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29.03
02.04.2023

Interviews

16.03
by Koen Galle

Brussels Highlight w/ Magma

A collective that has its roots on a university campus and the growing friendship between two music freaks, today leaving traces as a record label, club nights, concerts and a music management and consultancy agency. Meet Magma, the jolly gang centered around movers and shakers Seb Desprez and Julien Gathy. Both seasoned in the music industry, they decided to take matters into one's own hands. Fully reflecting their open-minded taste in music and club culture, Magma is active front as well as backstage. While the latter implies being fully supportive for other people’s careers - as managers of contemporary jazz band ECHT! for instance - the former brings them to the line-up of Listen Festival’s upcoming night at La Cabane.
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Brussels Highlight w/ Magma
17.02
by Koen Galle

In the studio with Commander Spoon

Studio Pyramide in Beersel is where Commander Spoon is in the midst of recording a new EP, to be released just prior to their concert in Flagey during Listen Festival. We are welcomed at nightfall on the final of five consecutive studio days and the pressure is rising. The prospect of a late evening doesn’t scare any of the members of the jazz band, although saxophonist and musical director Pierre Spataro honestly admits that fatigue is kicking in. The energy floats freely through the studio’s control room while we listen to one of the recordings. Spataro enthusiastically shouts ‘mushrooms’ during the most uplifting parts and we immediately understand why. Commander Spoon is a fivesome where commander-in-chief Pierre Spataro is joined by guitarist Florent Jeunieaux, bassist Fil Caporali, keyboardist Lorenzo Ola Kobina and drummer Samy Wallens. We all sit together in the kitchen of Studio Pyramide for tea and a chat.
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In the studio with Commander Spoon
27.01
by Koen Galle

Brussels Highlights w/ Melissa Juice

‘This city is so alive.’ Canadian DJ Melissa Juice has grown a lot of fondness for Brussels, where she moved to from her home town Vancouver a few years ago. In awe of both the contemporary scene of the capital and the rich music history of Belgium - hello Soulwax, R&S or CJ Bolland -  she decided to stay. With some early experience as a DJ in her backpack, it’s in our scene that she had her first big date, the first edition of the lesbian and trans popup bar Mothers And Daughters at Beursschouwburg. Over the past year, things have changed for the positive. From bars she moved to clubs and raves, seeing her soon also work the DJ booth of our 24h+++ sunday rave during Listen Festival in collaboration with Gay Haze and SPEK. 
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Brussels Highlights w/ Melissa Juice
19.01
by Koen Galle

From Playstation 5 to the stage of Botanique at Listen Festival: meet Jennifur.

Put Hector Devriendt aka Jennifur in a basement studio for 18 months and he’ll produce every sound and all music for a videogame, that’s a simple fact. Without much experience and as the result of a pivotal encounter with adventurous Belgian game developers who wanted to put their faith in the hands of a talented young producer, Devriendt did an excellent job as the soundtrack designer of snowboard game Shredders. One year after the release on XBOX and PC and a month since Playstation 5, his music has been heard by thousands of gamers worldwide, with trailer video’s reaching a multiple audience and his name popping up on influential media such as NME. The soundtrack was also released as an album titled Nowhere, Now Here and the accompanying live show brings Jennifur to Listen Festival 2023.
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From Playstation 5 to the stage of Botanique at Listen Festival: meet Jennifur.
29.12
by Koen Galle

Visiting Molenbeat finest Cheb Runner

In October influential Dutch DJ Antal selected a brand new track by Cheb Runner for his BBC Radio 1 Essential Mix. Cheb Runner is a Brussels based Moroccan music producer and DJ who goes by the name Reda Senhaji and has been on our radar for quite a while now. The artist formerly known by the name Gan Gah - an alter ego he abandoned after being too often portrayed in an eerie and tokenizing version of global music - presented the excellent Tagnawit EP on Rebel UP Records in 2020 and somewhere along the way started Mameen 3 as member of the duo Mameen3, offering downright danceable and orientally Rai lo-fi disco inspired music through labels such as Les Disques Bongo Joe, Planet Trip and Fauve Records. Nowadays he fully focuses on his Cheb Runner alter ego again, leading to the Raï Beat System EP on Crevette Records’ affiliated label Oddball Fantasies, the record Antal cherry picked from.
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Visiting Molenbeat finest Cheb Runner
26.12
by koen Galle

Brussels Highlight w/ Emily Jeanne

Bel­gian - Viet­namese artist Emily Jeanne is one of those emerging artists you just know for a fact is breaking through. Her album Public by Default on Semantica Records shows a young producer in full control of her art, daringly exploring her sound and machines. As a DJ she is knocking on many doors, with a recent signing to internationally renowned booking agency Octopus as a milestone. Influenced by residing in Ghent, Vietnam, Berlin and now Antwerp, we took a moment to question Emily Jeanne about her highlights in the capital. Strongly connected to our vibrant nightlife scene with residencies at Kiosk Radio and Fuse, we wonder where else she spends time when she’s in town.
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Brussels Highlight w/ Emily Jeanne
15.11
by Koen Galle

Brussels Highlights w/ Dana Kuehr

For a Chicagoan who moved to Brussels and initiated a new life here, exploring the city is an essential process. Dana Kuehr, who moved from the United States to Belgium in 2017 for a job in journalism without knowing anyone locally at the time, has made Brussels her home. It’s here that she made a name for herself as a DJ as a founding member of the artist collective PLANET, and that she produced her debut album that is being released as we speak. Below she walks us through her Brussels highlights.
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Brussels Highlights w/ Dana Kuehr
8.11
by Koen Galle

An emerging career as DJ, programmer and feminist voice: meet Zouzibabe.

In the midst of every crisis lies great opportunity. This quote attributed to Albert Einstein also works for Zoé Devaux aka DJ Zouzibabe. While technically unemployed from her day-time job as programmer and citizenship responsible at Paradise City festival, she decided to apply as a volunteer at Kiosk Radio. This led to her first ever radio show and a monthly residency, DJ sets for crowds eager to dance the lockdown off and a rising DJ profile with sets at C12, La Cabane, Ampère, Doel Festival or our very own Listen Festival. The long awaited return to normal also allowed her to further develop rebel, the feminist collective she co-founded. And to return to her festival job, next to a fresh of the presses master degree. She is a busy bee, who was so kind to host us in her house in Ixelles for tea and a chat on a 21 degrees warm Wednesday at the end of October. (Hashtags climatechange neverforget!)
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An emerging career as DJ, programmer and feminist voice: meet Zouzibabe.
13.10
by Koen Galle

Brussels Highlights w/ Sixsixsixties

Sixsixsixties is one of the driving forces behind traveling queer safe space SPEK and co-founder of now defunct underground club night Holger. For both concepts, an essential element are the locations the parties are held at. Whether in Antwerp or Brussels, they opt for sleazy basements, Turkish wedding venues or crummy nightclubs; places where you could disappear behind every corner, see yourself dance in giant evaporated mirrors or slip on a beer wet tile floor. Our tour through Brussels starts at Le Scenario, a specimen of such overlooked grandeur within a stone’s throw from the Simonis station in Koekelberg.
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Brussels Highlights w/ Sixsixsixties
3.10
by Koen Galle

Discovered by Nicolás Jaar: the beautiful story of Antwerp based musician Dienne

The passing away of her grandmother during the pandemic and its digital and uncanny memorial service inspired Antwerp based Dienne to create ‘Addio’, Italian for farewell, her coping mechanism for an aching heart. The seasoned musician sanguinely shared the collection of songs with world famous musician Nicolás Jaar, who promptly released it on his label Other People as an album. A delicate blend of ambient sounds, choral voices and fittingly deployed instruments, ‘Addio’ is nothing less of a masterpiece. So we drove to Antwerp to meet Dienne and congratulate her.
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Discovered by Nicolás Jaar: the beautiful story of Antwerp based musician Dienne
31.08
by Koen Galle

Brussels Highlights w/ Yooth

One of those rare DJs taking the mic during a radio show at Kiosk Radio, Ingmar aka Yooth is a positive force blowing through our capital’s scene. Representing a chosen family of artists through his Brikabrak collective, this mover and shaker adds energy and smiles wherever he enters the room. As a DJ, Yooth offers a percussion driven new school blend of Brazilian, broken beat, amapiano, UK funky, Portuguese batida, baile funk, club music, juke, jungle and alté. A sound that only lately has conquered our dance floors and which Yooth and Brikabrak have helped push around. You might want to pass by one of their glowing events - their showcase during Listen Festival at La Vallée was one for the books - or start by checking Yooths Spotify Hundred playlist composed exclusively for us! Salud!
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Brussels Highlights w/ Yooth
26.08
by Koen Galle

From Liège with love: the booming career of DJ and furniture designer Karla Böhm.

Outremeuse, on the island between the river arms of La Meuse / De Maas in Liège, we meet Fanny aka Karla Böhm in her luminous appartement. In a lively neighborhood where Ave Maria statues alternate dance bars and right around the corner of the street where her parents used to run a jewelry store when she was young, Fanny has found a nice place for herself. A beautiful wooden handmade DJ booth and record closet are the eyecatchers of the living room, objets she has meticulously designed herself. With a fresh coffee, we venture into a long conversation about her booming DJ agenda, the scene in Liège, her label and other involvements that got her to the point where she is now.
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From Liège with love: the booming career of DJ and furniture designer Karla Böhm.
9.08
by Koen Galle

Brussels Highlights w/ Mankiyan

Having fled her childhood Knokke to enjoy the capital’s diversity and vast cultural landscape, Mankiyan is conquering the scene with the speed of light. She started DJing three years ago and this summer found herself on line-ups including Dour Festival, KulturA in Liège, C12 and Buda in Brussels or Trix and Onderstroom in Antwerp. Earlier this year producer and DJ Le Motel invited her to open his stage at Listen Festival alongside DJ buddy Vers, a task the duo executed with verve. Hard to grasp in musical genres, this forerunner of a new generation blends bass music and UK influences with shots of dubstep, drum & bass and electro. Curious as we are, we questioned Mankiyan about her Brussels Highlights and asked her to curate our latest Spotify Hundred playlist.
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Brussels Highlights w/ Mankiyan
2.08
by Koen Galle

Representing the underground of the underground: Chanoirs

They call themselves a bunch of fêtards or party animals. Driven by a communal thirst for nocturnal experiences from dusk till dawn, Chanoirs unites a group of artists, DJs, digital creatives and designers whose field of interest is the underground of the underground. Allergic to any kind of marketization and other forces of capitalism, they add a layer of consciousness to our capital’s nightlife scene. On occasions gently, on others radically, they challenge the ruling powers and any kind of status quo bothering them. Exported through their manifesto, photography, poetry, drawings, a 3D video game, parties or music compilations, Chanoirs remixes defeatism with hope and fresh perspectives. Indulge yourself into their world through a long conversation we had with two of their key members Antoine Grenez and Lucas aka Lux 18 at the Chanoirs headquarters surprisingly located somewhere above a luxury boutique in one of the more posh areas in town like a wolf in sheep’s clothing.
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Representing the underground of the underground: Chanoirs
19.07
by Koen Galle

Brussels Highlights w/ Mickael Bursztejn

Nicknamed Mickey, Mickael Bursztejn on his passport, the Kiosk Radio founder is the first protagonist of this new series we are launching dubbed Brussels Highlights. Each episode has a key member of our scene curate both music and locations, the latter being places in town linked to nature, food, music and a hidden gem.
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Brussels Highlights w/ Mickael Bursztejn
5.07
by Koen Galle

Clara!’s punk and feminist reggaeton conquering the world from Brussels.

Having arrived in Brussels about eleven years ago, Spanish producer, MC and DJ Clara! brought a whole new sound to the city. Her fresh take on reggaeton, a genre that originated in Latin-America in the 1980s and for ages was overlooked in western music scenes, is surely remarkable due to her punk and feminist attitude and a unique blend of revolt, humor and plenty of other musical references she adds to the genre. Solo or in collaboration with artists such as Pearson Sound, Low Jack, Le Motel and Maoupa Mazzocchetti, Clara! has over the past few years been serving a string of well received releases to the world, helping to push her name in the global underground music scene like a gust of fresh air. Curious as we are to find out what position Brussels holds in her story and just simply to get to know her better, we took our bike all the way to Volta in Anderlecht where she rehearses and prepares her upcoming live performances.
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Clara!’s punk and feminist reggaeton conquering the world from Brussels.
2.06
by Koen Galle

Gay Haze, a freedom to be weird in Brussels.

Spek is Antwerp’s monthly-not so monthly queer dance party, for freaks by nature, as they describe their audience on social media. Gay Haze is their Brussels twin sister, a household name in the capital’s party scene since 2017, a place for the whole queer community based on a freedom to be weird and to dance together against any kind of discrimination, as they mention their mission statement online. To find out more about the infamous Gay Haze parties known for their mysterious artwork, exhilarating line-ups and state of the art scenography, I sit down with founders Guillaume Bleret and Diego Cozzi.
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Gay Haze, a freedom to be weird in Brussels.
16.02
by Koen Galle

At home chez Sara Dziri

Hosting one of our nights at the Brussel Congres station is Sara Dziri, a 30-years-old multifaceted artist, resident DJ at Fuse and Kiosk Radio and the founder of feminist, POC and queer underground party Not Your Techno, born to a Belgian mother and Tunisian father and soon releasing her debut album on Optimo Music. Time for a chat with the busy bee.
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At home chez Sara Dziri
12.01
by Koen Galle

At home chez He4rtbroken & Slagwerk

He4rtbroken ❤ Slagwerk. Uniting two exhilarating Brussels based communities for the first time on one line-up, we are counting down the days to April. Both embedded in a sonic avant garde with postmodern narratives and post-apocalypse aesthetics, He4rtbroken offers a karaoke shoulder to cry on while Slagwerk presents a playful 3D teddy bear on its Instagram. Curious to find out more about these events, their communities, hosts and backgrounds, we invited He4rtbroken co-founder Liyo and Slagwerk founder Otis for a joint chat.
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At home chez He4rtbroken & Slagwerk
27.10
by Koen Galle

At home chez Alfred Anders celebrating five years of Crevette Records

Five years of Crevette Records, how time flies! We paid Crevette head honcho Alfred Anders a visit in his loft apartment in Anderlecht, discussing our Brussels scene, the roots of his entrepreneurship and how he prepares for DJ gigs.
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At home chez Alfred Anders celebrating five years of Crevette Records
23.09
by Koen Galle

Meet Reinel Bakole, a beautiful voice new to our scene.

One of the purest, most beautiful and unique voices new to our scene, that’s Reinel Bakole. The versatile Belgian artist released a stunning EP with beat maker Louis Shungu, C12 resident DJ and producer Chris Ferreira and bassist, dj and producer Sam Van Binsbergen, showcasing influences from jazz, soul and electronic music.
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Meet Reinel Bakole, a beautiful voice new to our scene.
17.06
by Koen Galle

At home in Etterbeek visiting Basic Moves head honcho Walrus

Michiel Claus is a busy bee. He runs several labels, is an avid record collector and respected DJ travelling the world with his Walrus moniker, produces music and is part of the band bepotel records, works behind the counter at Crevette Records and manufactures furniture designed for record collectors and shops. The time was right for a chat and a photoshoot at his home and in the beautiful Zoniënwoud.
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At home in Etterbeek visiting Basic Moves head honcho Walrus
26.05
by Koen Galle

At home in Genk visiting scientist-musician Far Out Radio Systems

Far Out Radio Systems’ first and so far only live performance ever was at Listen Festival in 2018, today the producer just released a new album and works as the statistical coordinator of the Big Corona Study in Belgium. We visit the winsome Limburger at his home in Genk and learn more about how he connects statistics with music and uses the latter to make the former more attractive.
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At home in Genk visiting scientist-musician Far Out Radio Systems
3.05
by Koen Galle

At home in Antwerp visiting iconic DJ Baby Bee

We visited iconic DJ Baby Bee at her home in Antwerp. Together with Smos, she has rocked dance floors all over Belgium and abroad for 20 years of which 18 as resident DJs in Café d’Anvers and four in FUSE. In July 1999 the influential UK’s I-D Magazine even awarded them ‘DJ of the month’. Sadly in April 2020 Smos passed away. During our lengthy talk with Baby Bee, she reminisces of their precious time together as Smos & Baby Bee and offers a unique narration of our country’s buzzing nightlife history.
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At home in Antwerp visiting iconic DJ Baby Bee
30.03
by Koen galle

At home chez Le Motel: visual art and a huge cap collection.

At home chez Fabien Leclercq aka Le Motel we find ourselves in a cosy apartment in Forest, a stone’s throw from the Marconi Park. Enter the cosy apartment of this prolific DJ, music producer, film composer and label boss who will be turning 30 in 2021 and sit down with us for an extended talk about music, life and art.
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At home chez Le Motel: visual art and a huge cap collection.
11.03
by Koen Galle (aka Kong DJ)

At home chez Black Mamba, the DJ who turned music producer and bike racer during the pandemic.

She prefers summers over winters, but on this cold Monday morning in January Noonah Eze aka Black Mamba still seems happy to have us over in her apartment in Schaarbeek. She had to conquer the internet supplier’s customer service for about an hour already, but even such a nerve wracking experience couldn’t break her bright smile. Eze is a clever and outspoken 27-year-old graphic designer, DJ and curator, a delight to talk with. Over the last few years she has rapidly gained a large following on her social media, while running a weekly radio show on Studio Brussel and playing energetic DJ sets in clubs and festivals all around.
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At home chez Black Mamba, the DJ who turned music producer and bike racer during the pandemic.
30.09
by Koen Galle aka DJ Kong

The goodbye interview of Nicolas ‘Boochie’ Bucci

Some people are so connected to a city that when they announce their departure, it comes as a complete surprise, even a small shock. This was definitely the case for Nicolas Bucci, commonly known as Boochie.  The Sammarinese (as people of San Marino are called, I had to look it up) is switching Belgium for Indonesia following his wife’s first assignment as a European Union diplomat. If you haven’t heard of the enigmatic DJ, curator or communication expert before, you probably have come across one of the projects he pushed during his time in our capital. Bucci has left more than a remarkable stamp as programmer of live venue and DJ café Bonnefooi, as co-artistic director of Forest Sounds Festival and Listen! Festival and as co-founder of online platform Kiosk Radio.
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The goodbye interview of Nicolas ‘Boochie’ Bucci
28.07
by Koen Galle aka DJ Kong

Searching for the roots of AliA

“As if a part of my life is being erased.“ If you are looking for a case study on what happens when an unprecedented health crisis mercilessly deletes a year full of DJ sets, festivals - included hosting her own room during Listen! Festival - and parties, meeting people, and overall good vibes out of the life of a twenty year old, don’t look any further. But AliA, or Alyah for friends and family, didn’t stop smiling. Her dedication and positive attitude are infectious and over the course of this conversation, I discover why. I find myself in the living room of Yves and Eva, Alyah’s parents, for a long chat about the DJ’s upbringing and the music they served her for breakfast since childhood. Here is a first hint: Yves has been quite a successful DJ himself, having held a residency at the famous Silo club in Leuven, back in the nineties. More on that later.  
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Searching for the roots of AliA
24.06
by Koen Galle

Peter Van Hoesen on Center 91, his label inspired by Brussels 90's warehouse raves

A headlight of the 10 years of Boiler Room celebrations we hosted in February 2020 was definitely the performance of Peter Van Hoesen. It’s refreshing to restream the video that is just a few months old, but already feels like a souvenir from an ancient time, a nostalgia for packed dance floors. The global health crisis that has closed all dance floors and led to moving Listen! Festival’s sixth edition from March to November, has a huge impact on our community. That’s why Listen! initiates this online series of articles and features, to continue to support our Belgian music scene and focus on stories that we believe are very much worth to be heard.
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Peter Van Hoesen on Center 91, his label inspired by Brussels 90's warehouse raves