Kendra: When Super8 & Tab came out with the Empire album it took almost 3 years to make but included 7 vocal tracks which is a huge accomplishment! What do you guys have in mind for raising the bar for the next album? Any new ideas?
Janne: “Raising the bar… We are releasing the Empire Remixed album. Which we have all of our favorite artists of making remixes. That’s coming out next month. It’s really good. We have Gareth Emery, Lange, Sunny Lax, Rank1, Kyau & Albert… So it’s gonna be really good! But also, we are working on something new.”
Miika: “Yup yup yup! We are working on the next album but I don’t know how to raise the bar. Just do the things you try to do as good as possible. I think it’s just chance if we raise the bar or not.”
Kendra: I read in an interview that you guys like to write your own songs and you’ve suggested to arising producers that it’s something they should try to do also. Does it come easily to you when writing your own tracks? Does it take time?
Miika: “Sometimes it comes easily, but other times it’s a long trip.”
Janne: “The ideas come very quickly, and then making a track it becomes a long process.”
Kendra: I know it can be hard working as a team, reflecting ideas, but you guys are so modest and work amazingly well together. Do you guys have any advice for up and coming duo producers?
Janne: “Well thank you!”
Miika: “We have our own strengths and we try to work from there. And of course you are two people so you have to listen to the other one. It’s kinda like… well we’re both married so this is kinda being married as well! So it’s like we spend as much time together as we do with both our wives.”
Janne: “And at the beginning we really didn’t plan to work together. We just went to the studio and tried to do something. That’s when we made First Aid. That was the first track we ever made and we thought, ‘Hold on, there might be something going on. Let’s try to do another one.’”
Miika: “It’s much more fun to do music together rather than alone. Like when you have a moment and you’re not really sure if the track is good or not… there’s another pair of ears which helps a lot.”
Kendra: Last time you guys were in San Francisco you opened for Above & Beyond for NYE 2010. What did you guys think of the San Francisco scene?
Janne: “It was great! San Francisco was so into it! We were suppose to play a 2 in a half hour set but we ended up playing a 3 in a half to 4 hours!”
Miika: “Ya that was a really good one!”
Kendra: Did you visit anywhere in San Francisco?
Janne: “We actually spent some time taking a look around.”
Miika: “Ya it was one of those things we actually had time to do! We even took a sightseeing tourist bus and we met some other people from Finland!”
Kendra: Well you have a lot of fans in San Francisco and we can’t wait to have you guys back!
Kendra: So how was your guys’ day?
Walt: “Awesome. We just got back from Phoenix; did a big show yesterday which was awesome. And now we’re here today and we’re ready to go on stage in about one hour and ten minutes.”
Sjoerd: “A few hours and some Jaeger!”
Walt: “Ya some Jaeger for the jetlag!”
Kendra: So speaking of LA you guys were the first of your genre to have a sold out gig here. What is it about LA that makes you guys so unique to your fans?
Walt: “Well the first time we played here was about 4 years ago and we didn’t know what to expect. We play a lot in Europe and in Europe the harder dance scene is really huge. So when we went to the USA we didn’t know what to expect but they knew all the tracks and were singing along with the lyrics! And from then on we started playing a lot in this area. People are very opened minded!”
Kendra: Did the fan base build after some time?
Showtek: “YEAH!”
Sjoerd: “When we play we don’t change our sound but play a little more diverse these days because we have a very diverse taste in music ourselves, so sometimes we mix up our sounds. Sometimes we play a little bit of dubstep and other times some stomping house beats just to tease the crowd, but I think it works really well. Boom Box and EDC Las Vegas… Yeah electric dance music is so moving at the moment I think people love a little hard music! Also, I think people grew up with Hip Hop and Rock as well which is pretty rough at times so I think our sound fits good in America especially in LA California.”
Kendra: Speaking of diverse, Walt you’re into classical music?
Walt: “Well I play piano but I’m not going to concerts anymore or anything. I just started 10 or 15 years ago when I was a little bored and would play stuff that already existed. When we wanted to write our own music a lot of tracks start on the piano.”
Sjoerd: “Yeah sometimes I’m lying in my bed and I hear a ‘beep beep’ on my phone and it’s Walt playing piano! I’m like, ‘I can’t hear it through the phone man!’ Haha!”
Kendra: And Sjoerd you taught yourself how to produce right?
Sjoerd: “Well on the computer like mixing and editing beats and stuff. In the very beginning we tried out some tracks when it was just a hobby and from then on we starting producing without an actual education. But that’s the cool thing! You don’t need an education for something that just comes to you!”
Walt: “You learn so much just by trying out things in the studio and now after I think 10 years you pretty much know a lot of it. And even reading books about production and watching tutorials helps too.”
Kendra: So in the beginning when you were teaching yourself how to produce, did you ever hit a wall where you didn’t know how to produce a certain sound in your head? Did you have a mentor to go to?
Sjoerd: “No we just figured it out. I remember it was 4 o’clock in the morning and Mom got really annoyed by all the sounds coming from our rooms!”
Walt: “Haha yeah! And you also have to remember that if someone else can make that sound on a mix- it’s possible. So just go for it.”
Kendra: When you were younger and producing while going to school, did you guys ever feel like an outcast around your peers?
Walt: “No. I even remember some of our tracks being played in the classroom and the teacher loving it! In Holland dancing is huge! Everybody listens to dance!”
Sjoerd: “ I think that we skipped so many classes because we were up late the night before making beats that the next day was like, ‘I don’t want to go to school; I want to go make more music!’ But it worked out in the end. “
Kendra: Well the hard work paid off! 2009 was a big year for you guys with Beatport. Best Album, Best Track, Best Producer, Best DJ, Best Compilation…
Walt: “Yeah we won a lot of awards that year and it gave us so much more inspiration to continue what we were doing. We were getting the right feedback and just knowing people loved it we wanted to produce some more stuff.”
Sjoerd: “We traveled too much in 2009 though. Sometimes we were like, ‘Ok, it’s really nice to stay home for a few days.’”
Walt: “Yeah I think we did 150 shows that year.”
Sjoerd: “Yeah for us it was a lot. You know when you travel and produce and count the days it was a little too much maybe; but we achieved a lot. Nowadays we try hard to find a balance between traveling and working in the studio which is very important as well. I think the next thing for us is making a new album for Showtek which we’re working on right now. I’m not sure when it’ll be finished but we’re working on it.”
Kendra: So first, Happy Birthday!
Marcel: “Haha thanks! It’s funny I forgot it was my birthday! Of course I got my birthday wishes but also played that day and after I was played when I was signing stuff, people were like, ‘Happy Birthday!’ and I was like ‘Oh yeah it’s my birthday!’”
Kendra: Well this morning you were having issues with the airlines. Do you want to say anything to United Airlines?!
Marcel: “Oh man… you know to tell people the truth it was such a pain in the ass. First it was delayed then they have you board, then they say that that you have to get off board to fix the plane… after an hour they say we’re gonna board again and then after everyone’s cued up they say, ‘oh sorry, we’re not going to board.’ So it went on for 7 hours. So that’s why the set time had to change…”
Kendra: Well we’re glad you’re here and you did a great set by the way! Speaking of twitter, you tweeted to fans a couple days ago that you wanted help naming your new album. Come up with anything yet?
Marcel: “Yeah that’s right! Well the real name wasn’t there so I might have found a name but I don’t know yet for sure.”
Kendra: Musical Madness. It’s a great compilation! You have exquisite taste compiling the tracks from so many genres. What can fans expect from the label though?
Marcel: “Thank you! For the label it goes a little bit the same from house to trance stuff. And funny enough I don’t play everything from the label, but I want to have a platform for known producers and that’s basically the whole idea behind Musical Madness.”
Kendra: When you’re in the studio and you have writers block, what do you do to clear your head?
Marcel: “Well that almost never happens. I just keep on working and in the end something will come out of it. That’s always the case.”
Kendra: Lastly, you were in San Francisco a couple years ago. What did you think of the crowd? Did you get a chance to go sightseeing?
Marcel: “Yeah it was a great gig! I loved the crowd! But I didn’t get a chance to visit because I had to fly out early the next day.”
Kendra: Well you have many fans in San Francisco and we can’t wait to have you back!
