Joris Voorn Interview: Make a mark

Image Credit: Jimmy Mould

Joris Voorn is completely immersed in his passion and profession. From executing experimental productions, developing his own stages at events and flying the flag for the Dutch underground - he is as committed and as talented as they come.

His devotion and skill is apparent through his awe-inspiring releases and sets from across the years. From an early age Voorn was surrounded by music and he took to DJing back in 1997, over the course of the past decade he has proved his worth ten times over with EPs, collaborations and mix CDs.

Tracks like 'Goodbye Fly' and his edit of Mark Fanciulli's 'The Tide' (above) cemented his reputation even further as one of house and techno's strongest producers, an accolade spurred on by mind-boggling sets in his home-town of Amsterdam for Awakenings and ADE.

Now Joris Voorn is still doing much of the same, pushing forward with innovative ideas and taking control in a scene in which some DJs lack of identity when it comes to them and their music. We caught up with the man himself ahead of SIDEXSIDE in London which will see him curate his own arena along side Carl Cox and Seth Troxler. 

You're no stranger to curating stuff, whether it's line ups for your Awakenings parties or even your Fabric compilation. What is so appealing to you about the process of putting something together in this way?

I think what's great about it is that you can show what you're all about as an artist, but you get to do it in a different way compared to just being part of a bigger line up.

You set the musical tone for the night and you decide what direction it's going to go in and I think that's really amazing. As a DJ it's great to do that and to also be able to do that on a bigger scale. Actually it's a really nice freedom to have.

So when LWE got in touch about SIDEXSIDE, were you drawn to it straight away because of the opportunity to control your own space?

Absolutely. Whenever someone comes to me with a great idea that involves me doing something more than just playing a DJ set then that's fantastic and I love to get involved. I'm always keen to be part of the night in a way that's unusual, so to speak.

In this case I was happy that they wanted me to join the whole concept and I think just being there on the bill with Seth and Carl is great. It's just a really solid line up.

In essence you're going to head to head with them throughout the night, you'll all be fighting to keep the crowd in your room...

Exactly, I think the good thing is that it's all techno. It's techno in very different ways, we all play very differently and I'm sure everybody will be inviting very different guests. But it's going to be a unique event, that's for sure. It's not something that you'll see anywhere else any time soon.

A lot of artists seem to enjoy this sort of creative freedom, whether it's with parties, radio shows or blogs. Do you think this is something that's come into play quite recently?

I think so yeah. I think it goes hand in hand with the fact that dance music has really grown up if you compare it to ten or 15 years ago. It's so much bigger. The audiences are much bigger and there's a lot going on.

I mean, we've just had New Year's Eve and the first weekend after that I already had a really full night at Fabric. People are just constantly going out and there's so much happening all the time so you have to try and distinguish yourself by doing things make you stand out between all the other DJs.

It's also nice that you can get a lot of attention these days when you do do something different and you bring something different. 

How does curating something in Amsterdam compare to doing something in London?

I think that the SIDEXSIDE concept in London is different because there are three DJs, they are all curating their own room and they are playing back to back sets with other people.

At ADE for example it's just a case of inviting a line up of DJs. I'm going to be on the decks for the whole night in London though so I'm really having to think about who I'm going to share those decks with. In that sense it's even more personal and I'm involved a lot more than when I'm just curating a line up.

So have you decided who you are going to bring to play with you at SIDEXSIDE?

I think we have been talking to people and as far as I know I think we have confirmed the guests. I'm not sure if the people I've requested are definitely available so I can't say too much. All I can say is that it's going to be musically quite diverse and I think we will really challenge the other rooms too, for sure.

And I'm guessing those you have picked you've played with before and you have good chemistry with them?

I think when you do something like this, a new event and a new concept, it's nice to at least have a connection before hand with the cast that you're playing with. It makes it all a bit more comfortable and makes me feel more confident knowing that it has the potential to go well. 

A lot of line ups particularly in London or other major UK cities are huge. They look like mini festivals. Do you think that's what events have to pull off these days? Do you think that one headliner and smaller support acts isn't as appealing any more?

I don't think that's necessarily the case, I still think you can have a great night with just one main headliner. I was headlining Fabric for instance last Saturday and I was playing a four and a half hour set and the room was full. Obviously Fabric is a renowned club and there's always a lot of people anyway but whoever is playing, it's always a good night.

Then of course there's nights like Circus where the line ups are big and artists don't often play longer sets but it's a very diverse and intense line up. I think that the festivals are something else though, they don't always impact on what the line ups of the clubs are.

For those types of parties that take place in the day time and they're split into arenas, do they feel more like a festival? What is it like to play at a club event outside in the day?

When it's a day time event it definitely feels like a special thing. It's great to see people come out and see DJs play in the middle of the day. It is somewhere in between a festival and a club night I guess, so it's definitely feels different.

Promoters want to bring something new to the table all the time and want to create concepts that are different than just a club night. You know, club nights have been around for so many years and nowadays it seems to swaying towards the warehouse kind of parties from the eighties or early nineties.

People are trying to create something with special locations and people are really just in awe about the scale of the venue. It can be raw and authentic. It's something that you don't always get in a club where everything is already perfect and everything is set to be a certain way. 

Tobacco Dock itself is a grade I listed warehouse, and a lot of unique venues with historical backgrounds are now utilised for raves, how important do you think these spaces are to the scene? 

I think it's amazing to show the people that you can have a party in any place, but sometimes there are dream locations where you'll never be able to do them. Sometimes I'll be travelling and I see something and I'm like, "wow, this would be a great spot for an amazing event." But it doesn't always happen like that.

Everything has to be safe, everything has to be soundproof and there's so many rules and regulations, but if you make it work and you have a unique space then that absolutely adds to the overall experience when you attend an event.

So as a DJ, what venue has stood out to you over the years?

I think the Gashouder in Amsterdam where I play for Awakenings is absolutely amazing. That's one of those locations. It's been going for almost 20 years so it's not a new thing but I think the first few times that they organised stuff there they must have been like, "woah this is crazy."

The thing is with spaces like that, it's very difficult to make it sound good. These days it's much better because over 20 years speakers and sound systems have evolved. That's always a challenge but that space is amazing, and if anyone hasn't been, they should totally check it out.

You live in Amsterdam, play a lot there and there's a great music scene within the city. Can you ever imagine yourself moving or are you happy where you are? Would you ever live in London?

I've actually just come back from London this weekend and we've bought a place more as an investment. The difficulty is that property prices are so crazy and I have a family so finding a place in the city, even as a DJ, is just not doable. I don't want to spend all my money just living somewhere.

Amsterdam is a small city but it has absolutely everything and for me music wise it's fantastic, there are so many good events. Because I have a family I'm not as footloose as I used to be. We would need a really good reason to move somewhere else.

London is an amazing city but it's a difficult city as well, I hear that a lot from my DJ friends. Once you have a family or you need bigger spaces then you kind of have to move further out and that defeats the purpose of moving to a city, because you're not properly living in it any more. For now, Amsterdam has everything that we need.

You can always visit and have the best of both worlds anyway...

Exactly, that's the good thing about my job, I just get to go to so many places and I get to enjoy all the different vibes. I'm more like a world citizen than a citizen of Amsterdam. 

Do you have anything else coming up in 2016 that you'd like to tell us about?

Actually there's a lot of things cooking at the moment. There's a few concepts we are working on. I'm probably going to create a radio show this year which is something I've been wanting to do for a long time but it's finding the time is a challenge.

I'll maybe curate more of my own nights in different cities so we will be focusing on that too. Also it's going to be a big season in Ibiza and a lot of things are moving around. This weekend I've heard a lot of news and about what is happening and what isn't happening, so stay tuned.

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