In conversation with Ineffekt

Satisfyingly eclectic. Undeniably club-ready. 

On the hunt to capture that ‘indescribable’ feeling in his music, Dutch DJ and producer Ineffekt creates sonic textures that travel between breakbeat, alt-pop, (blog)house, and UK bass. Just to cite a few. ‘Eclectic’ to the core — although he hates that word — and with a thoughtful work ethic that trusts itself, Ineffekt’s latest project, HEAD FROM THE HILLS, solidifies him as an essential player within the electronic sphere. His track ‘long sleeves’ even earned the stamp of approval of the one and only Avalon Emerson. 

Growing up during the rise of EDM, Ineffekt began experimenting with the controller during after-school DJing classes taught by Wu-Tang Clan affiliated DJ Sueside. Self-described as a cynic, but with relentless romanticism at heart, Ineffekt draws inspiration from anywhere between Brutalist churches, the undeniable power of pop music, and film’s ability to make you feel (recently: Sentimental Value). His influences are then meticulously translated into glistening vocals layered over digital synths, and syncopated drum patterns forging his explosive club tracks.

Ahead of his set at Lentekabinet, we discussed how to lay the groundwork for a prolific production session. And it all begins with starting in the right headspace. Then we go through his dream rider request (it’s satisfyingly non-materialistic), learn how to stay away from the industry’s cliques and toxic cowboys, and delve into his love for Skrillex.

Hi Rick! Lovely to speak to you today. How are you feeling ahead of Lentekabinet? 

Pretty good, kind of a whirlwind of a few weeks behind me, but excited to get my hands dirty behind the decks again. And looking forward to finally seeing Surusinghe play. 

Speaking about festivals, what was your highlight at Lentekabinet’s cousin, Dekmantel, last year? 

When Avalon Emerson closed The Loop — the stage I played up earlier that day — she played long sleeves from my last project HEAD FROM THE HILLS, and the crowd just exploded. That was something I’ll never forget. After that the song kind of blew up, but that moment at Dekmantel was really the start of it, it spread like wildfire afterwards. Shout out to Avalon, she’s the best.

Let’s go back in time, can you tell us what ignited your beginning with electronic music?

I don’t really know where it came from but as a kid I wanted to be a radio DJ. I just loved music, I think. When I was about 12 or 13, EDM started getting huge mainstream appeal, and I kind of stepped in from there. Then in high school, we could take after-school DJ courses which were taught by DJ Sueside, who was a part of the Wu-Tang Clan family for a while — incredible DJ, he’s one of the best I’ve ever seen, still to this day. And from there I just got really obsessed. And then slowly you start moving in different directions, exploring and finding out what works for you.

Your sound blends an extensive list of genres that contribute to very euphoric textures. How would you describe your sonic assemblage? 

Honestly quite impossible to answer. If I had to say anything I’d probably say ‘eclectic’ but I hate that word. I suppose, usually, I’m just looking for a certain indescribable feeling that a song can give me. That’s the only thing that guides me in crafting my sound.

 Biggest musical influences? 

Too many. Here’s a couple: Yung Lean, Avalon Emerson, Jim Legxacy, Skrillex, Joy Orbison, Rosalía.

Where do you get your non-musical inspiration? 

Film is probably the artform, besides music, that gives me that similar indescribable feeling I live for. I remember seeing Joachim Trier’s Sentimental Value and just being in awe for days. It’s incredible what movies can make you feel. But in reality there’s inspiration to be found everywhere: someone walking past in an outfit that resonates with me, an unexpected brutalist church in Velbert, hiking in the mountains. I sound really vague and pretentious right now, hahaha. But yeah, I can be quite cynical but at the same time I am also quite romantic about life. I would probably want to be more romantic about it than I am right now.

What fueled the sound behind your latest project HEAD FOR THE HILLS? 

A lot of it was kind of finding out what the hell I was doing. I was surely running away from a lot of emotions. Choices were more often than not made with external opinions in mind. So for me it was a process of finding back my internal voice and having that voice make the decisions. That happened on some of the final material and at some points I still fell into the trap of being in my head too much. 

And then on a more practical approach, I was mainly searching for a way to include all the different kinds of musical ideas I had into one thing. I love club music, I love songs that breathe. And at the same time I love pop and hiphop, and all kinds of music that don’t necessarily breathe the same air as the ones in the club. It’s so cool to be exploring new ideas and cross them into different ways of making music. I adore making music this way. It makes me so excited.

Can you let us in on the technicalities of your production process, a bit more?

A friend of mine described my process as ‘15 minutes of fun, followed by 150 hours of pain.’ And truth be told, he’s not that far from the truth. In all seriousness though, I think a big part of my production process has moved to before writing even starts. It’s about creating headspace, feeling calm, getting my hands off industry politics and my head out of the rat race. I try to avoid any sort of toxic industry thinking. A lot of my best work has always come from just writing something. Just those 15 minutes on the couch doing what I love the most. And getting into that zone means getting the fuck out of my head and refraining from acting out of any external validation-seeking behaviour. I think music has become so taunted with cliques and toxic cowboys. I’m trying to stay as far from it as possible and just get back to my inner child fun mode when writing music. 

Then writing can start anywhere and at any place. I can write some drums at the kitchen table or some chords at the studio. Nowadays half of my songs start in writing sessions with someone doing vocals. That has changed a little since my last record. And then whenever a song starts to get legs, I can work on certain stuff for ages. My forthcoming single started as an instrumental demo in Spain, last April. Vocals were recorded a little later and then a lot of the production was finished last summer. But we just finished this track earlier this week. Some things take so long to get right. And then some are easy, long sleeves was written so quickly.

One sample you discovered that completely blew you away?

I adored Clipse’s latest album and especially So Be It. One of the absolute sickest sample flips I’ve heard in a while. 

What’s your controller quirk? 

I’m definitely the stereotypical DJ who DJs like the mixer is really hot. It’s really cringey but I have not been able to control it. 

If you were playing your biggest, most important gig in the world, what would be on your rider? 

I’d probably ask for Yung Lean to give me a motivational speech. Can you put that on your rider? That’d be great, wouldn’t it?

That would be amazing, for sure. What’s the best advice you’ve received? 

In the end everything in life will fall into place as long as you just listen to your gut feeling. It’s quite cliche but this has proven to be true the more I’ve been able to follow it. Getting there is difficult sometimes, but meditation has helped me loads. I suppose I’ve become a bit happier in life from just listening to my gut feeling instead of everything and everyone else.

Dream collaboration?

Skrillex, most definitely. I don’t think there’s any artist out there at the moment that is as good as him. I’m quite big on good sounding music, and my goal has always been to get really good at that technical side of producing music. For me it’s a huge part of what I like about music, not just in the process of making, but also when listening to it live. He’s just incredibly creative and I like that he has been very collaborative throughout his career. It’s just way more fun to do this with other people than sitting in your studio alone everyday, right? But, honorable mention: I dream of doing something with Yung Lean at some point in my life, even if it’s just painting together. And I’ll name one more honorable mention: Rosalía.

The perfect activity one can do when listening to your sets?

Mountaineering. 

Finally, what are your future projects looking like?

I’m more and more leaving behind any sort of expectation and external influence, and continuing to focus on making the best I can and have fun while doing it. I’m definitely collaborating a lot more and I’m further exploring combining all my different musical influences. I’m excited to get out these new singles we’ve planned for this summer. It’s definitely the first big step I’ve taken in making something that is fully authentic to me, so that’s exciting. I’ve really put my all into it. And from there we just move more and more into that direction. I’m feeling motivated.

Watch Ineffekt perform on Lentekabinet Festival next week, Saturday May 23