Kicking yourself for not making it down to Tomorrowland? Head down to the East End Bar tonight, September 5, to catch Euro house masters DubVision and Julian Jordan in action. SHAUN COWE and IDA CECILIE JOHANNESSEN checked in with DubVision’s Victor and Stephan Leicher when they were still in Canada, before a chat with Julian Jordan.
“We prefer doing originals because those records are 100% ours. They are really our babies,” says Victor. “On the other hand, getting the opportunity to turn a good record into a DubVision record is also really fulfilling because you can use stuff you would never use while working on your own.”
Hollow is a more introspective turn for the brothers, although still blessed with the big drops that make electro house such compulsive listening. “We weren’t worried about how people would take it, because we knew the track had a great hook and vocals. The record did great and people love it where- and whenever we play it. Energy in a track is great but music has a lot of other aspects that people can enjoy like emotion and suspense.”
Hollow features the big, slow builds that brought DubVision to megafestival Tomorrowland, arguably the biggest event in EDM. The concept of having those two classically DuBVision elements – a gentle breakdown with the vocals followed by a big melodic drop – first came to them while snowed in their chalet during a snowboarding trip in Austria.
“We usually like to take our listeners on a journey. We love when music triggers emotions, sad or happy and anything in between. Usually, these are the records that you remember for a long time. The vocals were written and sung by Allan Eshuijs. The song is about what most songs are about; finding love and losing it!”
In spite of an intense touring schedule, the brotherly love is still intact. “We make sure we spend some time apart as well. We are together a lot so eventually some irritations are bound to happen but they never turn into big fights.”
Where’s house headed? “Hard to say. The harder styles have been really popular over the last few years. We feel the melodic and groovy stuff is coming back, which we love! EDM is massive right now and it’s all over the world.”
Fresh out of New York – “Great as always! Our good friend Michael Brun came along and we premiered our new collab, Sun In Your Eyes” – the work never slows down for the Leichers.
“We have a lot of stuff coming! We’re still buzzing on the success we had with Backlash which reached the number one position on beatport. Right now we are really excited for the release of our collab with Michael Brun, which comes out on September 1. Next is our remix for Sander van Doorn, Martin Garrix and DVBBS’s track called Gold Skies. Then we have another original on Spinnin’ and some exciting collabs which we can’t say too much about, unfortunately.”
DubVision play their Perth show with labelmate Julian Jordan. “Julian is a great guy. He’s also signed to Spinnin’ Records and we love his music. It amazing to see what level he’s on considering his age. We’re looking forward to touring together in Australia and doing a lot of crazy stuff!”
Already a big name DJ/producer, Julian Jordan’s already performed at some of the hottest dance festivals, such as Turn Up The Beach, Dancetour, Matrixx At The Park and at Privilege Night Club in Ibiza, aged 16. He’s just turned 19, and he’s had a productive week.
“I started with making hip hop and I think I think it’s still my biggest inspiration,” says Julian. “When I have a day off I love to put on a hip hop album and just relax. Most of the times the idea’s for new melodies and drops just pop in while I’m relaxing and listening to those albums – but I don’t have one genre. If it’s dope and I like it I will release it.”
Starting as young as he has can have its disadvantages, like not getting served. “That was a bit weird. I was the only one sober in the club. I also had the feeling people wouldn’t take me seriously because I was young but that never happened – I think I had the same amount of fun as them.”
As for the Bieber effect? “My Instagram is exploding when I post a pic, but it’s cool though! I mean, a lot of young kids are fans and they can’t even get in the clubs or a festival – that’s the power of the Internet.”
Also under the sway of the Internet: Julian’s most recent release, creepy pasta-titled Slenderman. “I used to live in a house in the woods after I’d just moved to Amsterdam,” says Julian. “When I was on my bike back home I had to go through the woods to get home. The melody came in my head while I was on my bike.”
DUBVISION AND JULIAN JORDAN
EAST END BAR
FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
