You named your podcast 'EQUILIBRIUM'. Can you explain why and what mood you tried to capture? 

Opposite to when I’m mixing in front of a crowd, I am a huge over thinker when I have to record a mix. I often have this rather ‘strict’ idea in the beginning of what I want a mix to sound like, which is super counter-productive. After a while I get frustrated with this "square" and I realize I’m better off just trusting my intuition. For me that usually means to just be a bit all over the place. In the end this recording, like most of my sets, became a blend of old and new bits, different genres, rougher stuff and more floaty tracks. Just the way I like it. 

Equilibrium represents this ever-ongoing search for balance when mixing music, a search that in itself creates the most interesting DJ sets in my opinion. Not straight-forward banging, not too snobbishly sophisticated but just right somewhere in between, that’s exactly the spot where I want to be in and where I want the audience to go to when listening to this mix. Call it a teaser for when the dance floors re-open, with hopes of finding our balance in life again! 

Not straight-forward banging, not too snobbishly sophisticated but just right somewhere in between, that’s exactly the spot where I want to be

Any tracks you want to highlight, a personal favorite?

While I was making the selection for this mix, I got sent a promo of Jeku – Cursed Commandor, forthcoming on Parallel Universe and I immediately knew that this was one of the pieces I was going to build this mix around. Summer anthem for sure! Child of the Waves – In Outer Space, is another excellent upcoming release on Basic Moves that has this great driving rhythm combined with some lovely weird elements and samples, really feeling this whole release. Harps by Bushwacka! is an anthem of a track that I re-discovered when it was playing on the decks at Crevette and that I have been plotting to put in a mix for such a long time. 

Can you talk a bit about your digging routine when looking for new records? Where did you find the records in this mix?

I usually start by going through the new arrivals before moving to the second-hand section if I have time and budget left. I’m balancing a lot of projects at the same time so it helps a great deal if the store is neatly categorized and you know the store and 2nd hand selection is curated by someone who knows their business, like at Crevette.

Before all events got cancelled due to COVID19 restrictions, I would usually browse the genres that would suit the next sets I had to play. I like to visualize in my mind which records would work on certain dance floors and base my selection on that. It took me a while to find my footing again when the pandemic hit as imagining when clubs will re-open just became more and more depressing as time went on. There where months where I hardly bought any music because of this. Luckily we are starting to see some perspective again so I feel re-energized and ready to go! 

Next to that there’s a lot of music that I get digitally from Bandcamp, by just listening to mixes, browsing the internet and then bookmarking to buy it later. Taking the time to listen to a stack of records gives me more peace than clicking through 45 open tabs on my laptop, but it’s the combination between records and digital that works best for me. 

As part of the Kontakt Group, can you tell us something about upcoming releases or other exciting stuff you are working on?
At the moment we mainly focus on "De Nooit Moede", the studio project turned full live band that marked the new beginning for Kontakt Group after our tape releases. I’ve recently taken up the role of manager of the band, a completely new direction that has been super interesting and that I look forward to developing further in the future. The band dropped an EP at the end of last year and since then we’ve recorded some livestreams and we even got our music featured in a skate video for Thrasher Magazine. Right now, we’re working on new tracks for an album and a full live-set that should be ready at the start of 2022. 

A couple of years ago you travelled around the world, of course visiting recordstores at each stop. You must have found some amazing stuff along the way. Can you share some highlight tracks or anecdotes from your trip? 

There are so many! Off the top of my head: Starting out by trading old Belgian cold-wave for Brazilian post punk records in Miami with my friend Priscilla. Filling up a huge box with records in the US in rural places like Mobile, Alabama and Las Cruses, New Mexico that were a huge pain to ship back. In Hong Kong the guys from Mihn-club told me to go to a store called Vinyl Hero, which was run by a guy that had basically crammed a huge number of boxes and records in his tiny apartment where you can just barely stand between boxes. I ended up finding some real cool instrumental hip-hop tracks. The last thing I expected to find there but amazing nonetheless. Massive cliché but all the people I have met while looking for records around the globe where so kind and some of them have become real friends. Really looking forward to welcoming some of them back to Belgium when travelling is possible again.

Massive cliché but all the people I have met while looking for records around the globe where so kind and some of them have become real friends.

We heard you're a real biker. YEAH! What's your favorite highway track? 
Haha, yes I like to cruise into the sunset now and then. Riding my motorcycle is much like playing music for me. It’s one of those rare moments that I’m free of all other thoughts. I’m going to have to go for Black Sabbath – Planet Caravan, it doesn’t get more ‘riding solo into the sunset’ than this.