New music this week comes from Holland’s very own East & Young, hailing from Enschede, Eastern Holland – famous worldwide as the home of Grolsch beer – Marc van Oosterbaan and Ivo de Jong first crossed paths at The Conservatory Music School where “the common love for dance music brought [them] together and [they] just clicked”. Having recognized a mutual appreciation of all things musical, Ivo and Marc then went on to establish a working relationship where the focus remains creating music that’s complex but distinctly progressive in style, their debut single “Reveal” released on Spinnin’ Records received widespread acclaim and support in 2008.
With such a strong debut on the world stage, East & Young were buoyed by their success and continued to push their sound further. The partnership retains its balance as the boys both have recognised strengths within the duo, “Ivo is the man of the themes and sound design. Marc is the man of the arrangement and beats”. However having drawn such boundaries does not stop the famed artistic temperament rearing its head every so often – although the boys maintain this does nothing to dampen their motivations when it comes to creating music in the studio; “we have disputes every week. But that keeps us sharp and focused. Most of the arguments are about the direction of a specific track”.
Ivo and Marc believe that although they enjoyed the opportunity to sharpen their skills at one of the most renowned music schools, this doesn’t always have to be the case, “well to be honest, it’s not necessary to do a music study to become a good (dance) producer but it definitely helped us in our development. During the study we got in touch with composing (classical) film music, making soundscapes and most important, to think out of the box. That’s the main reason why we love to combine different elements of genres in our tracks“.
“Jupiter”:
Something that is apparent across many of their production highlights which include the 2012 Coda EP which Calvin Harris snapped up for his Fly Eye Label, and in 2013 a milestone was reached as East & Young signed a deal with Ultra Music/Sony, their first single under the deal was “Starting Again” featuring Tom Cane, and fast approaching is the second release, the dancefloor banger “Jupiter”, other projects in progress are collaborative efforts with Gregor Salto and John Dahlback and a follow up for Fly Eye.
Their ability to put their unique spin on the work of other artists has opened the gates to a batch of remix work for the likes of Kaskade (Ultra), DJ Fresh and Dizzee Rascal (Ministry Of Sound), Kings of Tomorrow (Defected), Foster The People (Sony Music), Nadia Ali, Starkillers & Alex Kenji (Strictly Rhythm), and Sandro Silva (Spinnin’ Records), and more recently Galantis (Big Beat). Ivo and Marc, like most musicians are wonderfully obsessed with the technology that allows them to continue to manipulate their sound and their current weapons of choice include Omnisphere, Sylenth 1 and Diva and Minimonsta, although as all things in this Digital Age, things become almost obsolete within months and years.
“Girls Tipsy”:
Their new track “Girls Tipsy” is out now with Gregor Salto and MC Spyder, and remains rooted in their progressive philosophy tribal percussion and high tempos abound with elements that are reminiscent of the surrealist vibes of house legend Larry Heard before the inevitable ‘drop’ showcases the kind of low down thumping bassline that has become a compulsory element of the contemporary dance music scene. You can expect to hear much more in the coming months from one of Holland’s most creative partnerships, keep your eyes on their socials for more progressive offerings and you can get acquainted with their back catalog – these guys are definitely ones to watch.
Keep Tabs on East & Young: Facebook // Twitter // Website
Words by Akua Ofei // Edited by Ayo Adepoju
