Going Dutch With Esther Duijn.

In Blog, Culture, Interviews, Musicby Jasper MathewsLeave a Comment

 

Tresor resident and Another Earth label boss, Esther Duijn, makes her first Irish appearance this Saturday for Basement Project, in Factory, Galway. Jasper Mathews caught up with her for a wee chat in anticipation of the gig.

Hi Esther, are you looking forward to your Irish debut?

 

Hi Jasper, I am super stoked to come to Ireland, it was on my wishlist for a while now. Also one of my dear friends, Lee Holman (very well known for his awesome techno releases), is great fun so if everyone in Ireland is even remotely like him we are gonna have a ball.

 

The name Tresor is iconic to Techno fans, how did it feel to become part of the Tresor family, through playing there and through co-curating Wednesday’s New Faces parties?

 

The first time I played in Tresor I was treated so well. I kinda felt like coming home so when I became a true member of the family it was just a blissful feeling.

From the toilet-boys to the bartenders, the sound-engineers and the people in the office, you get treated with respect and that makes you want to perform 200% every time you play.

I have to add to that that the soundengineers are so good, I never have a worry in the world. I can actually try to aim for perfection in my sets and that is a great feeling for a perfectionist like me.

 

Regularly playing in both Berlin and the Netherlands must be an effective way of staying in touch with your roots whilst driving your sound forward, how is this important to you as an artist?

 

Holland has one of the richests feeding-grounds for electronic music since the end of the 80ies. I am happy I was born in this little country because this gave me my broad taste & knowledge in electronic music.

Then of course adding the input I gained in the techno capital of the world, Berlin, I can say that I have a vast overall knowledge of electronic music in it’s broadest form and I will use it to expand my sets and bring something special. I totally love my record – and music collection and I am still stunned when I go through it, sometimes sad that I cannot play every day in a club cause these tunes need to be shared with the world.

 

 

Do you find much differences between the crowds in Berlin and The Netherlands with respect to the styles of Techno they enjoy the most, and as a result would your sets vary much in style when playing in Berlin vs. when playing back in Holland?

 

Yes, I have discussed this with many friends and colleagues already. In Berlin you have a very diverse crowd. Between 18 and 60 years old and all layers of society, all colours, all gender flavours. This makes it very interesting. In Holland the crowd is more young, more students, more generic.

Luckily club owners and promoters in Amsterdam are stimulating the people to explore their eccentric side, and it works. You see people finding their inner self and starting wearing, for example, harnesses and daring to dress differently. And when people explore they are also more open to go deep into the music, then things get really interesting.

 

How was your experience of releasing the first record on your label, Another Earth?

 

Starting a vinyl label has been a dream of mine for many years. Friends like Myles Serge and Hakim Murphy pushed me to take the final step and I am really happy they helped me out. I am proud of the releases we put out together and I am excited about the ones that are coming. I am blessed to work with some of the most amazing talented producers in the world and working with Clone, in Rotterdam, as my distributor, also takes a lot of pressure off because they are really skilled.

 

Quite often different aspects of the music industry have a very steep learning curve, is there anything that you will be doing differently for your next release on Another earth?

 

The label is going very well. Like I mentioned before, with the help of highly talented, skilled artists, who release quality music, in general and on my label, and one of the best distributors in the world, I think there is really nothing else I can do to make it better.

I am unfortunately not really good with promotion but I do think the music will speak for itself.

 

What releases have you got in store for us over the next while, be it your own, or through Duijn & Douglas or Another Earth?

 

The 3rd release is basically done. I will release another Split EP this time by Opuswerk and me alone. The 4th release is signed by Lee Holman, that Irish techno god I mentioned before, and Tim Xavier, also a pretty legendary artist.

The 5th is also signed but I am keeping that a secret as that will be released hopefully half 2017 and that is pretty far away still.

 

Anything else you would like to add?

 

See you the 15th on the dancefloor and we make party!

 

Catch Ester this Saturday at the Basement Project, in Factory, Galway

 

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