Hey David, how are you? We’re meeting here at your latest venture: Black Gravity Records. You’ve been open for a couple of weeks now: how have those first few weeks gone? 

David: Really well, actually! The last few weeks have obviously been pretty hectic getting everything ready, but we’ve managed to get there. I’d actually mainly expected the usual suspects in the shop at the opening event, but I was surprised to see that loads of people I didn’t know showed up. What really struck me was that quite a lot of people of colour, and women of colour too, turned up. This was honestly a bit unexpected for me, but fantastic to see of course! You’d think that after being involved in music for so long in a city like Antwerp, you’d know more or less everyone in the scene, but it’s nice to see that other people are coming along too. 

Could you tell us a bit more about the shop and the philosophy behind it? 

David: Black Gravity Records is the physical space that embodies what I’ve been doing musically over the past few years. The philosophy really revolves around letting people rediscover music through listening. Over the past few years, I’ve often asked myself: why do people listen to music, and in what way? Building on this question, I wanted to create a place where people simply have the space to listen without too much fuss.  

I assume that’s also linked to the Listening Room in the shop – what’s the idea behind it? 

David: Indeed, on the one hand, the record shop is obviously the foundation and it has a commercial function but it’s also complemented by the listening room. With this listening room, I want to create a place where people are given the time and space to listen mindfully. These days, music has very often become background music. In a café or restaurant, it’s obviously quite normal to have background music. However, if you go to a club and people there are also chatting away or on their phones, I’d go so far as to say we have a problem when it comes to simply listening mindfully and taking a moment to unwind. 

That is precisely the idea behind the listening room: listening to music very consciously for one hour. I’m still fairly tolerant of total silence and mobile phone use at the moment, because the listening room itself isn’t quite finished yet. Once it is, I really want to be stricter and sort of force people to just listen for an hour.

Over the past few weeks, we’ve already held about six sessions, and I can really see that it’s working: there are genuinely people who dare to consciously question themselves and their listening habits. The only requirement for taking part is really just a broad interest in music. For instance, there was an older couple who’d popped in a few times before, and I eventually managed to persuade them to come along to a listening session too. I could tell from the look on their faces that they really enjoyed it, and afterwards they came to thank me for the lovely time they’d had here. That’s really what I’m aiming for with the listening room: building that connection with people who are here in the shop. 

Connection and community: these are words that are used a lot these days but how important is that to you in the electronic music scene and your project in particular? 

David: Community is definitely the focus for this project. To be honest, I just love the whole social aspect of a record shop: you pop in once or twice, and after a while you start to build a connection with the people who run the shop. At first, it might just be a quick chat, but gradually it evolves into the shop assistant peering over your shoulder to see what you’re digging, and then coming round with a stack of records they reckon you really ought to check out. In the end, of course, it’s also about selling records, but I see it as so much broader than that. I teach my customers some things but it works just as well the other way round and I learn a lot from them. There’s just so much music out there, and even as the owner of a record shop, you can’t know everything. I’ve spoken to so many people in the shop who’ve simply taught me a great deal about the records we have here in the shop. 

I really want to foster that interaction, and that’s also one of the main reasons why we’ll have different people working in the shop: Romy (r.omy), Rob (Soulastico), Paula (Tori Ann), Alyah (AliA), Syndey (Yakub Dysney). They all will work one or twice a month when I travel to play somewhere. They are all people with a huge passion for and knowledge of music, but also with very diverse styles. Deep down, they all simply believe in quality music: music where, regardless of genre, you just feel that it’s special in one way or another. 

You’ve also quit your job as a programmer at Traum: how do you look back on that period? How difficult is it to programme a club in 2026? What are the biggest challenges? 

David: I worked for Traum for about a year, mainly as a booker. It was a really interesting time for me, getting involved in the business side of the industry. I’ve been organising my own parties since I was 16, but at Traum it was on a much bigger scale. I learned a lot in this period, but it also made me realise that there are certain things in this business that I’m simply never going to accept. We’re operating in an alternative little world that we like to call ‘underground’, but the fees that so-called headliners get for these shows… there’s really nothing underground about that anymore. 

I believe that if the club makes a lot of money from a night, the performers should naturally get their fair share, but at the moment it feels as though the balance has been lost. I say this with all due respect, but just because you perform at certain venues doesn’t mean the whole world suddenly knows who you are. Following on from that, I also have a problem with the ‘B & C’ tier artists who get paid a lot of money to play and to be flown-out but then feel too good to promote the night. As a club, you should be happy that you can book the cool artists, but they should also be happy that they get to play at your venue, otherwise the whole thing just doesn’t make sense anymore. 

So I’ve learned a lot during this period, but I also quickly realized that I have a very clear and focused vision when it comes to music and programming. That’s something I noticed quite early on. At the same time, I do understand how the business and commercial side of the industry works, and I’ve gained a lot of insight from being in that environment.

I'm happy to be able to focus on my own events again, where I can book artists with whom I have a genuine personal connection. A club environment is naturally more business oriented, where as for me it has always been primarily about the art of the music. 

What’s the current state of nightlife in Antwerp? 

David: I think there’s a new vibe with Traum, and that’s led other venues like Ampère to raise their game too. I won’t say whether that competition has always been healthy, but it has certainly raised the standard of nightlife in Antwerp. That said, we do really miss a few smaller or medium-sized clubs alongside the bigger ones. Places like Het Bos are brilliant but their focus is not solely on clubbing and their ‘nightlife’ line-ups changes every week so it’s harder to get like a ‘regular’ crowd. 

I do see some nice new things happening, though. There are definitely still some great young collectives like Vloerbedekking & City Suckers who are really tackling it all in a DIY way, and I find myself thinking: I would have loved to join in on this too if I were a bit younger. Everything they do stems from a genuine love of music, starting out with a few friends and gradually becoming more professional from there. 

The sheer number of open-air events in Belgium is something I sometimes find myself wondering about though and suddenly we’re faced with an open-air season running from early April to late October, followed by another two months of winter festivals. Lots of people from Antwerp head down to Brussels for that sort of event, but people heading to Antwerp from Brussels happens far less often. The fees artists receive at these events then put pressure on the whole club scene, so prices go up for everyone. The result is that you end up spending half a month’s wages on festival and open-air tickets, i’m not sure how sustainable this is in the long-run. 

That said, I do think we should compare Antwerp less with Brussels. Brussels is a city, Antwerp is a big village, and I say that with all due respect. I always tell people: I hate Antwerp, but I love Antwerp so fucking much. This is my city and nobody should speak ill of my city. If anyone speaks ill of my city, it’s me, haha. 

Of course, you’re still DJing a lot: you played a very special set at Horst a while back, didn’t you? 

David: Yes, Horst was a very special one. I grew up surrounded by house dancers. In the beginning, they used to come to all my parties, but as life goes, everyone gets older and it all fades a bit. Recently, however, I’ve rediscovered that connection and really wanted to do something for and by the dancers again. To really recapture that feeling of people feeling free on the dance floor and to put the dancing itself back at the centre. Far beyond just the classic ‘drop and hands in the air’. That’s actually what we wanted to bring back with the show at Horst. The show was really all about the dancers, which is why we’d managed to arrange 25 free tickets to give away to real dancers from our community of dancers. A real highlight for me! 

I really want to bring that connection with dance back to the forefront. At one of the last Black Gravity Dance parties with Theo Parrish at Het Bos, I heard some people say they liked him less as a DJ, but I think that was because Theo wasn’t the focus of the evening… He was one of the elements of the evening, but each of the 200 attendees played an equally important part in the evening’s success. That’s exactly what I want to do with Black Gravity Dance or as a DJ. Getting the dancers back into the club or at festivals: that’s my real mission. 

You mentioned it just now – the current setup where the DJ is ‘in the middle of the action’ isn’t really your thing. Where do you see the DJ’s place, then? 

David: I’m not a huge fan of the whole ‘DJ in the centre with all the spotlights on them and everyone behind or in front of them’ setup anyway. As a DJ, I like to respond to the crowd’s mood, and I feel that’s harder when I’m the centre of attention myself. If not everyone is looking at me, I feel I can focus even more on what gets the crowd moving. It comes through a bit in everything I do, but I really want to focus on the idea that people can let themselves be surprised. I’ll come back to the example of Theo Parrish as well. The way he kind of ‘fucks’ with the crowd whilst he’s playing, that playful and rebellious side, I find that wonderful. All too often, the crowd turns up at a party with rigid expectations, and I love being able to break through that a bit as a DJ. 

That philosophy is reflected in the record shop too. For me, there’s nothing better than gradually getting someone who only has eyes for the minimal house section to look in other directions and seeing their taste evolve as well. Those are processes that take time but they’re very rewarding to be a part of in the end. 

Over the years, as a promoter, you’ve also brought a number of fantastic DJs to Antwerp – what’s in store for the coming months? 

David: The focus over the coming months will definitely be on Black Gravity Dance. A few months ago, I had Touching Bass from London: a crew I exchange lots of ideas with and who I really love having round. Next up is 14 June with Donna Leake, and a bit further down the line, Mr Scruff and Orpheu The Wizard will also be dropping by. It’s important to me to build a personal connection with the DJs I invite to play. 

I really try to focus on two long slots of at least four or five hours to challenge the DJs themselves as well. I find that really important: not just challenging the audience, but also ensuring the DJs themselves are presented with an interesting challenge. For me, a good DJ is like a jazz musician: there are ‘no rules within the rules’. Really feeling that freedom like in a jazz improvisation session and floating between all genres: brilliant. Jane Fitz is another name who really does that for me. In terms of genres, she might not immediately play what I’d usually listen to, but you just feel what she’s playing and juggling with: that’s pure jazz to me. Playing with the audience and just completely carrying them along with what you want to convey.

Last one: Are there any dream Back 2 Back partners, past or present, that you’d love to team up with? 

David: Ah, yes, that’s a tough one. I wouldn’t just go for DJs anyway, so it would look something like this: I can somehow bring my entire record collection from home with me and Herbie Hancock is sitting to my right, layering his keys over the records I’m playing the whole time. He has an epic record with piano solos, and at a slightly different tempo: that would be absolutely brilliant to incorporate into a DJ set. Next to him is Kerri Chandler, also with his piano and his tetracords to add a bit more dimension to the layers. Then, a bit more centre stage, Dionne Warwick on vocals. Chick Corea is on standby in case Herbie needs a quick rest! 

I would want to be in the audience for this one though: So I'll just move to the other side of the booth for this one because I wouldn’t miss that for the world! All this seems impossible, but I do play the lottery with a group of friends from time to time. So if we win, I’d invest all my money to see Herbie Hancock perform for a real audience with dancers as well. Not in some stuffy cultural temple but in a small venue with 50 real dancers. That must be amazing… So I could use the lottery money to set this up or just have him kidnapped if that is what it takes haha.