“I’ve been making music for years now but if people want to label me the newcomer then I’m pretty cool with that,” opens increasingly celebrated Dutch producer and DJ Joris Voorn. “I keep winning awards for being the rising star this, or the newcomer that, and it makes me laugh, but I also see it as confirmation that more and more people are checking my music out. That’s a good, good thing.”
Rotterdam-born but Amsterdam-based, Voorn started DJing in 1997. “I grew up in a very musical family” he explains, “music was always going to be an important part of my life. I liked the house and techno coming out in the mid-90s; it inspired me to invest in a Roland MC-303 Groovebox and start experimenting with synths and drums.”
Just three years on and Voorn had progressed to building his own studio. He was also studying to become an architect, something that would eventually prompt a major career decision: “Architecture and music each require complete devotion; I knew that ultimately I’d have to choose between them; I think it was 2003, I went with my passion for music….”
A choice well made it seems. Voorn has built firm foundations on early, positively received techno releases such as Muted Trax Pt 1 and Pt 2, Lost Memories Pt 1 and Pt 2, and Incident. The latter, a sparkling piano-led four-to-the-floor workout that curried favour with everyone from Carl Cox to Radio 1’s John Peel in 2004, has actually been updated by Voorn for a re-release in the coming weeks. “I’ve slowed down the BPMs and made the groove softer” he reveals, “but it’s still the same track.”
And what of the architect’s training; has it in any way benefitted the music-making? Building grooves and so forth....? “You laugh but I think there has been some real benefit” Voorn answers. “Architecture is all about good quality control and I’ve definitely factored that into what I do in the studio. I don’t release too much music as I don’t want to saturate the market. I put my time and effort into fewer projects, to ensure the music is perfect and something I remain passionate about.”
Looking further ahead Voorn is set to release The Secret, a new peak-time track on Cocoon; a new “deep house” EP and a remix of Nalin & Kane’s seminal tranced-out glide Beachball. “I was never a big fan of Beachball” he confides, “but then that’s the challenge I love with remix work. If I’m commissioned to rework something that already sounds like a track I’d put out myself, then my heart’s not really going to be in it. What is there for me to do? I like challenges and Beachball is certainly that. It is a staple tune of the 1990s that seems to get re-released every summer; how therefore do you standout? I’ve hopefully created a remix that does that but stays true to my style.”
Indeed, an early pressing of Voorn’s re-rub has already made its way into Pete Tong’s ‘Essential Selection’ on Radio 1. It’s clear, however, that Voorn’s ambitions extend beyond simply producing four-to-the-floor – the rigidly structured framework for which he is best known.
“I’m working on a new album, a side project” Voorn explains. “It’s just sketches at the moment but will be completely different to anything I’ve done before; I don’t think there will be any four-to-the-floor. Sometimes you just get tired of playing the same tracks out as a DJ, and producing the same style of grooves in the studio. Don’t get me wrong, I love making house and techno. Technology is improving all the time, and I’m getting more experienced as a producer; these things have given me a greater opportunity to progress and experiment with my peak-time sound. But now I want to experiment more.”
Progression is vital, Voorn thinks, if clubland is to regain some of the momentum it has lost in recent years: “Look, there’s good music out there but the internet has swamped us with crap. There’s too many artists cutting too many corners these days; they hang tracks off of 8-bar samples from classic house records and claim them as their own! Even some of my records are getting plundered; I try not to get angry as it doesn’t really help the situation. People will keep doing it but I just hope others will focus less on the beats and more on the emotion of the tunes they make. Things do need to change.”
Voorn might intend a radical shake-up of his own production process, but that’s not to say he hasn’t delivered creatively in recent years. Voorn’s 2004 debut album Future History singled him out as a techno producer with originality and flair; as did several releases on the Green imprint he founded in 2005. His 2007 album, From A Deep Place, meshed broken beat, house and soulful techno much to the delight of critics; last year, innovative, multi-layered mix album Balance 014 and Moroder-esque single Sweep The Floor earned yet more well deserved praise and public attention. Mainstream anthem as it was, and still is, Sweep The Floor captivated thanks to intelligent use of percussion, synth and bass.
“My career has developed further than I could have ever imagined; I’m just glad people like what I do” Voorn concludes. “I’d like to be in the studio more, but the reality of our industry is that I still need to DJ to fund my production work. And the DJing is fun, I guess; it all feeds back into the studio process doesn’t it? There’s plenty coming up on that front this summer.”
