Jordi van Achthoven and Micha Heyboer a.k.a Tinlicker, the duo who is the modern face of Dutch progressive dance music started their journey towards today in late 2012. Based out of Utrecht, the duo kept always honing their sound, continually shaping their destination, creating their new ideal in music.
Initially, self-releasing music it wasn’t long before said the sound was noticed by none other than Feed Me, who was quick to sign a number of songs to his taste-making Sotto Voce label. From there the ears of Zerothree tuned in and the world was given an array of head-turning singles, including the irrepressible ‘Maandag’ early 2016. Fans of Above & Beyond and deadmau5 will be no stranger to Tinlicker, who have supported their beats many times across their live shows, Group Therapy and BBC radio shows. It’s no surprise that when the time came to find a home for the 2017 hit ‘Soon You’ll Be Gone’ Anjunadeep was quick to put their hand up. Followed by the smashing ‘Because You Move Me’ on Armada and the ‘Jalapeño EP’ on mau5trap before their ‘Nothing Without You’ – again on the Anjunadeep label – changed everything for the guys in 2018.
Their electro-tinged sound has been championed by both Mau5trap and Anjunabeats. Reworks of Lane 8, Deadmau5 and Reflekt’s iconic ’Need To Feel Loved’ have become indispensable tools for the world’s biggest DJs. 2019 brought a second EP on mau5trap, intense worldwide touring and fuller cooperation with team Anjuna. Also, in the month of October last year, the duo unveiled their most awaited debut album ‘This Is Not Our Universe’ which showcased their signature style of blending deep and progressive house. The 13-track album also featured their euphoric remix of alternative rock band Alt-J’s platinum hit ‘Breezeblocks’. They recently toured 4 Indian cities & had an amazing time in India.
Check out the amazing chat we had with the amazing duo:
1) First of all, a very warm welcome to a country many artists call it HOME, how’s your India tour going so far?
Thank you. The India tour has been great so far. We were there last year for the first time. This is our second tour in India. Micha went last year. And for me, this is my first time ever in India. And I like it a lot. So many friendly people here.
2) We would really like to know how two of you met, and how it all started? we know this beer story 🙂 Well, Nicole Hofman is our cupido haha. She hooked us up back in 2013. So we decided to meet each other first before going into the studio. So after we met and had some conversations about music we decided to make one track, but basically after our first studio session, it felt like we could do a lot more. 5 dates later we finished our first EP (Tinlicker – Like No Other EP). It just clicks, we both come from different musical backgrounds and we learn from each other. So it’s fun and educational at the same time. What more do you want?
3) You have worked on various labels like mau5Trap, ZeroThree, Anjunabeats to name a few, how your sounds have evolved from moving one label to another? You can basically compare the music with a lifetime. Everything is a phase. And that is exactly what is going on with our songs. We change from time to time with sounds, we like to try new things instead of doing the same thing over and over again. So for example sometimes we make really deep music, somethings it’s more energetic. And for those reasons, we like to release the songs on different labels cause of the different kind of vibes 🙂
4) This Is Not Our Universe, defines different variations of you as artists from one track to others, how this zigsaw puzzle got completed?
We completed the puzzle on a small island in the Netherlands called Terschelling. We rented a house right next to the sea. We felt like we were disconnected from the real world and created our own. We created mostly all of the songs in that house during the week. It’s simply great to only work on the music, you get simply more creative.
5) Any particular slamming door moment you guys remember on argument/disagreement for any particular melody or beat that this should be like or it should be like that?
Yes haha. Maybe we can’t come up with one in particular. But we definitely don’t agree with everything all the time. Sometimes it just depends, we have different ways of working. For example, we agree more if we make the whole song together. But when it’s an idea from Micha of from me its harder to accept different opinions. But in general, we don’t slam with doors. We trust each other’s opinions.
6) What’s in the plan for Tinlicker in 2020?
We are traveling a lot with the This Is Not Our Universe tour. We can’t tell you everything but we are working on a lot of new music 🙂 And the plan is to stay healthy, lose some weight and have fun in the studio.
7) Any message to your fans in India here?
We love you! The feedback from all of you has been great so far. And we hope that our music can speak for itself. Hopefully, see you soon <3
8) What is the best thing you like about India apart from Food :)
The culture. It’s truly a blessing to see people come early to a show. It’s the way people enjoy music. It’s sooo energetic. And that energy people give in the crowd is getting back to us and gives us inspiration.
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