DJ Mixing

Peter van Hoesen is hitting Australian shores as part of the Steresonic lineup and is a man that wears many hats, label boss, touring DJ, sound designer, producer, remixer and all round nice guy. He gave DjMixing.org the an insight into what inspires him and how he has built such a significant profile in the Belgium dance scene…

Your label Time To Express has built a enviable reputation, what is it about your sound that has excited so many people?

Good question, but I can’t really answer it clearly. There wasn’t any big plan when the label was founded in 2008. The main idea was and still is to provide an outlet for my own productions, alongside those of friends and related artists I appreciate. That’s it basically. It’s my basic belief that if you go about in an honest and truthful manner things will fall into place. I would like to think that this is part of why the label is doing well. We do things in a straightforward way, always from the heart.

You’ve become a leading figure of the Belgian scene, how important is it to maintain that connection with your country’s dance scene?

Since I moved to Germany I have less time to follow up on everything that happens in the Belgian scene. However, my residency at Fuse in Brussels is a good way to stay in touch with what’s going on. I do care about what’s happening, and if possible try to have a positive impact somehow.

Running a label and being a highly respected artist gives you a lot of impact within your genre, how responsible do you feel to stimulate the Belgian scene?

I don’t really feel any responsability, to be honest. That’s too big a word. What I do feel is that there is a lot of talent in Belgium and it’s not finding its way out, it’s not being recognised properly. Belgians don’t believe enough in their local artists, for a number of reasons. So if there is one thing I will keep on pushing it’s the appreciation of local producers and dj’s.

You spent quite awhile involved with the contemporary dance and theatre scene and as a sound designer, how has that influenced your DJ and production skills?

As far as my dj skills are concerned, there is no influence. Production-wise I know I have developed several skills more profoundly because of this type of work. During the last few years I’ve come to really enjoy surround sound composition, and that’s partly because of the work with Zoo/Thomas Hauert dance company. I am planning to use these skills in my own productions one day. So there is an influence, for sure.

How important do you think the experimental side of electronic music is for the development of dance music in general?

On one hand it can be very engaging and rewarding. To include a more experimetal approach in for instance house or techno means opening up certain preconceptions, freeing up boundaries if you want. That’s definitely a positive thing for me. On the other hand I think one has to be careful not to forget that dance music needs to maintain a solid link to the dancefloor – else it wouldn’t be dance music anymore, right? If you want to make music for people to dance to there are certain production issues to take into account. So there’s a fine line between being interesting and being too abstract… I guess that’s the challenge, finding that balance. But when it’s done right I think the experimental side of electronic music can bring a lot to the table. There are a lot of recent releases that prove this.

I read that you find writing EPs a different process from albums, how does the creative process change between the two?

An album is a narrative work for me. I enjoy the process of writing a story with a collection of tracks, even moulding the tracks so the fit together as a whole. An EP doesn’t have this for me, that’s much more loosely defined.

You’ve put on and played at play some amazing events and for a wide variety of audiences, what one event has held the biggest impact for you?

The Labyrinth festival.

You have a great reputation for your live performances, what is it that makes a performance special for you?

It’s a very condensed experience. My live sets usually last around one hour, and I try to make it as energetic and engaging as possible. It’s a different challenge compared to a dj set. The mood is defined in a stricter sense, since I use only my own sounds. But within this framework I have the freedom to improvise. This is a lot of fun, and it’s different every time I do it. In the end a live performance is slightly more personal that a dj set, thanks to these differences.