Just a quick debriefing on Firebeatz. Firebeatz is a Holland, Netherlands based duo between Tim Smulders and Jurre van Doeselaar. They are most popular for their amazing releases on Spinnin Records such as "Where's Your Head At" and 'Funky Shit". They've also had a huge release on Steve Angello's Size Records called "Where's Brookyln At". Their tracks gain early support by top tier moguls in the industry because of their super hard sounds. I would like to thank Firebeatz for taking the time out of there schedule to answer these questions for us.
RD: When did you guys start producing/DJing?
Tim: I started DJing at a young age, first as a drum n bass DJ. I played drum and bass for over 3 or 4 years before I got interested in house music. When the virus got me I've been playing it ever since, it also got me into producing seriously.
Jurre: I started producing on a Roland MC 505 at a friends place and that's when I bought my own Roland MC 909 at the age of 16 I started DJing at local clubs.
RD: What motivated you to pursue a career in EDM?
FB: The main reason is that we both love making music, when we are busy in the studio making music, everyday feels like a day off. Its the greatest feeling to build a career from your hobby, so we keep persuing this dream.
RD: How did you guys come about working together?
FB: We met each other in the school of arts in Tilburg were we both studied. We started to make some tracks together and noticed that we had the chemistry going and we never stopped since and it worked out great. Somehow people like what we do and play/buy our stuff and book us, thats how we can keep doing wath we love to do.
RD: What role does music play in your life? How has it shaped your daily routine?
FB: Music has become a way of life. We are constantly talking or thinking about it; discussing new tracks, plugins, and gear you name it... Sometimes it can get kind of geeky but thats what we love!
RD: How would you describe your music? How do you want people to interpret your sound?
FB: Energy! Groove! & FIRE!!!
RD: If you had to sell someone on downloading one of your songs, how would you sell them?
FB: We let the music speak for us ;)
RD: For your original material, how do you get it out there? Can you see it surfacing more in the American market? What tools are vital when networking?
FB: We have quiet a structural plan nowadays with teasers, Facebook actions, promo mailings, etc. These are things we are constantly discussing with our management and always looking for ways to get our stuff heard by as many people as possible. One of our main goals in 2012 will be to conquer America and to get noticed over there. Vital tools nowadays are Facebook, Youtube and Twitter (not specificly in that order) and Soundcloud is a great way to share your music but its still relativaly small in comparison to the others mentioned.
RD: Being a duo, do you guys go back to back while spinning or is there a certain technique you follow?
FB: We go back to back and mostly play a record after each other. Having 4 hands is cool because we can do so much more stuff like acapellas and effects.
RD: What about when producing, do each of you have specific roles you focus on? Could you explain the process?
FB: There's not really a specific role, actually it's different on every track. Sometimes we work seperate on some ideas and finish it together or sometimes we just begin something from scratch together. This works great for us and because we take each other to an even higher level we hardly ever have problems with creativity in the producing progress.
RD: What gear do you guys use when producing?
FB: We use a Mac with Logic, UAD, and some vsti like the Sylenth, Massive and Nexus.
RD: Who would you list as your mentors?
FB: We've learned a lot from our collabs with Chocolate Puma, they are great guys and fantastic producers!
RD: Where is your favorite place in the world to spin?
FB: The Cocoon club in Frankfurt was one of the greatest places we've spun at so far but it's really difficult to choose just one place.
RD: Where can you see yourselves playing in 2012?
FB: We would love to come to the USA, heard a lot of great stories from fellow dutch DJ's so that's something on our to do list.
RD: Any upcoming shows?
FB: March will be absolutely crazy, we've got shows in Russia, Netherlands, Belgium, Germany and we will be playing some shows at WMC in Miami.
Purchase "Where's Your Head At" on Beatport
Purchase "Funky Shit" on Beatport
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