Joe Stone is the alter ego of Dutch DJ, Maurice Oude Booyink, who has been making serious waves over the past few years with his unique 90s-influenced contemporary house sound. Classically trained from an early age and growing up on a diet of funk and soul music, Joe Stone’s first single ‘The Party (This Is How We Do It)’ gained a great deal of attention in summer 2015, repackaging Montell Jordan’s eponymous 1995 hit into a solid twenty-first century house groove.
Having performed at some of the world’s biggest festivals ever since, including Tomorrowland, Dance Valley and Sunrise Festival to name just a few, his most recent smash hit with Cr3on, ‘Is It Really Love’ was crowned #1 Trending track on 1001 Tracklists after its release, and has now been streamed more than 17 million times on Spotify. This has resulted in over 2,1 million monthly listeners and the massive, ever-expanding amount of subscribers to his monthly ‘Sound Of Stone’ radio show.
Following the release of his latest single on Spinnin’ Records ‘Bug A Boo’ we sat down with the Dutch star to discuss early influences, his retro house style and what he’s got in store for 2019…
Hi Joe Stone! Thanks for taking the time to chat with DMC World, great to have you. How are you?
I’m very good thanks and happy to be here.
For those of our readers that might not know you, please can you introduce yourself.
Sure, my name is Joe Stone and my main focus with music is House music. Deep House to be more specific. In 2015 I had a track called ’The Party’ featuring Montell Jordan and it blew up at the time and that kickstarted my whole career ever since. Also I have a background in playing keys and I was playing in bands before all this.
Where in the world are you right now?
Right now I’m at home in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Your brand new single ‘Bug A Boo’ is out now on Spinnin’ Records. Can you tell us a little bit about the record?
One of my favorite R&B groups back in the day was Destiny’s Child and I was thinking about using a vocal from them. I was paying around ‘Bug a Boo’ and just fitted the track and bassline perfectly.
You have a long history with Spinnin’ Records. How did that come about?
True. I think Spinnin’ is a very versatile label that allows me to be me and to be able to think out of the box sometimes. They have a very big following around the world that also helps me get the exposure.
How would you best describe your sound?
Good question. I would describe it as Retro House. I love to use 80’s and 90’s influences in my tracks. A lot of times I try to use certain sounds that I put in all my tracks and remixes.
There seems to be a strong 90s influence running through your productions. What’s the inspiration behind this?
I listened a lot to Daft Punk, Axwell, Hot Since 82, MK, Disclosure, Route 94 and Ten Snake.
I’m told that your track with Cr3on ‘Is It Really Love’ is Spinnin’s best performing track on Apple Music ever. That’s quite an achievement! What is it about that record that you think made it so popular?
Yes! I was so happy and honored to hear that. I believe the vocals are instant recognizable. The bassline melody and break chords bring the good mood and helped a great deal pushing the track.
What artists did you listen to growing up?
I listened to artists like LL Cool J, Outhere Brothers, De La Soul, Salt ’n Pepa, MC Hammer, Daft Punk, Michael Jackson, Underworld, The Prodigy, St. Germain,
Roger Sanchez, Artful Doggers, Phats and Small and many many more.
What are 5 records that never leave your record box?
‘Show Me Love’ by Robin S (various versions)
’Look Right Through (MK Remix)’ by Storm Queen
‘The Party ft. Montell Jordan’ by Joe Stone
‘Dirty Sexy Money (Joe Stone Remix)‘ by David Guetta,
‘Your Love’ by Mark Knight
What does the rest of 2019 have in store for Joe Stone? What have you got coming up in terms of gigs, new music and anything else?
There are quite a lot of tracks finished so we are still deciding which will be the next release after this. We are planning a lot of shows for this year.
www.facebook.com/JoeStoneOfficial/
