Interview by Dan Prince
Guys a huge welcome to DMCWORLD. Where are you all today?
Thanks for having us! Well we are at Ibiza today! Love it here, taking a little break and will be back in Holland this Saturday for a live show!
Okay let’s kick off with a rewind. The band was founded in 2011 when you became disillusioned by the Dutch club scene which was so focused on techno and house. You missed the music that you grew up with. What sort of artists made an impact of you from that era?
Yeah, we kinda missed the old skool RnB sound, artists like Usher, Nelly, Michael Jackson, the sound where you want to party and make love to at the same time. Michael Jackson is a great influence to us, we love him.
You organized a party called Kris Kross Amsterdam with a nod to the famous rap duo – had you any idea or aspirations of what was to follow success wise?
No. We started Kris Kross Amsterdam as an party where Jordy and Sander were the DJ’s. When our sound became more famous in Amsterdam we got booked more next to our own party. When Yuki joined as mc in 2014 it all went very fast. Our party grew to become the largest indoor party of Amsterdam and the act started to develop in what is now Kris Kross Amsterdam.
Can you all give me your No. 1 highlight of Kingsday 2016…
The live performances of our single ‘Sex’ we did together with the guys from Cheat Codes who flew over from LA was most certain the no 1 highlight of that day. It’s so amazing to notice thousands of people singing along to our song.
An interesting thing you said in an interview recently where you remarked that you have been noticing a change in the electronic scene at the moment, especially in Amsterdam. More interaction is wanted. Can you elaborate…
Yes, we noticed that the audiences are searching for more of a live touch. They are done with DJ’s who press play on their pre-recorded sets. They want interaction, it’s the line between a live concert and a DJ set that is becoming thinner. We think it will eventually disappear. The feeing we want to bring to our audience is that live performance, together with a high energy and love for music.
Which brings us to ‘SEX’ – your massive smash with the LA based trio Cheat Codes. Please talk us through the history and sound of the track…
Thanks! It’s amazing that there is so many support! We are really grateful for that. When our record label Spinnin’ Records sent us the acapella version of ‘Sex’ we really liked it. So in the studio we composed the music for it and within two ours the first demo was ready. When we listened to it we immediately had the feeling this could be big. But as huge as it became is something you can never expect or dream of.
Check the video here…
Last week saw the remix package explode with reworks courtesy of Hasse de Moor, TV Noise, TWRK & Doobious, Gregor Salto, KWINT, Jasper Dietze and Drianu. Quite a list. Who picked these ace producers and what remixes stood out for you?
We did everything in collaboration with Spinnin’ Records. It’s so cool to see a lot of DJ’s supporting the track and wanted to make a remix of it. We had the chance to choose which one came on the package and we think it’s amazing.
What are the 5 tunes in your box this weekend…
One Dance – Drake.
He did it again…
Can’t Stop The Feeling – Justin Timberlake.
Justin is such a great musician!
Until The Morning – Kris Kross Amsterdam.
It’s our first single, with the success of ‘Sex’ it suddenly became more popular.
Panda- Desiigner.
Did you know a Dutch guy Paul Geusebroek made the video for it?
Man in the Mirror – Michael Jackson.
We always end with MJ.
“We think we’re gonna do everything you don’t expect us to do. We love so many genres of music that we don’t want to held on to just one sound.” What is coming next from you guys…
We hope to release our new single in July. It’s going to be a Kris Kross Amsterdam original. No collaboration, no remix, that’s all we can say right now.
Tell us all about your new radio show…
Our radio show is going to be a monthly mix of our favorite songs and genres. New found future diamonds and old skool favorits. If you like our style, I think you can listen to it all day.
“We are always on the look out for cool collaborations”. Who are on your list…?
Our dream is to work with guys like Diplo and Skrillex. They are really taking everything to the next level and setting great examples for guys like us.
What’s the biggest mistake you’ve made in your life and how did you overcome it?
Well it’s hard to say. I think the biggest mistakes are always mistakes made in your personal life. In our profession you can make a lot of mistakes, you are surrounded by party people, booze, drugs, and temptations. The biggest mistake is to surrender to the temptations. Then you will never make it. So the best answer to this is to never make the biggest mistake in your life, because it can destroy everything.
Which famous person would you most like to see play you in a film?
Johnny Depp for sure! Amazing actor who can easily play the three us!
What’s the biggest risk you’ve ever taken?
Taking a 15 minute massage on the airport 16 minutes before departure to LA.
What accomplishment in your life are you most proud of?
We received our first platinum award for our single ‘Sex’ in our home country The Netherlands. It’s still unbelievable.
And let’s conclude with an obvious question regarding the tune SEX. Each pick up a celebrity crush you’d like to wine and dine…
Jordy: Actress Cara Delevingne.
Sander: Singer Jennifer Lopez
Yuki: Blogger Lizzy van der Ligt
