Q&A
Could you start by telling us who you are and what kind of music you make?
I'm Joris also known as cosmox and Proxygen, and I make a broad spectrum of electronic music ranging from ambient, IDM/braindance to dancefloor orientated stuff like techno and d&b.
As an artist from The Hague, what unique sound or energy do you bring to ADE?
My sounds when I play in a club is always a mix of a lot of genres. i can build to quite high energy peaks but will also take the time to land again and bring some space in the mix. This time I was opening for the legendary Ilian Tape crew, and play before Skee Mask, which is an artist I admire, so I builded slowly and tried to warm up the crowd so Skee Mask could start smoothly.
How did this booking come about. Did ADE reach out, or was it through your own network?
I'm also one of the initiators of The Crave and this was organized by us. I did reached out to Ilian Tape to do this event together, as we did a few years ago during ADE as well.
What makes you happiest about being here; the recognition, collaboration, or contribution?
For this event obviously the collaboration with Ilian Tape, but also the contribution of us to ADE.
Does ADE feel like just another gig, or does it hold a special place for you?
ADE is always craziness, so much events and artists in such a short time. The whole industry is walking around in Amsterdam. That makes it quite unique, but maybe also a bit forced- people have the feeling they have to party or they will miss out on something- even more then usually.
Since its start in 1996, ADE has evolved a lot - what changes stand out to you in the music or industry side?
Didn't know it is was so old haha - but I can only speak of the years that I've attended the event. I think i went to all ADE's in the last 15 years or so. It was always a big happening, but the last few years it really takes over the whole city. It's always funny that everyone in the music industry wants to meet during ADE, even colleagues which are based in NL.
What trends are you noticing right now; in sound, performance style, or audience energy?
In terms of playing or producing music I try not to look that much into these kind of things and operate more on my own feelings and try to get inspiration of things outside of other peoples music. But on the other hand I am aware of everything happening in the musical landscape as I'm also programming events. There was of course a big trend of everything going harder and faster, but it looks like that cooled down a bit.
What advice would you give to up-and-coming artists who want to be part of ADE?
Don't focus only on ADE but try to find out what kind of music you really like and dive into that as deep as possible. If you want to be a DJ, spend time looking for and playing records. If you want to be a producer, spend time learning techniques and experiment with these. In both paths (and way more musical paths you can come up with) you can really open up a rabbit hole.
