U:Move

Most house music lovers can always remember the night that they fell in love.  For me it was 1991 in Dallas, Texas.  An unknown DJ at a club called Aqua Lounge seemed to work the crowd so effortlessly and flawlessly that it seemed everyone in the room was being transported to another place.  I couldn’t tell you one track that was played that night but I’ll remember it forever.  Every once in a while I’m lucky enough to revisit that feeling, getting lost in the music.  Enter Joris Voorn.

His newest project, Balance 014, is the latest addition to Balances highly acclaimed mix series.  Joris has constructed a layered and seamless mix over two discs using edits from over 100 tracks including such artists as Radiohead, Goldie, Jimpster and Aphex Twin.  By allowing the tracks to breathe at the right time, Joris crafts the mix ever-so-smoothly, riding along without the listener even noticing that you are passing from tune to tune.

We were lucky to catch up with Joris recently, asking him to elaborate on this project.

What inspired you to do a mix of this magnitude?
To do something out of the ordinary, and something to push my own boundaries. The way I worked on the mix was the only way for me at this point, the only way to achieve what I had in vision, a rich sound and great flow with lot’s of surprising elements.

Did any particular DJ’s earlier mixes like Hawtin/Mills come to mind when you were putting this together?
Not really, I heard the Hawtin mixes of course, and they’re all great in their own way, but very different to what I did for the Balance mixes. For me the editing process and the huge amount of tracks were not the main concept but just the means to get where I wanted to be. I tried to really just do my own thing, starting off with a blank page and fill it in spontaneously along the way.

Has producing this new balance mix changed the way you will dj/perform live?
I started using Traktor on my laptop a year ago, which has been a big change in my DJ style. Being able to play 4 tracks at a time is great, layering loops, sounds, vocals and complete tracks changed the flow of a set and allows you to create your own groove on stage. The Balance CD is a piece of studio work and has sometimes up to 6 or 7 tracks playing at the same time, something which is hard to handle in real time while you’re on stage, so I try to keep it more simple there. I did make some special Balance edits of tracks, and created some loops and samples to play with to reproduce some of the Balance moments on stage.

Looks like you’re on a huge tour to promote this mix, what have been the highlights so far? Favorite city?
It started out in Melbourne, which was a fantastic beginning, as people there are very much into the music. The whole Australian tour was great btw.. Then Zouk Singapore was great too, but best was Womb in Tokyo, as always I would say. There’s many gigs to follow, and I’m very much into it and there will be some very special gigs for sure.

Did you create this mix with the intention of giving your listener a glimpse into your home record collection?
A little bit, I did use tracks out of my collection from over 10 years time, varying from techno, to house, disco, ambient and even some indie stuff. I think there’s a lot of great music in the world, and to limit your self just to a subgenre in electronic dance music is a waste, so on my mix people can hear what else is out there.

Cake or pie?
Pie, Dutch apple pie is the BEST with lots of cream!

This mix definitely is one of the highlights of the year so far.  Pick it up, this could take you back to that night you fell in love.

Joris Voorn - Balance 14 is out April 7th on EQ Recordings.

Joris Voorn plays exclusively in NYC at Save the Cannibals (March 28) and Miami at Sunday School For Degenerates (March 29). For more info, please go to www.made-event.com