Welcome to UKF language school. Today we’ll be discussing the subtleties and intricacies of Belgian’s mother-tongue Flemish. To help us with our studies, we’ve recruited the 21-year-old Belgian producer Willem Vanderstichele AKA Hush.
His recent EP has been snapped up by Skrillex’s Nest imprint. It’s awesome, it’s available for free, each track is titled in Flemish and we’ve picked up this little beauty from it…
Groeipijn
“Groeipijn means growing pains. This samples Donny Hathaway’s The Ghetto where he sings about a little ghetto boy trying to grow up and what he will do in the future. I think a lot of people in my generation relate to that; the world is changing so quickly… How do we all fit in? It’s personal, too – it’s me trying to grow up as well. I found Donny through a Dre sample. It was the first time I ever did a sample-based hip-hop inspired tune. This is me trying to learn how to get the best out of a sample. There are guys who own that type of sound… How can I stand up against them?”
Luchtledig
“This means vacuum. The word was in my mind a lot when I was making these recent Hush tracks. It has a nice ring and it’s very melodic. It’s spacey music and it covers the whole vibe.”
Botervloot
“It’s a little scale people keep their butter in. It’s the weirdest song on my recent EP. There’s no structure, it just keeps going to the end. At one point I thought it sounded like butter so I called it botervloot.”
Sterrenstof
“Stardust. There are already a lot of tunes out there called stardust so I kept with the whole Belgian theme.”
Now enriched with four new Flemish words, let’s enrich ourselves in the story of Hush himself. Or Doctrine, as he’s also known in neuro land.
“I think neurofunk is the hardest electronic music to make,” he states. “There’s such little space to do everything, so everything has to be perfect technically and melodically. From making that style I’ve started to put the same theory into other kind of vibes.”
Continuing to balance both styles – while still studying at university – Willem has a busy future ahead of him. We love both styles, and as long he’s conjuring up awesome mixes like this, we’re going to follow him in both directions…
“Wavy music has such a chilled out scene, everyone is so friendly and supportive,” he glows. “It’s also incredibly creative; you can do anything and play with any idea. But I will carry on with Doctrine, too, as it’s such a challenge to step up to.”
And these are five of Willem’s favourite examples of how creative and exciting this realm of music can be. Enjoy!
His music is like strobe lights, that’s the best way I can describe it…
123Mrk – Untroubled
123Mrk is a French dude with an undescribable sound. He goes way out of the usual structure set by a metronome tempo. And he does it with incredible results. He’s the definition of thinking outside the box. I love everything he does. One of the starting points for me in this wavy genre is his mixtape called Your Taste In Music Is Perfect. Untroubled is one of his weirdest songs, it gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it.
Houcemate – Hush Hush
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kd4XVBMBkfs
A Belgian producer… This is the title song of his recent EP. It’s downtempo. It’s wavy. It’s pretty wonderful. He’s really young, really talented and I’d advise anyone to check him out!
Janet Jackson – If (Kaytranada Remix)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gz4awRsKEE4
Kaytranada is royalty for me. He’s Canadian and he’s got such a unique style that I think I could recognise anything by him straight away. His originals are incredible, especially Killa Cats recently, but his remix work is where he really shines. They’re all incredible. Especially this one, it’s super vibey!
Cashmere Cat – Kiss Kiss
This guy is such a dude. His tunes are so personal and emotional. I saw him live at Dour Festival a few years ago and it was a total turning point for me in terms of how I write music and approach it. He was playing in front of a few thousand people yet it felt like he was playing for a really intimate group of friends. Such a special vibe! Everything he’s done inspires me, he’s incredible and unique. Kiss Kiss is one of many Cashmere Cat tracks I’d highlight to anyone interested in this sound.
Rustie – After Light
I know I’m not alone when I say Rustie started it all off for me… He introduced me to this whole world of beautiful music and I could pick every single track as a highlight. After Light is my favourite though. I was really into dubstep when I first heard this. And the second I did I absolutely knew I’d heard something special. He’s such an important figure in the future beats scene. If you haven’t seen him live, do so as soon as possible. His music is like strobe lights, that’s the best way I can describe it.
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