Mitchell Vreeswijk and Jan Stadhouders form the amazing duo LNY TNZ with the shared passion of putting a new twist on hard hitting EDM. As they released their music online, they were quickly noticed in the Dutch music scene as a DJ tandem, known for their totally unique sound. Even then, they were trying to push the genre boundaries and gained support from other leading artists.
LNY TNZ continuously pushes the boundaries of the EDM genre, famously embracing the term FVCK GENRES. Their music is proof of this, as they collaborate with rappers, vocalists, and DJs expand the sounds and reach of their music.They’ve recently toured around the world, stopping at festivals including Tomorrowland, EDC Vegas, Summerfestival and Defqon to name a few.
We got an amazing oppurtunity to interview the super talented Dutch Duo after their recent performance at Sunburn Festival, Pune.
Q1) About The Barong Family, the family stayed in a French Cottage working for a compilation album. How was the journey working with different artists and what does it mean for you to be part of a record label?
A) The Barong Family writing camp was held in an old farm in France and it was such a great experience. The vibe was really good and we were just one with nature. We literally had no internet service out there so we were completely blocked from the rest of the world. It was great to keep ourselves fully focused with the team. A really awesome experience to hang out with friends and being creative in such a positive environment. The Barong Family label is an open minded label; we can literally drop any of our tracks there, which is great.
Q2) How did you guys meet and when did you both start working together?
A) We met when we were about 16 years old. Mitchell was working at the local pizza place which was like a hangout for all the young guys from our hometown. After hanging out there for a bit, chilling and of course eating many pizza’s, we started talking to each other and discovered we shared a common interest in music. We started looking for clubs and places together where they played that particular music style called ‘Jumpstyle’, as it was not very big in Holland at the time yet. We had to drive to Belgium and France for example to attend those ‘Jumpstyle’ events. It was a really fun period and we got to know each other very well of course while traveling to all those places. Because there wasn’t any of this music in Holland yet, we tried to produce this style ourselves and spread it via the internet. That’s how it all started.
Q3) What was your aim when you started working for your ‘FVCK GENRES EP’?
A) We don’t really stick to one single genre but we try to combine whatever we like. We have been experimenting a lot with the 150bpm and 75bpm halftime drops. This combination really works great in our live sets. Combining different styles is making music varied and innovative. From this perspective we have developed our own music style and concept called “FVCK GENRES”. Our aim for the EP was to combine different styles in music with different featurings on each track. We have been working with vocals from The Kemist who’s from Jamaica, worked with Dancehall artist Kalibwoy, hardstyle-MC Dave Reaven from Italy and Sam King from Los Angeles.For our new single Burn It Down we decided to jump on the 145bpm sound. We haven’t really worked in this tempo before but it felt good from the start. We will see what the future brings. We are open for anything and we just do what we like as long it has the right LNY TNZ energy!
Q4) Since it’s your first tour in Asia, how was the experience in Myanmar?
A) We really fell in love with Asia. First of all we just love the Asian food and the people really know how to party. We didn’t really know what to expect but right when we got on stage we realized that a lot of real fans came out to see us. It’s great to see people wearing your merchandise and hearing them sing along with all your songs. Just amazing!
Q5) About your stage name ‘LNY TNZ’. How did you come up with a name which sounds like the cartoon show ‘Looney Toonz’?
A) People ask us about that a lot, but we have no interesting story behind it actually. We were thinking about a name back in 2004 and we were like “OK, what name should we use?” It literally means crazy (looney) music (tunes). It has nothing to do with the cartoon, but we get this is a thing people associate it with of course. That’s funny though, It’s a catchy name and then, recently, for the past 3 years, we decided to take out the vowels and to change it into LNY TNZ. This is working way better for us marketing and branding wise.
Q6) We have seen you guys keep experimenting with different genres. How do you manage producing different genres of music?
A) It’s all about being different. First of all we have a great love for all kinds of music. Personally we listen to classical, pop, EDM and hardcore. When producing music, you have to be original, otherwise you’ll be a dime a dozen and very comparable to what others are doing. That’s why we also say the “FVCK GENRES” thing, because a lot of people don’t know how to categorize our music. That’s what we like, we make music because we like to make something fresh and new. We don’t stick to a certain genre and we don’t like to be in the hardstyle, EDM or house-corner. We make whatever brings us positive energy, so that’s why we say “FVCK GENRES”. That’s our way of being original.
Q7) We have heard your latest remixes from Yellow Claw’s track. Also ‘Last Night Ever’ is pretty amazing. What can we expect for future collaborations?
A) For 2017, you can expect at least one new single, probably some new EP’s and new music with great artists. Just keep an eye out on our social media! 😉
Follow Me