EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: East & Young
- Kimberly Phan
- Feb 1, 2017
- 2 min read
Up close and personal with the Dutch duo East and Young
Creators of dance/indie/pop crossover feel-good music, Dutch duo East & Young are rapidly ascending through the global dance and pop ranks with their stunning tracks. Blending those two words in perfect harmony, theirs is very much the sound of the moment, with mainstream songwriting sensibilities expertly blended with a multitude of electronic sounds and techniques. Whether scoring club hits, conquering the pop radio airwaves or featuring in a commercial for Heineken, their unmistakable sound is winning them fans far and wide.
Kimberly Phan:
Your style of music is so refreshing and energetic! In the world of house music, consumers, artists and fans hear so many repetitive beats. However, your music is so melodic and melancholic. What’s the creative process in regards to creating your tracks like “Make Me Fee,” “Summer,” “Elevate,” and “All My Life.”
East and Young: Thanks, that’s great to hear. It’s something we always strive for, the melodic and melancholic influences. We usually start with playing chord progressions on the piano. As soon as we like it we record it. After that we’re endlessly tweaking for the right sound. We love to get creative with cutting up vocals or other sound files and creating something new with those pieces. It feels a bit like mosaic.
Kimberly Phan: Over the past couple of years, the electronic music industry has significantly shifted. There’s mass-production of music and every other week there’s a new remix of a song that just went over the wire. What do you do to keep yourself relevant?
East and Young: Like you mentioned in the previous question. We always try to stay true to our own sound. Whether we make a radio based song or more club orientated; The melancholic and melodic influences are really important to us. Nevertheless, it’s hard to stand out since there’s so much good music out there.
Kimberly Phan: With the significant shift, many subgenres have come out from the woodwork. Genres aside, how would you describe your sound?
East and Young: That’s always hard to describe as we don’t wanna stick up to just one genre. If you’d persist on naming the style we think we should call it Big Room House with a blend of Indiepop.
Catch the Full Interview in the February Edition of Raver Mag -- coming soon!