VIRTUS //

Hello guys, thanks for taking the time to speak with us at Virtus, where in the world are you right now?

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Just last weekend we played at Rotterdam Rave Festival in The Netherlands and Club Favela in Münster, Germany. 2 totally different gigs: a big festival crowd versus a small intimate club. We loved them both! Next to that we also visited Pukkelpop in Belgium to see some acts ourselves. You could say that we’re still a bit in recovery mode right now but actually we’re already preparing for the coming weekend. Friday we’re playing at Creamfields for Exhale by Amelie Lens, Saturday we’re playing a 12-hour all day long set at the beach and Sunday we’re playing at Drumcode Festival in Amsterdam. 

What is the current scene like in your hometown in Belgium?

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We live in quite a small city with a population of 30 000 so the scene isn’t that big. It does consist of a lot of good smaller parties, that’s where it also started for us and we’re still very grateful for that. Furthermore, Belgium isn’t that big so for the larger parties and clubs you just go to the big cities. About 20-25 years ago Belgium was known for an even richer club culture but unfortunately that has changed a lot in the course of time. Luckily enough we now also have an awesome festival season to compensate for that. 

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Can you tell us how you came to be a duo and how each of you first became interested in electronic music and more specifically, Techno?

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We’ve been listening to electronic music since we were very young but the Techno bug bit us for the first time at I Love Techno 2006 in Ghent. Stijn already played as a solo DJ and Joris played soccer on a professional level. He couldn’t really combine the two. Later we started organising parties in Bilzen. At those parties we played some spontaneous back 2 back sets and we immediately felt a good vibe between the two of us. After a serious knee injury Joris had to give up on soccer and we decided to continue as an official DJ duo.

Which release of yours do you think really gave you great exposure and increased your global profile?

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2018 really was a breakthrough year for us: Galaxy Phase was a big hit and we released our first EP on Monika Kruse’s label Terminal M, which did even better in the charts. Those 2 releases really launched us internationally. After that, Amelie Lens asked us to do a remix for her on Second State. It was a real honor to do a collaboration as fellow Belgians and it certainly has been a big success so far. We notice people recognize our tracks really well when we play them, everywhere we go. It’s really important to have a certain signature sound

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You've played some excellent gigs so far in your careers, can you pick one stand out show so far?

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We actually never had a really bad one so far. All over world the world we play for great crowds and we enjoy every second we’re on stage.

For us the number 1 gig must have been Pukkelpop in 2018, just because Pukkelpop is so emotionally significant for us. We’ve been visiting Pukkelpop since we were 15 years old and it still contributes to our taste in music until today. Other bucket list material must have been Awakenings Festival this year. We opened one of the stages there and it was packed in just 15 minutes. The atmosphere was amazing from the start until the end and we’ll never forget that moment, really emotional.

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Your upcoming show 'Joyhauser All Day Long At The Beach' will be a huge showcase of yourselves playing for 12 hours, is this the first time you have done this?

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We’ve already played a few all-nighters in the past but mostly those were only 6 to 8 hours long. We’ve never played a 12-hour set during the day. We’re very excited but also a bit nervous because of the busy weekend, but that’s just healthy stress we guess. Once we’re on the stage we forget about everything and just go with the flow. It’s nice to showcase a different aspect of yourself and play music you normally never get to play. Probably those 12 hours will even fall too short afterwards. 

Can we expect to hear some brand new unreleased Joyhauser music at the beach?

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Of course! Despite our busy summer we try to be in the studio at least one day a week. Road testing new tracks and reading the crowd’s reaction is very important to us and also super exciting at the same time. You immediately see what works and what doesn’t. We’re working on some exciting stuff, but we can’t tell anything about that yet. Our die-hard fans will probably recognize some tracks from our Joyhauser only set at Awakenings

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Which artists are you really digging at the moment and love to put in your sets?

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That really differs a lot. We always try to support up and coming artists; if the music is good, it’s good. If we have to choose a few bigger ones: Enrico Sanguiliano, Layton Giordani, Thomas Schumacher, Spektre, Victor Ruiz, Umek and Klangkuenstler never disappoint. 

If you could give one piece of advice to anyone starting a career as a DJ/Producer, what would it be?

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Make sure you have a plan, be patient and believe in yourself. We see a lot of talented producers and DJ’s nowadays but it’s easy to get lost in the sea. Try to develop yourself and your sound into something people can identify, as a recognizable identity is essential to distinguish yourself from others. Furthermore, always remember that quality goes above quantity, don’t just start sending out your first demos to the big labels. Be critical and always try to improve them first. Lastly: don’t ever give up when something doesn’t go according to plan. Determination is key, and you’ll get there eventually!

Other than at the beach in Belgium, where can we catch you guys next?

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Our schedules are filled out well until next summer. Last year we mostly played in countries close by like Germany, the Netherlands and Spain. In October we will hit North America and Canada for the first time and we’ve already been getting requests for tours in Asia and Australia. Our absolute dream gig also just got confirmed but more on that later. The future looks bright!

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https://www.facebook.com/joyhau5er/

https://www.instagram.com/joyhauser_/?hl=en

https://soundcloud.com/joyhauser

Ticket Link for their 12-hour rave on the beach: https://pos.cmtickets.com/9e5c2960-a249-11e9-84fd-5b3092bac6c0