Andromedik has had a crazy year so far. He has hosted his own stage at Tomorrowland, embarked on his first US tour, and organised the second edition of his rave concept ‘Andromedik Invites’, for which he’s bringing Kanine, Grafix, Mozey, Emily Makis and others to Belgium. In addition to touring, performing, and organising events, he is also busy working on new music.
While Andromedik blew up with tracks like ‘Forever’ and ‘Your Eyes’ back in 2018, he says his sound feels more mature now. Focusing more on the technical side of drum and bass, and working with vocalists more than ever, he’s peeling back the layers of who he wants to be in this scene.
We caught up with Andromedik and talked all about his 2024 so far, and what’s yet to come.
How are you doing? It’s been quite a year for you so far.
I’m doing very well, I’m still enjoying the summer. I attended every festival I wanted to be at, so I went from one highlight to another, which was very fun. The rest of the year is looking good too. I’ve had my US tour for example, it was my first time there. You can see that more and more artists are going there now. Chase & Status, all the Worship guys are there. Overall, I’m really happy with how it’s going. I’m also making music that I’m very proud of and is feeling more mature.
In what way does your music feel more mature for you?
Around 2018, 2019, I did a lot of melodic drum and bass with a slightly happier sound than now. Not that I’m making dark stuff now, but I notice that the songs start to sound different. I find it very exciting to see other artists evolve their sound from album to album. If everything sounds the same, it gets boring pretty quickly. I’m thinking about the technical stuff, making a better mix, creating cooler sounds… Drum and bass is a genre that has a lot of possible directions, so I try to work with that. I’ve also been working with songwriters more often, and that’s something I’ve noticed more and more; working with other people, you can learn so much from them. It brings such a new, cool insight into your music.
The reason that I like working with vocalists, is because I think they bring that human element everyone can connect with. I think that makes that song more special. It makes a drum and bass tune feel more like a full song. That’s feedback I often get from MCs, as well, that they really don’t have a place to MC, because it’s just constant vocals throughout my entire sets. That doesn’t mean I don’t like MCs, though! But every time they want to get in, a new vocal starts playing from the next song, and that’s no fun for them either. So that’s why I’m doing my own ‘MCing’ for now. You can also choose where you create your highlights. But don’t get me wrong, I love MCs.
You’re based in Belgium, and it’s a pretty small scene there. How is the scene amongst the DJs?
I think it’s really cool. We’ve got a group chat with some of the other DJs and we talk to each other every day. There’s Basstripper, Maze, Primate, Captain Bass, and a few other people. It really feels like this big group of friends. We hang out in summer to go swimming for example, go on trips together… It’s very nice because it also feels like a group of colleagues in a way. Sometimes DJing can be a very individual job, so it’s nice to be able to talk to people who are doing the same thing. I also get a lot of support from them. If you look at the Andromedik Invites stage at Tomorrowland, you’ll always find someone from that group chat that’s also part of the line-up. We try to bring each other everywhere. Last year we did a birthday bash for Primate and Used and I did a b2b there. We have a lot of fun together.
You’ve just come back from your US tour. How did that feel?
You’ll notice that there’s more and more happening in the US. Like I said, Chase & Status are doing crazy stuff there. Worship are doing massive tours there too. The last tour they did I was thinking, how big are all those venues here? Apart from that, Netsky is also been touring there for quite some time now. You just feel that the Americans are starting to get a feel for the faster tempo. That’s why it felt like it was the moment to go there. We also noticed that more interest came from the US. And then there was a request for Lost Lands, Excision’s festival. When they asked if I wanted to come and play, I said yes, this is the moment.
And how did it feel to go there?
Cool! America is a massive country. I had only been there once for a summer school, when I was still at university. It was in Georgetown, very close to Washington. It’s amazing that I can see more places in the country through my job and experience how that is. It really felt like a mini vacation.
Out of all the countries you visited as a DJ, which one has been the coolest so far?
100% New Zealand. It’s such a crazy place. It doesn’t feel like you’re on Earth. It’s like you’re on another planet. The nature there is totally different from what we have in Europe. It’s such a beautiful country, I’ve been there twice now. Every time I’m there I’m like, it’s so cool that I can come here to play music. I was able to take my brother with me the last time, which was also super fun.
This summer, you also had your own stage at Tomorrowland with Andromedik Invites. Can you tell us more about that?
I did my first edition of Andromedik Invites at Trix last year, and that went very well. Tomorrowland noticed that. They told me that they were thinking of putting more drum and bass on the line-up, and asked me to put together a line-up for the Atmosphere stage; they’d never put D&B there before. That was really amazing, because I could pick and see which artists I wanted to book. It was nice to be able to put such a line-up together, it was new to me. I could literally just ask my favourite artists to come, and I’m really happy with the line-up we put together. The tent was packed the whole day. Merow opened the tent. She’s a Dutch bass house artist, and when she started playing her first tune, the tent was already full. It was mad to see, and I really hope we can do it again next year.
You’re also throwing an Andromedik Invites rave in November in Antwerp Expo. Can you tell us more about who you invited and why you did that?
If you look at those headliners, I started from the thought, who fits in a rave concept? For this edition, we wanted to go bigger than Trix. We also want to make it feel more like a rave rather than just an Andromedik headline show. I think that’s great for the Belgian scene—the more parties there are, the better. It’s just to bring fresh wind into the scene. And when I think of a warehouse rave, I think of Kanine. I think he’s gonna fit the whole Antwerp Expo vibe really well, he has that dark sound. So from the start I was like, I want Kanine on the line-up. From there, I started puzzling again. I invited Grafix last year at Trix, and he played a fantastic set, so I decided to invite him again. I also wrote the track ‘Comedown’ with him, so it makes sense for him to be there. I invited Emily Makis because she’s mega-relevant now. She writes great songs, has an amazing voice… From what I’ve seen on social media, all her concerts look amazing. I think Mozey is good to have that bit of jump up for the Belgian jump up lovers.
They are artists I like. That’s the music I listen to. I think if you listen to my sets, you will hear a lot of music from the people on the line-up. That means I won’t be able to play that music myself that evening, but that’s my problem. It’s purely about what kind of music I feel and what I would like to hear when I’m standing there. I think that in the long run, the music you listen to will have an influence on your own music, and that’s why I feel like they really fit into the Andromedik Invites concept.
That’s interesting! Is there anything else you would like to share with us?
Absolutely. There will be a new song coming before Andromedik Invites on November 2, and there’s still a lot more to come. I think if you follow my releases, you know that I release music quite often. I’m definitely not going to stop doing that. So, lots of stuff is coming.
