Noisia are Nik Roos, Thijs de Vlieger and Martijn van Sonderen, one of the most talented acts on the drum and bass scene today. Having attracted attention just a year and a half ago, Noisia have achieved incredible popularity in record time thanks to immense talent and a unique, “fat” sound that amazes not only people on the dancefloor, but also the owners of the biggest drum and bass labels. Such masters as Bad Company, Pendulum and Matrix are eager to work with them. If you don’t know – get to know!
Real names:
Nik Roos, Thijs de Vlieger and Martijn van Sonderen
Age:
20, 21, 19
Location:
Groningen, the Netherlands
Labels:
Shadow Law, Nerve, Habit and Protogen
Signed tracks:
Mindstorm and Sandworm on Shadow Law.
Silicon and Tomahawk (with Mayhem) on Nerve.
Crescent Sun on Habit, to be released with a remix by Chris.Su.
Runaway on Protogen. Stare is also remixing Runaway, which will be released on Blindside.
Unsigned material:
We’re making a new funky track with Milo and Prolix – producers from Brighton, England. It’s called Timechaser.
How did you meet?
We went to the same school. We had a lot of common interests – video games, graffiti and music – and eventually became good friends. The three of us now live in the same house.
How long have you been on the drum and bass scene?
About three years.
Where did the name NOISIA come from?
One day we were watching a videotape whose cover said VISION, but it was upside down, so it read NOISIA. We decided it was a cool name and have used it ever since.
What exactly interested you in drum and bass music?
The dark, futuristic vibe that came from the albums Wormhole, Molten Beatz and Inside the Machine.
What inspired you to start producing?
Nik’s father had a disc with software for musicians, and we started making shitty music for fun. It took some time before we really started making drum and bass.
Which drum and bass musicians influenced you?
Ed Rush & Optical, Matrix, Cause 4 Concern, Bad Company, Ram Trilogy, Stakka & Skynet, Konflict and Teebee.
Anyone else?
Tipper and Daft Punk influenced our music somewhat. James Brown had a big influence at the very beginning, when we were making music for fun.
Describe the NOISIA sound, if you can.
Future funk. We make music that we would want to dance to, but we also try to make it something that can simply be listened to.
What do you use in the studio?
Software: Steinberg Cubase SX (sequencer) and Native Instruments Kontakt (software sampler), mainly. Cool Edit Pro 2 (audio editing), and of course a collection of plugins, synthesizers and effects.
Gear list:
- AMD Athlon 2000XP
- Terratec DMX 6fire soundcard
- Behringer Eurorack UB 1204 Pro mixer
- Event TR8 monitor speakers
- 2 x AKG K240 M headphones
- Evolution UC16 MIDI controller
- Terratec TMP1 MIDI keyboard
Mac or PC?
PC
What’s your attitude toward CD-Rs? Yes or no?
We feel great about CD-dub, as long as the DJ doesn’t play something they shouldn’t have.
Let’s talk about the Internet. What’s your opinion? Good or bad?
Of course it’s good. Without the Internet, we wouldn’t be anywhere. The Internet makes the drum and bass community much bigger and broader, and its participants interact more quickly. It’s easier for new producers to break through. The Internet gave us the opportunity to listen to the music we like and that taught us a lot.
How did you meet Anthony (Mayhem) @ Shadow Law?
After we posted our tracks online, DJ Cyanide noticed our work and told Anthony about it. He became interested in our music and contacted us. When we gave him Sandworm and Mindstorm, he wanted to sign both tracks. Since then, Anthony has helped and advised us; thanks to him, we’ve connected with other labels and people. Without him, we would never have become who we are now.
Tomahawk has such a hard sound. How did the process of creating it in the studio go?
Casually. Anthony doesn’t use Cubase SX in his work, so it took us some time to get used to each other’s working methods, and of course we smoked a lot. The main sample for Tomahawk was recorded on the day we ran out of weed. Anthony was stoned and we were having fun listening to him sing and MC. We recorded his voice and processed it to create the ambient sound that finishes Tomahawk.
How are things on the Dutch drum and bass scene?
Great. It’s very “intimate,” because it’s small, and the country is small. You can see the main people at every party. The atmosphere at them is always relaxed. The Dutch forum – www.dnbforum.nl – has become the main source of information and interaction for members of the Dutch scene, and even, to some extent, the Belgian scene.
Do you have plans for touring?
When we’re confident in our mixing skills, we’ll tour. For now, we’re playing small events and improving our level.
Where did you most enjoy playing?
In Atlanta. In a gay bar on ladies’ night in Rio de Janeiro.
How did you meet Paul Reset?
Anthony introduced us. He gave Tomahawk to Paul Reset, and Paul wanted to sign it. Later, we offered him Silicon, and he wanted to sign that too.
What does each of you do when you’re not in the studio?
Martijn is finishing a four-year music school at the academic level.
Nik started at art school this year.
Thijs is studying philosophy in his third year.
We play a lot of video games, and Nik does graphic design. We also like acting like complete idiots.
Which artists would you like to work with?
Ed Rush & Optical
Do you have any other projects?
Martijn is part of a hip-hop crew. He does all the drums. We also write downtempo/lounge music.
Top 5 at the moment?
- Cause 4 Concern & Fierce - Carrier
- Typecell-Egomatric-Rob F remix
- Polarity & Shroombab-Rolling Thunder (Phace remix) (unsigned!)
- Teebee - Bounce
- Optiv - Tunnel Visions
Three best producers in your opinion?
- Cause 4 Concern
- Teebee
- Optiv (solo)
The first thing that comes to mind when I say:
- )EIB(: seems like with Bullet Time they’ve returned to the sound we loved so much
- JENNIFER LOPEZ: her music is crap, but she acts in a few good films
- TRANCE: no thanks
- KEMAL: badman
- ALCOHOL: good
- RUUD VAN NISTELROOY: he plays football
- TECH ITCH: zee dirtmeister
- GEORGE W. BUSH: he's fucking it up nicely
- THE MATRIX: matrix 1 whoa!
- TEEBEE: one of the best producers
- JENNA JAMESON: she acts in porn
- ANTHONY (MAYHEM): he acts in porn?? He’s practically the fourth member of NOISIA
- CHRONIC: bubonic
- MOVING SHADOW: classic
- THE RING: haven’t seen it
- DILLINJA: we don’t like his music
- ‘TOMAHAWK’: stands for peace
- ROB F: king of stabs and atmospheric creepiness
- METALHEADZ: not our stuff
- FUTURE: sound
- NOISIA!: i VISION
In conclusion:
keep it funky!
Shouts to ant and shadow-law crew, reset, all @ timecodeaudio, dnbforum.nl crew, phace, ronny habit, cyanide, defiant, prolix 'n milo, scam, instinct, inbred:tv, cyrax and of course brian (whoever brian is).
Hope we didn’t forget anyone.
ez thijs.
So keep your ears clean and eyes open, because this trio is going to blow the fuck up!
You’ve been warned.
Original interview: srix, DnbNation. Translated from the Russian translation by Yegor.
