Written Interview with Tunnelvisions (Emiel and Ray) for FWD.DJ 2018

Listen to the mix here: http://www.fwd.dj/mix/fwd119-tunnelvisions/

What would you like people to know about this mix?

We think that this mix is a perfect reflection what we stand for as DJ’s. It’s an eclectic mix of different styles and moods, building up in one flow towards an explosive ending. As artists and DJ we really don’t want to get stuck in doing one thing, so for us it’s super important to keep evolving and putting our ongoing influences in our sets. We also don’t really prepare for our sets and mixes, it’s all 100% improvised. This is because we want to maintain a certain spontaneity while performing. We think it really worked out for this one.

Take us on a tour of your respective studio's - where are they & what gear do you use?

Emiel:
So our studios do have some things that are the same, but they’re totally different at the same time. My studio is more focussed on analog vintage synths. I have a Jupiter 8 what I use almost every time i’m in my studio, Its a very strong synthesiser what can create beautiful pads but next to that it has also a very special arpeggio function if u push the random function and play a chord you can create some very special hypnotic things, overall the Jupiter 8 is a beast what we can use for a lot of different things . Next to that there’s also a DX7, JX8P, Juno 60, MS20 and a Akai VX600. The last one is also a very special one, it’s a modulair synthesiser with a digital mind so a lot of different things are possible to create some pretty weird sounds. Next to that Ray and I both own a TR8-S, which sounds totally great and has a lot of sound shaping options. Oh and I have a big piano right in the middle of the room, hahaha. Every morning I wake up I try to practice jazz pieces (Bill Evans is my favorite) on here to improve our chords in the tracks.

Ray:
I come more from a indie side of music, so the basis of my studio used to be guitars and drums. But the last 4 years I’ve been investing more in analog synths and really develop myself as a keys player. I have a Prophet 6 which I use all the time, I know this thing by heart and it’s the most awesome sounding synth I’ve encountered. It can sound old and new at the same time. Next to that I have a ARP Odyssey, which can produce true ravey sounds (I actually bought it after finding out Todd Terje has the original which was used in Inspector Norse). There’s also an M1, MS20, Siel Cruise, Roland D-50 and a weird Arabic keyboard which is owned by my studio friends from Cairo Liberation Front. I also use a Midas Venice mixer to record en eq everything before it goes in the box. It runs through an Elektron Analog Heat to give it some grit or completely destroy sounds. There’s also a piano at home so I can write lyrics and chord structures over there.

Where was this mix recorded?

This mix was actually a set recorded in Utrecht, Tivoli. The night was awesome, we opened for Trentemoller, so we knew we could end strongly. In the end the whole room was totally into it.

Your music is very wide and open, taking influences from all over, quite in contradiction to the name you chose for yourselves. What’s the story behind it?

For us Tunnelvisions stands for different things. The name itself of course stands for going deep, focusing on one point and not letting go. This is us on the dancefloor while we’re enjoying a party, but also in the studio. We actually go deep in doing research. We look into cultures, moods, different genres and absorb this to use it in our music. For the first album it was African and South American culture. For the second one it became more progressive and we started to absorb the stuff that was happening during our DJ sets and really blending those moods. Now we’re looking further again into different stuff that really inspires us.

Part of us calling ourselves Tunnelvisions has something to do with us not living in the epicenter of Dutch dance. We live in the south, and are proud of this. It means that we’re not influenced and caught up with al the hypes and trends that are happening in the cities were there are a lot of clubs and people going out. We didn’t have the same influences as our friends and peers who come from these cities and we think it made us stand out. So we had tunnelvision and were only looking at stuff that really inspired us, instead of doing what was happening around you / what your friends were doing.

You are relatively new to the scene and yet have had two albums released in the last 13 months. Was this material you have been sitting on for a long time waiting for Atomnation to come along? Or did you guys have a spontaneous burst of creativity and inspiration?

We started Tunnelvisions around 2.5 years ago. At the time, we only had one track which we made during our first meeting after meeting on Soundcloud. We knew we had something special and it was so fun to work together that we just made a second track, and a third. It went so fast. In 2 weeks we had a 4 track EP ready, which we sent to Atomnation. Raynor already knew some of the guys signed there, but they we’re doing completely different things, so we didn’t expect them to be so enthusiastic. The label was honest with us right away. They said: I think it’s okay, but there’s more in there. For us, that was a sign that we needed to go in hard and it was the opportunity we both had been working for (separately that is) for a lot of years. So we basically said to each other, there’s no going back now let’s do this.

We kept up the high output we had in the first 2 weeks and have done so ever since. There are so many Tunnelvisions tracks made. Our dropbox folder size stands around 600gb of small projects and tracks. The album first album was done quick, it think we did it in 3 months. For the second one we really tried to go deeper in sound design, experimentation, songwriting and mixing. It took us around a year, with many tracks that didn’t make the cut. Those 11 tracks are a result of a lot of hard work, fun, and also some ups and downs.

Your latest LP ' The Celestial Ritual' is an expansive 4lp journey, split into three movements. What was the concept behind this release?

We like to work in concepts. So for our second album we actually wrote a story and created a little visual world for the music to live in. Ray studied graphic design, so he actually thinks more as a designer in a way. Designing this world was crucial for us to really have a base for the music.

The story was about 11 chiefs coming together to celebrate the coming of the new year in what was called ‘The Celestial Ritual’. Every chief brought his gift for the gods. So Mbosa brought his ‘light’, Nalulu brought her ‘Sand’ and so on. For every chief we wanted to give a different mood and vibe. For this we combined our tribal and ethnic influences with rock and kraut influences, but we also combined techno and rave influences with our indie side. It’s a weird mix that feels worldly in a way, but still very grounded and us.

Aside from the tracks in the mix - what are you guys listening to these days that is blowing your mind?

It’s so different every time! I think currently we’re mostly listening for doing research for new tracks. So we’re absorbing a lot of things that you wont necessarily think is Tunnelvisions. Ray is listening to a lot of acid and new wave stuff from the 80’s and Emiel is listening to a lot of different things, depending on what mood he is. In the morning I wake up with Bill Evans and during the day it can be go from hiphop till very trippy house music. Aside from that Ray is really enjoying the new Anthony Naples album and Emiel is really enjoying the album ‘’Order’’ by Atomnation artist Portable Sunsets.

What is on the horizon for Tunnelvision?

A lot of DJ gigs and long hours in the studio. Last 6 months we’ve almost been playing non stop and there’s no sign of this slowing down. We’ve come to a point where there are great parties to play every weekend, and that’s something we enjoy to the max. We’re becoming good DJ’s because of this, and we want to become even better. Part of this means broadening your horizon and experimenting. We’ve been doing this in the studio as well. So what’s next? A new chapter for us, where we get to mature a bit creatively and really start getting into our groove.