Feb 13, 2017
Eelke Kleijn: DAYS like NIGHTS
Eelke Kleijn is an extremely talented and accomplished producer. Having released music on labels like Toolroom and Spinnin’ to scoring movies to putting on incredible live shows, the quality in his work always shines through. His just released track “Home” is another prime example of Kleijn’s musical mastery. The track, already boasting support from Pete Tong as an Essential Selection tune, is doubly meaningful as it is the first track on his own new DAYS like NIGHTS label. He joined us in celebration discussing how he went about creating the perfect track to close his sets with “Home” and what to expect from his new label.
Can you talk about how you went about producing “Home”? Where do you think the original idea came from?
Most of my tracks start in front of the piano. With “Home,” once I had the chords down, I worked on the vocal parts and some of the groove. After that it's all improvisation for me; I will lay down a basic structure and experiment with my synths and guitar to do everything else. I remember the basic track was actually done pretty quickly, in a couple of days. But it does take me a while to really finalize a tune, often I go through multiple versions that I test and change.
The song has quite an uplifting feeling about it – were you trying to capture a ‘home’ feeling with it all along?
For a while I had this idea in my mind that I wanted to do a track that would be perfect at the end of the night, to send people home with that lingering, joyous feeling of being at a perfect party. I intentionally made it 9 minutes to really play it out the way I wanted to, and it ends with melody and chords to make it fit really nicely as a closing track.
How has “Home” been working for you in your sets? Any favorite memories from playing it out?
It's been amazing in my sets. When you play out a tune for the first time, the crowd reaction is the most honest because basically nobody has ever heard it before. I remember being on tour in Argentina at the time and I closed every set with “Home.” The reaction was fantastic, better than I could have wished for! Also playing it at Electric Gardens in Sydney last month was a very special moment.
“Home” marks the debut of your own imprint, DAYS like NIGHTS. How does it feel to be launching your own label?
Fantastic!! For a long time I have been releasing on a lot of different labels, and although I won't deny there are many advantages in doing so, this felt like the right time to start my own. I'm really looking forward to having one label to do all of my music on, and to be involved in every decision making process along the way. It is also a great opportunity for me to invite the artists that I respect and support a lot on the label – to build a really nice group of similarly minded people and artists that support each other.
Where does the name DAYS like NIGHTS come from?
DAYS like NIGHTS is actually the name of a track of mine that I did for a movie trailer a while ago. It was never released as a single, but the name always stayed with me. The concept behind it is that music and events should feel like a perfect night out. For me that is a night where everybody feels connected, the atmosphere, vibe and surroundings are as important as the music. Wouldn't it be amazing if every day was as good as that?
What can we expect out of your label?
Music for me is all about melody and emotion. That is the sound that I love and that I want to share with the people. I will be in charge of a good number of releases myself every year, the rest is open to other producers and artists that I admire. Apart from myself, some of the first artists that will appear on the label are Sébastien Léger and AFFKT.
What are the next couple of months looking like for you?
They are equally divided between touring and making music in the studio. In the next two months I will head over to Argentina, Germany, Hungary, Serbia and Croatia among others. I try to travel mostly during the weekends so I have the weekdays with my family and to make music.
You can always find the latest from Eelke Kleijn in his Outside The Box radio show. Enjoy the latest episode below and be sure to check the tracklist here.
Connect with Eelke Kleijn: Website | SoundCloud | Facebook | Twitter
short link 1001.tl/8pzu1u
