a good thing that nowadays many event organisers put stickers on cameras because phones are something that can really kill the vibe. For instance, I was in a concert the other day and at a certain point about ten people in front of me took their phones out to take photos and all of a sudden, I felt like I was in Ibiza. It made me laugh because of how crazy the situation was but also because I wanted to make a video too.

I hate the excessive amount of social media that’s used by people in the scene, especially DJs. And to be honest, this part of the DJ world makes me want to quit DJing. I know this sounds extreme, but you can feel that nowadays a lot of DJs are getting popular through social media and not through music, it’s as simple as that. And that really frustrates me.

I agree there should be a social media game but when it’s more about sharing pictures of yourself rather than sharing music, then there’s something wrong. So, I have to say, this whole part of the scene and accompanying mindset disappoints me a bit. I feel that sometimes it’s more about people’s ego than the music itself. Many people want to become a DJ nowadays, and that’s sometimes driven for the fame around it rather than starting with a passion and an interest in the history of music. Luckily there's a bunch of cool upcoming artists as well, which makes the scene also very interesting.

If I could ask for one thing to change in the scene, it would be especially this. I don’t want to sound pretentious but for me it’s important to have some music education: when I go out, I want to hear new tracks, stuff that I don’t know yet. But there are so many DJs playing stuff they think people want to hear, that follows a hype and will make people go crazy.

And then many really special artists simply don’t manage to get bookings, while Instagram DJs are getting gigs all the time. All this stuff is super demotivating. And I know it’s not just me who thinks this way. I read an article recently about a techno legend who said he was quitting because of all this bullshit happening in the scene right now, that it’s not as focused on the music anymore.

For me the ideal stage setup is a very dark dancefloor where you can’t even see properly. Another cool setup is when the DJ is in the middle of the dancefloor. But definitely not on a stage. Ideally on the ground, surrounded by people.

Furthermore, it’s about time people are able to test drugs in festivals. People will use drugs at events so I think organisers should be more upfront about it and help them be safe. For instance, I’ve heard of an event that had a dedicated, well-lit, clean room for people to use their drugs. It’s probably not a good thing that everyone is sneaking in with their stuff and then putting themselves into risky situations like using drugs inside toilet cabins for instance. It also causes unnecessary bathroom lines, especially for women.

Every time I’m in a club like Tresor in Berlin for instance, I think to myself: why the hell don’t we manage to do something like this in Brussels. However, I know good sound systems are super expensive (and there are also constraints related to the room’s configuration for example) so support from government/subsidies becomes even more critical for our scene.

I recently had the chance to go play in this new club called 'Open Ground' in Wuppertal - they invested a lot in the sound system and started building it in 2016. People like Markus Reider & Mark Ernestus (Rhythm & Sound) are behind this project. They managed to create an optimal listening environment with amazing line-ups, which are representing a lot of different music genres. The sound in both of the rooms is really something else, something I've never experienced before in a club. I really want to encourage everyone who can to go there and experience the vibe and the sound in that room. This made me once again realize how important it is to have a good sound system in a club.

Djrum for me is an absolute recent highlight. I’ve already been a fan, but I saw him four times this past year and every time I was blown away. He only plays vinyl, each time with a different insanely good selection. And the way he tells the story in his sets is for me what being a real DJ means. I think no one can do it like him so his sets are definitely a highlight for me this year. It’s hard to get surprised on the dancefloor these days but he’s a true legend.

I buy vinyl when I really really like a record or if it’s not available digitally. So, I have been collecting and playing vinyl at home for a long time now but that’s about it. Maybe I’ll start playing it live one day but that’s the thing, I don’t like being on stage. I’m a bit shy, so I think if I had to play vinyl for other people I’d stress too much, and my hands would be shaking a lot.

For now, I’m more focused on my curator/selector side. In fact, I recently launched a label called Artisjok (Dutch for artichoke) and the second release just came out.