Brothers in rhythm! Huge new ‘Hollow’ track smashing out on Spinnin’
Interview : Dan Prince
Steve, Victor welcome to DMCWORLD…where in the world are you today?
“We just came home from a gig in Milan. Now we’re in the studio finishing up some stuff and then we’re off to USA next week.”
A massive new track from you guys that has smashed The Buzz Chart this week, talk us through the sound and making of ‘Hollow’…
“The project is actually already a year old and there is kind of a funny story about it. We were both on holiday snowboarding in the Alps, the week was awesome, until it snowed so hard (almost two feet a day) that our cabin literally got snowed in! One window even cracked and at some point. The whole village was out of food and driving was out of the question. We were not prepared for that. Since we were stranded we figured we might as well get some work done. We only had a few limited projects with us, so we opened up this old project and started re-doing it. We added some fresh instruments, made a lead a little different ect. – then when we finally got home after being snowed in for 4 days, we got the vocal in from Spinnin and ‘Hollow’ was born.”
Okay let’s trip back for a moment. Most kids at some time or another are made to try and play a musical instrument by their parents, yours were no exception making you play music that ranged from classical to jazz and from blues to funk. How was that for you, did you both love it or would you have rather been outside pretending you were Ziatan Ibrahimović?
“Practice wasn’t always a walk in the park. At some point we all wanted to quit. The music pieces became so difficult that you actually had to study and practice all week to be ready to play them in front of the teacher. We would have rather played football instead. Years after, when the music making became really serious and we actually used our piano playing skills for our tracks, we realized that we are blessed with our parent’s decision back then.”
Victor, it was you the younger brother who started experimenting with electronic music using all sorts of computer programs. Steve saw what he liked and joined in – Victor, were you cool hooking up with Steve back then?
“Yeah, I was already further in the process of producing, but he had some strong ideas that he played on the piano and suggested to put them in the computer. This is how we made our first little productions. I think we both knew quite fast that we wanted to do this for the rest of our lives.”
Who were the producers/DJs that got you interested back then, how had you learnt about dance music at such an early age?
“In the Netherlands, dance/house of all kinds has been around for many years. We have a lot of radio stations that play dance music so you get introduced pretty fast with it at a young age. We always liked Axwell because of the ‘mature’ and ‘detailed’ music he makes. It’s always pure quality.”
What is the current Top 10 you are spinning…
“We mashup almost all these tracks, but here are the originals…
1 DubVision – Hollow
2 Dimitri Vangelis & Wyman & Steve Angello – Payback
3 Hook n Sling – Tokyo by Night (Axwell remix)
4 Kryder – Tarzan
5 DubVision – Rifler
6 Matisse & Sadko – Sigure
7 DubVision – ID
8 Deniz Koyu – Ruby
9 Third Party – Everyday of my Life
10 Hard Rock Sofa & Skidka – Arms Around Me
Miami WMC/Ultra now seems but a distant memory, we saw you all over the place…what were your take home moments from a fabulous week in the Sunshine State…?
“Unfortunately we were not booked for Ultra, but we saw a majority of the shows. We had a couple of ideas / collab ideas circling around that were played for a packed main stage audience. To see the reaction of such a massive crowd is just amazing. It’s in that moment we got confirmation that we did a good job.”
Something you said in an interview a couple of years ago… EDM is getting a little bit out of hand at the moment and there is a risk it will be played out in a couple of years.” Geez, I think it is fair to say that risk has been estinguished huh?!?
“Dance music pretty much sounds all the same nowadays. The next record needs to be even harder than the last record. The attention for the actual melody and feeling in a track is put aside: It’s all about the drop. It needs to be hard. We see a slight change, and you can tell people want something different. Hopefully we all start making beautiful music again. A crowd goes wild with a good groove too, you know.”
Tell us about your studio set up, who excels in what department…
“Macbook laptops, attached to a 27inch Apple screen and two big midi keyboards. Fans, piggybanks, and stuffed monkeys are everywhere. Steve is most of the time busy with melodies, as Victor is more focussed on the beats. But we also switch it up al the time.”
What are some of the reasons you stand out as producers, what makes a GREAT DubVision track?
“A melody with a lot of emotion. People need to feel something and not only jump to it. We spend a lot of time finding a melody. It’s very important when making a good track, in our opinion.”
Other than Michael Jackson, 3 tracks that are always on your iPod…
1 Clean Bandits – Rather Be,
2 Route 94 – My Love,
3 Drake – Hold On
Steve, as the money starts to roll in have you started using your architect skills to sketch some dream home designs, if so, what would definitely be a feature inside??
“We are keeping an open mind; we might move abroad at some point. There certainly will be a point when I want to design my own house, with a studio and everything in it. I think my ultimate dream would to make a saltwater aquarium. The aquarium would not be just a normal tank, but it would have a function, like a brick wall has. Only this wall would be a see-through-wall, with beautifull fish in it!”
Steve – you still dreaming of that Lady Gaga one on one???
“She’s a hot bitch underneath all those crazy outfits hahaha. We would love to get in the studio with her. It would be insane, she’s so talented!”
What are your plans for Ibiza this summer?
“We’ve got a couple of dates planned at Amnesia and the ‘Together’ parties on Tuesday, so far. We played there last year a couple times and those parties are sick! We are definitely gonna rent a villa again for a week and chill. We basically do that every year. We hope to play at Ushuaia- that would be amazing.”
Not many people know this, but DubVision are really good at…
“Eating! We’re trying to work out as much as possible right now, but it’s hard, especially on tour…”
And finally, what is coming out next from you guys release wise…?
“We’ve got our new track ‘Hollow’ coming out May 30. There are quite a few things coming out on some of our favorite lables, but we can’t confirm yet- some big collabs, and DubVision originals. There will be a lot of DubVision melodies coming this summer!”
http://www.dubvisionmusic.com
http://twitter.com/dubvisionmusic
http://www.youtube.com/musicdubvision