East & Young Give Us All Of Them

Exclusive interview with East & Young

Hello Marc and Ivo, Thank you for taking time out to do this interview with us. It is a huge pleasure.

Thank you! It's a great pleasure!

1. How are you doing?

Hi! We are doing fine! At this moment we are touring in India & Taiwan.

2. We been thinking music makes us feel alive How does music make Marc and Ivo feel?

Mostly it makes us happy, sometimes it makes us feel sad or melancholic. But that's what it's all about, pure emotion! That's why we love music. Sounds a bit corny maybe, but it's true.

3. This is a staple TIE question, what is the first thing that comes to mind when you hear South Africa?

Safari! One of us has been to Zimbabwe and going on safari was one of the greatest experiences so far. We definitely would love to visit the Krueger Park sometime. Another thing that comes to mind is the World Cup finale we lost against Spain. Oh, and the sound of Vuvuzelas of course, but we’d rather forget that haha :)

4. East and Young is made up of Marc and Ivo, can you tell us a little more about who Marc and Ivo are? How did you guys meet and what’s the story behind the name East & Young, (we have our own theories like one because you from the east of Holland and young)?

We met each other at the Music Academy in Enschede, 5 years ago. We found out we shared the same passion and started to work together, the first melody we came up with was also our first track, Reveal :)

Concerning our name East & Young, the funny thing is that we are still pretty young, and yes, we are based in the East side of Holland, but actually it's a corruption of our second names – De Jong & Van Oosterbaan.

5. Everyone all grow up with ideas of what we want to be when we older, Have you always wanted to be DJ/ Producers and what was it about electronic music that attracted you to the scene?

To be honest, when we were young we wanted to be a Doctor, Fireman, Pilot or even Spiderman. The interest in producing and playing dance music started in the end of the 90's. The rest is history :)

6. What is a typical day like in the East& Young studio? How do you guys go from idea to finished product?

Mostly Ivo comes up with the main tune by playing on the piano. When we have a good idea we record it in Logic, the program we are working in. Then together we work on the sounds. Sometimes just using presets but maybe tweaking till we have our own sound. As soon as we have the right sounds, we gonna work on the arrangement. A remix will take us mostly 3 or 4 days and original track probably longer. Besides that, we will also be in contact with our Manager to discuss the business side of things.

7. The industry is very cut throat with new Djs and producers popping up like weeds. What are some of the challenges you guys have faced in your career as artist?

As you say there’s a lot of people trying to be the next big DJ or Producer, so one of the challenges is definitely too many DJs and not enough clubs… Especially here in Holland!

Another challenge we’ve faced more on the production front has been achieving a really big mix down, we’re always learning and always pushing ourselves to get a bigger and better sound… It’s such an important element of a big record in this scene.

8. As mentioned above you hail from Holland and of course Holland is spilling with talent, what makes East & Young stand out from other Dutch talent?

We always try to add some spherical elements to our tracks, whether it's a club banger or a more radio minded track. We also love to experiment with elements of other genres in our music.

9. You guys have a the ability to put your unique spin on tracks which has lead to you remixing artists like Kaskade , DJ Fresh and Dizzee Rascal to name a few, in your opinion which remix brought you the most exposure?

That's definitely our remix for Kings of Tomorrow - Finally. On the one side because it was a real classic to us, on the other side, it got so much support and we still get lots of messages from DJs who are still playing it. That's really great to hear, 3 years after the release.

10. Remixes vs. working on originals, which would you suggest upcoming producers focus on?

We think the most important thing to focus on is to try to find your own sound, whether it's a remix or an original. Of course you can listen to what's hot at the moment, but try to add some of your unique sounds in it, that's what the big labels like to see instead of just copying.

11. DJing is something everyone can learn but producing is way trickier. Do you guys have any musical training, and do you remember the first time you sat down to produce a record, how did the record turn out?

We recently listened to our first tracks from 2003 and we were laughing our asses off. It sounded so crap, but we were also happy that we found out we made some progress since, haha. As we mentioned in the start of this interview, we both studied at the Music Academy in Enschede. We learned something about producing dance music but the focus was on composing music for films, art and commercials. We still sometimes do that kind of stuff by the way.

12. There has been uproar on social media the last few days with regard the Chainsmokers, Selfie and American Idol. If given the opportunity to perform on a “talent show” would you do it?

I don't think so, the thing we dislike on Talent Shows is the competition element of music. Music shouldn't be about competition.

13. What is your guys take on the current status of EDM and what one thing would you change about the current status of the industry?

What we really like is that young kids are going total mad on the EDM music, worldwide. What we would love to see, is that there will be more originality, variety and feel in the music. Sometimes it's too much about copying each other without adding your own flavours or ideas.

14. Name one thing your fans don’t know about you each of you.

Ivo is a really great cook, and Marc is an avid kickboxer, so don't make him angry please ;-)

15. It’s the middle of 2014 already so lets wrap up the first 6 months with your guys best selection of 2014 so far:

· Best Track: Galantis – Smile

· Best Remix: Mutiny UK & Steve Mac ft Nate James - Feel the Pressure (Axwell & New_ID Remix)

· Best EDM album: It's more of a mini album actually, but we love the latest Galantis EP. Great stuff!

· Best EDM compilation: Don't know :)

· Best producer: At this moment we really love the Audien stuff.

· Best remixer: Axwell

· Best EDM music video: Galantis - Smile

16. Do you guys have any last message for you fans..

We hope all is great over there and everyone is enjoying the scene in South Africa. We really hope to come over as soon as possible. We are looking forward to seeing and learning something about the South African life! That also means a Safari Tour haha :)

Thank you so much for doing this interview with us. We hope to see you guys playing in South Africa soon Layla and Yasmin

It was a great pleasure! Thanks!