Hi guys. Amsterdam is taking on the likes of Ibiza, Berlin and London at the moment as a contender for the dance capital of Europe. Some amazing events and clubs taking place. So, are you all from this city?
Roog – “Nope, we were all born just outside Den Haag. But in the end, you HAVE to move to Amsterdam, it’s the only real city we have.”
So, the coffee shops in Amsterdam – no other city in the world like it…what are your thoughts on the situation?
Roog – “Well, this is a thing that I always have to explain to people who don’t come from Holland, and none of them understand it, but then again nobody in Holland does either. You can smoke in a coffee shop, and a coffee shop is allowed to sell it to its customers. But, they are only allowed to have a certain amount of stash in the building, which is a fairly small amount. It’s not legal, it’s tolerated. It’s not my thing, I have never smoked…”
Greg – “But you don’t have a problem with it do you?”
Roog – “No I don’t have a problem with it, I think it’s a good solution that people can buy it in certain places and smoke it in certain places, that’s fine. The only thing that bothers me is we get a lot of tourists from all over the world coming to the city just to smoke weed. The city seems to attract a certain clientele, people who just come here to smoke. Amsterdam has so much more to offer.”
Okay enough about all that, describe to someone who has never heard your music, what your sound is?
Roog – “I think our name says it all really. It’s based around soul and funk, but we also give it a lot more energy, that’s basically what it is.”
In recent years, Amsterdam has experienced an up-surge in terms of it being a big clubbing destination. Why do you think that is?
Roog – “What’s happening is that Amsterdam has become – and is becoming, the new capital for minimal and alternative styles of music, and it’s kind of becoming the new Berlin. In terms of more traditional House, it’s not doing quite as well at the moment. The funny thing is, is the people who are playing the minimal style are saying that it’s completely new and some kind of new invention, but for me it’s like listening to old skool House. I don’t want to offend any of these people who call it minimal but it’s just House man. What happened, in my opinion, is the press and journalists were just wanting to come up with a new tag for it.”
You obviously tour all over Holland, what other cities in the country are really happening at the moment?
Roog – “Rotterdam has a good scene and traditionally has been associated with the harder Techno sound and now ‘FIGIT House’, which is not really my thing as it’s a bit too hard for me. But it’s really popular there as the people there tend to like their music with more energy and a bit of an edge. The House sound there is not really big, so we have to play a more energetic set. Rotterdam has the one of the world’s biggest harbours and the people pride themselves on being working class, and so when they go out they know how to have it. In Utrecht, in the centre of Holland, there’s a club called Monza which do good stuff, and we recently played there at the ‘Defected In The House’ night which went down really well.”
You have an agency, DJ and play live – fuck me, bust then?
Roog – All of it has affected us in a major way actually. DJing for me, is what takes up most of our time each month. Erick E and myself are doing another really popular thing in Holland called ‘Housequake’ which is Erick and myself playing with 4 CD players and DVD players, plus we’re doing Hardsoul live. I don’t really have a private life, so it’s just all about working. And obviously owning an agency doesn’t really help either, so it’s pretty much work all over.”
Greg, tell us about your experiences of ‘ADE’, and what do you think ADE means for Amsterdam?
Greg – “Well ADE is getting better and better every year I guess. More people are attending it, I think the good thing about it, is the fact the whole business conference itself is all in one place. It’s an important centre in the city for dance music.”
What about your special ‘ADE’ night?
Roog – “There’s Greg’s monthly club night called ‘Deepheat’, and each year at ‘ADE’ we do a special version of the night. It’s all about Deep House sounds. The night is pretty special. We do it on a Thursday at a small club called Club NL. It’s a small club and it’s very cosy and intimate and it has that old Miami club vibe.”
You’ve collaborated with Chocolate Puma. What’s that all about?
Roog – “We had this idea for a long time, but we couldn’t get round to finishing it – which happens sometimes. So we sent it over to Rene & Gaston and they smashed it. They’re fucking geniuses and godfathers of the Dutch House scene, that’s all we can say about them. So we’re very happy with it. It’s called ‘R2 G2’.”
Roog, Let’s talk about your re-rub of Michel Cleis’s ‘La Mezcla’….
Roog – “I’m into all the different forms of House music and I heard this track last year, but it was quite long – about 12 minutes I think. There was no real build-up to it so I decided to do a re-edit of it- editing beats and including snippits from one of our tracks called ‘Deep Inside’. I played it with Erick Morillo last year, and he just ripped it out of my hand and has been playing it ever since. Then people from all over the planet started calling me up to get it, it was pretty crazy getting requests every day. So I’m glad that it’s now out and I don’t have to keep giving it away! Visit beatport ha!”
‘Defected In The House Amsterdam ’09’ is out now on Defected Records
