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 Leon Boiler has a new compilation out for this summer called 'Streamlined' which should get the temperatures rising. We decided to go and have a word with him about it...
Leon Boiler was born in 1980 somewhere in the middle of Holland, and always was in love with moody music. When he heard Energy 52's Cafe Del Mar he fell in love with melodic trance, and quit producing hardcore house. In 2002 and 2003 he got his first record deals, together with his brother Bart. They released some tracks on Bonzai/Banshee and FTM sublabels. Back then the first contacts with Armada frontman Maykel Piron were established via Armin van Buuren, and this resulted in Leon remixing the first ever Armada release. Nowadays Leon releases stuff on labels like Armada Music, Blackhole Recordings, Spinnin Records and Sweden-based Captured Music (Bart quit musicproducing due to the fact that he started his own company that provides in garden-architecture). H
e uses different guises for different styles, this resulting in progressive, trance, techy and even electro influenced releases on those various labels. His releases have been caned by the worlds big djs, like: Tiesto, Armin van Buuren, Paul van Dyk, Ferry Corsten, Sasha, John Digweed, Paul Oakenfold, Marco V and many many more. Besides. his tracks have been compiled on CDs by e.g. Tiesto (In Search of Sunrise) and Armin van Buuren (A State of Trance), and on other big compilations. Due to these successes he's been a popular remixer now, and becomes a more and more well known DJ, getting more and more gigs, in the Netherlands and abroad.
i:Vibes: Leon, thanks for talking to www.ivibes.nu. Its summertime and you have a new mix CD Streamlined out. What is the only thing missing now to make your summer perfect?
Leon: Thanks for having me! About the summertime, I am really looking forward to the coming month, with a couple of great gigs lined up, starting off with the Luminosity Beach Festival next week. I’ve played there last year as well, those kind of intimate parties/festivals in Holland have a great atmosphere. Next up: Beirut, Tomorrowland Belgium (for a b2b with Sied van Riel), Alexandria , Istanbul and Bratislava. As far as I know the gig in Alexandria will be a club gig, the others will be festival/event hall gigs. If those gigs rock my summer is complete! This weekend is a weekend off and I will join Tiësto and W&W in Kiev to hang out.
i:Vibes: You recently released your debut album Pictures. What have been the biggest changes in your musical life since the release of the album?
Leon: Well, it generated a lot of attention for my profile which was great of course. It was just a great thing to do, to not only concentrate on making tracks for the dance floors but experiment a bit with down tempo tracks as well – without having to tell yourself ‘nice to make those kind of tracks but they won’t be released anyway’.
i:Vibes: When you listen to your album Pictures does anything change with your attitude or thinking about the music with each new listen?
Leon: Not really. I’ve thought about the tracklisting and the tracks that should be on there for a long time. Of course over the months after the release you think, I might add other kinds of tracks to my next album, but that’s what a ‘next album’ is for I guess! The album reflects in some kind how I think about music and what musical styles I dig. But even then, there are more styles to explore for a next album as a nice addition to what I already have been doing.
i:Vibes: You recently entered the DJ Mag top 100. Do you feel a lot of pressure of making the list again in 2009? Sometimes a DJ makes his debut and then might not make it the next time. Is their anything in your own strength that you can do so you have good chances of making the list again possibly even higher?
Leon: Well, it was very nice to be featured in that list and in one way I don’t like to have that list in the back of my head if you know what I mean. Everyone is focusing on that list – and you can’t hold back in promoting yourself for that list too – since if you won’t, someone else will. I think it takes away the focus off where it should be: the music.
So if there’s anything in my own strength to influence my chances of getting back in the list again it should be continuing what I’m doing I guess.
i:Vibes: Why did you name your mix CD Streamlined?
Leon: It’s named after my radio show Streamlined. When I first started it about three years ago the idea was to showcase some ranges of electronic music in the show (not that I’m pretending to be the first one to ever do that haha), the name was chosen to compliment that idea.
i:Vibes: The CD is dedicated to the wonderful city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. What overall impression and inspirations could you get from this beautiful place?
Leon: I had a great time there! Stayed there in between gigs in Colombia and Buenos Aires / Rosario, Argentina. On the gigs I experienced how passionate the people in South America are about the music, a thing I really enjoy being part of! I did some sightseeing in Buenos Aires as well, and visited a concert by Radiohead and Kraftwerk.
i:Vibes: How was Buenos Aires different then any other city you visited in South America?
Leon: So far I’ve been to Caracas, (Venezuela), Medellin (Colombia), Buenos Aires / Rosario (Argentina) and Acapulco (Mexico) and in every city I experienced the passion I mentioned before. A real difference (apart from sightseeing spots and that kinda stuff) I can’t really tell. All I know is that I enjoyed myself in every city there!
i:Vibes: How difficult was it making a tracklist for both CDs? Did you have any special way of choosing the right tracks? How many tracks did you have to choose from?
Leon: I had many tracks to choose from, but in the end making a tracklist wasn’t too difficult since I have a very particular taste in music. The difficult part was leaving some tracks out that I really liked. There wasn’t a real special way to choose tracks – when I like a track I try to find a way to fit it in a flowing mix.
i:Vibes: A trend that has been going around in the last years is having less Armin´s, PVD´s or Tiesto´s on compilations, but rather more up and coming artists. How important has this trend been for EDM?
Leon: It’s not something I did on purpose. For example, I really like Armin’s Gaia – Tuvan at the moment. Back then I didn’t know that track yet, otherwise it might have ended up on the compilation. Same goes for Tiësto, PVD, Ferry and so on. All of them made great tracks in the past and will continue to do so in the future I guess. In the end its about putting good music on there, and to me it doesn’t matter if something is old or new or overplayed, or produced by a regular name instead of a fresh name. On the other hand I wanted to offer the listeners some new material as well, stuff they never heard before.
i:Vibes: Is there not a risk for sales if there are less big name tracks on compilations?
Leon: Maybe. Nowadays a CD like this (or an artist album) is more like a nice presentation for the artist mixing/producing it towards the scene in stead of something you make big bucks on. For me it’s just fun to do, and I think it’s great to put out CDs to compliment the single releases I put out as well.
i:Vibes: What was your inspiration behind “ST.Kilda? The track has very refreshing innovative sounds.
Leon: St. Kilda refers to the neighbourhood in Melbourne where I stayed after the Trance Energy Australia tour I did earlier on this year, to relax after 4 days of festivals and flights. It has kind of a relaxed vibe to it. I especially produced it for CD1 of the compilation as well – hence the deeper groove and sounds. Sometimes I like to experiment with sounds as well, edit things to death so to speak and that’s exactly what I did while producing St. Kilda.
i:Vibes: The first CD is very deep and the second CD more uplifting. Where do you see the current Leon Bolier sound more at this point?
Leon: When I’m playing primetime gigs the sound I play is what you can hear on CD2. Longer sets would start off like CD1. If I play a – let’s say – 5 hours set I wouldn’t play just uplifting melodic trance, but would build the night to several climaxes using music that’s not typical ‘trance’ – however what I play still has a trancy vibe to me. It all depends on the crowds I’m playing for as well, but usually abroad you get booked as a prime time DJ and the people just wanna go nuts those 1 or 2 hours Im playing then.
i:Vibes: What artist on the first CD do you see making a big break through in the EDM?
Leon: Well, obviously I think if every artist on that CD will keep on producing tracks like what I put on that CD I think a nice future is lying ahead for them. I discovered the Opuswerk track since Spinnin records (the company that released the CD) started a label for minimal grooves (Pony Play) and sent me some stuff – knowing what stuff I dig apart from full on trance of course. Some of the producers I discovered by asking for fresh material on a Dutch forum (clubcharts.nl) and some stuff was sent to me by the labels the tracks were signed to.
i:Vibes: What did you want to give the listener with Streamlined that you would not find with any typical trance mix CD?
Leon: An insight to my musical taste as far as it is about EDM. CD2 is all about giving them the sound they already might know, CD1 to offer some different perspectives – and maybe offer them something new to keep an eye out for.
i:Vibes: Track 8 “Romance” by Fluxx & Lola is a very interesting track. The intro is very catching. Is this sound innovativeness with “Romance” that caught your ear?
Leon: Are you talking about the violin part? In that case the answer is yes!
i:Vibes: Your remix for Cliff Coenraad, “Gone south” has a nice atmosphere in the break. Was this a difficult remix to make?
Leon: Actually that remix came along nice, Cliff asked for a remix with a typical Bolier melody to add to the original feel and I just did that. When I sent the first ideas he already was happy with the result so I could finish off the remix pretty easily.
i:Vibes: You finish CD 1 with a very funky Beyrouth. I am still trying to find out the significance of the title. What meaning does the track have for you?
Leon: On my album Pictures I put a couple of tracks referring to places I visited and had a good time in, Beyrouth (Beirut) being one of them. For my release party I made a special edit of that track because people requested to play that track there – and since the original track was pretty laidback I made a more clubby version of it. Afterwards people asked if I would ever release that version – so I put it on this CD. It will be released on vinyl and as a digital download on the 2nd album sampler as well.
i:Vibes: On CD 2, there are no big experiments as you fill the CD with more known trance names and start the CD with “Last light tonight” with Menno De Jong. What was it like working with him in the studio. How could one imagine the role set up in the studio between you both?
Leon: Actually it’s pretty straightforward – we both work on every single element of the actual track were working on, and make adjustments to parts the other wrote so in the end it’s really a thing we both like. Menno knows what he wants, same goes for me and it’s nice to work together with people that know what they’re talking about (as a musician as well as a DJ – e.g. discussing how to make a track work in a club and so on).
i:Vibes: “Medellin” is a hot track. I hear some dark sounds in many phases of the track. I hope you had only positive experiences there, but we all know that this city is not very safe. What thoughts were going through your head when making this track?
Leon: I had fun times in Medellin, playing for an enthusiastic crowd and exploring the night life the day after. Actually I produced the track before going to Medellin but I tried n tested it in Medellin and I got some nice footage of me playing the track over there. When producing it I started out with the little piano melody in the first breakdown, I was just fooling around on the keyboard and the result is the track Medellin.
i:Vibes: You worked together with vocalist Floria Ambria on “This” What attracted you to her voice? How was it working with her?
Leon: Floria has a ‘different’ voice imo and the first time I heard her voice on Airbase ft Floria Ambra – Denial I instantly loved what she was doing. It was great working together because I had the instrumental track kinda lined up and I was searching for vocals – wrote some lyrics already – and contacted Floria, asking her if she would be able to finish off vocals + additional lyrics within a week – since I had to finish the track in a couple of days I was home between the south America tour, a gig in Milan and the Trance Energy tour in Australia to be sure that I could include the track on the compilation and to play it out during the Trance Energy tour. I think she (and Jezper) did an amazing job recording the vocals in a couple of days, the first ideas they sent me hit the spot right away.
i:Vibes: What other releases can we await from you in 2009?
Leon: At the moment we’re in the middle of releasing both album samplers for Streamlined, afterwards we will proceed with promoting ‘This’. I’ve finished collabs with Joop, Re-Ward, Galen Behr and Cliff Coenraad in the meantime, and made a b-side for ‘Last Light Tonight’ with Menno. This record will probably be released in August. Afterwards I will concentrate on more solo work.
i:Vibes: How big has the influx of interest been for your bookings since reaching the DJ Mag Top 100?
Leon: You never can tell what the exact Top100 influence was, but things still are going up and I think the list feature contributed to that as well!
i:Vibes: In July, you will be DJing in Beirut. This was not always a politically safe place. Do you ever think about your safety when you are picking your DJ gigs?
Leon: Of course me and my booking agents look into safety and so on – if its necessary requesting security or something else. It’s gonna be the 3rd time I am gonna visit Beirut and I am looking forward to go back there. Great atmosphere, great people
i:Vibes: When will you play in Germany at Talla 2XLC´s Technoclub? Frankfurt is not far from Holland and your friend Menno De Jong has played there two times.
Leon: That’s up to Talla ;)
i:Vibes: What are your five all-time favourite tracks?
Leon: Good question! I don’t have all-time favs but here are some:
Energy 52 – Café Del Mar
Radiohead – Street Spirit
Chopin’s Nocturne #20 in C Sharp Minor (amongst others)
Chicane – Saltwater
Trentemoller - Moan
i:Vibes: What are your hobbies?
Leon: Being busy with music is my biggest hobby – it got a little bit out of hand haha. I like to watch good movies, have fun with friends, sometimes I do a little bit of drawing/painting too but I don’t have too much time for that.
i:Vibes: Thanks Leon for the chat. All the best with the CD and your future!!!!
Leon: Thank you too!! Good luck with ivibes!
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