Feature

Hardsoul: Upgraded

As we effortlessly link together Toni Tamborine's second interview this issue - after interviewing Kenny Dope, we now go to one of Amsterdam's (see I told you) finest makers of house music - it has to be Hardsoul...

Were you guys born and bred in Amsterdam?

Roog: Nope, we we’re born just outside Den Haag. I studied at the university of Utrecht, which is in the centre of Holland, and after that I moved to Amsterdam. So I’ve been living here for the last 7-8 years.

Why did you feel that you had to move there (Amsterdam)?

Roog: (Jokingly) Because there was no other city I could go to ha! Basically, in the end, you HAVE to move to Amsterdam- it’s the only real city we have.

We all know that you feel strongly about the culture of your city. Can you clarify for us whether or not it is now illegal to smoke weed in Amsterdam?

Roog: Well, this is a thing that I always have to explain to people who don’t come from Holland, and none of them understands it, but then again no-one 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 (Editor: Thanks for clearing that up boys, I was just booking my hols).

How do you feel about people openly smoking weed in the city?

Roog: It’s not my thing. I don’t smoke and have never smoked, I don’t agree with tobacco either.

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!

Let’s talk Music. Imagine if you we’re introduced to someone who had never heard of your music or even seen you play live – How would you describe your sound to that person?

Roog: I think our name says it all really. It’s based around a concept that it has to sound like 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 invention, but for me it’s like listening to old-school-house. I don’t want to offend any of these people who call it minimal but it’s just house man! What happened is the press and journalists were just wanting to come up with a new tag for it, but it's house. It’s great, I love hearing the tracks that are coming out of it, but for me it's still house.

You are obviously kept busy as you play live most nights and weekends. How does touring affect your normal life?

Roog: It’s affected it in a major way actually, DJ'ing, 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 four CD players and DVD players, plus we’re doing Hardsoul live, and we are part of the major club scene here in Holland, so for me, it’s affecting my life in a way where by 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 experiences at the party’s at ADE nights?

Greg - Yeah, when it’s an ADE all the clubs are packed, and the vibe is great and so is the partying.

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, and at every ADE we do it’s like Deepheat meats beyond bookings. 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.

Let’s talk about your mix for Defected. Would you describe it as soulful?

Roog - What we wanted to do was to include all the new sounds we bring, such as traditional soulful and to what people call ‘minimal’ today. We wanted to put that all in the mix and not just be about only one sound, so we decided to go across the board. It goes from traditional soulful to minimal tech-house and everything in-between because we’re into so many different aspects of house, and we wanted to show that on the CD.

You’ve collaborated with Chocolate Puma. Tell us what it is and what it sounds like.

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 genius’s and godfather’s of the Dutch house scene, that’s all we can say about them. So we’re very happy with it, and it’s working like a MOFO. It’s called ‘R2 G2’.

Let’s talk about your re-rub of Michel Cleis’s ‘La Mezcla’. How did you alter that track in order to make it more suitable for you?

Roog - Well like I said, 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’, just generally giving it more ompf. 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 the re-edit, it was pretty crazy getting requests every day for the re-edit. So I’m glad that it’s now out and I don’t have to keep giving it away! Visit beatport ha!

Which other tracks from the mix do you want to tell us about?

Roog - The opening track is a new Hardsoul production, and the next release from my brother Mr Greg Van Bueren. We’re trying to emphasize on his solo career here in Holland. It’s a really great track, I have to say.

Greg how would you describe the track?

Greg – It has really dreamy vocals but the background is pretty energetic so I think it’s a really great combination, its strange big-ing-up your own production but I love the track and the mixes of it make it a really amazing package.

Whereabouts in the city should we hang out to see you play?

Roog - Just go to my website because I never know myself ha! Just go to djroog.com to find out, Greg has his own website too, what is it?! (laughs)

Images: Daniel Maisson
Words TONI TAMBOURINE