Q: Introduce yourself then describe yourself in one word.
Hey. So my name is Quirijn, a 24 years old bearded redhead from the Netherlands. I have been making music since I was 5, playing the guitar until I was about 17, before starting to produce electronic music. Since I was little I always dreamed of being a rock star, but apparently I found another way to appear on stage. After some endeavours with Drum & Bass, I’m now focusing on Techno and Electronica under my alias Precursor.
Persevering
Q: Club or Festival and why?
Festival – I always admired the grandness of festivals, the beauty, size and all the things to discover. My favourite moments are actually when I lose my friends and find myself wandering through a huge crowd just focusing on the music playing and dancing. I think the visual aspect and support of electronic music is also becoming more and more important and it is often better represented at festivals. That being said, club nights can be really intense and liberating in their own way, giving people the opportunity to escape from daily life. I used to go clubbing a lot and it really felt like I could lose the pressure from work and university there.
Q: Analog or Digital and why?
Analog – When I started out producing I was overwhelmed by the amount of things possible digitally and I never believed analog could even compare to it. But now things changed. After I ordered my first synthesizer I started to understand better the qualities of analog equipment, started listening closer to the sounds and learned better to create the sounds that are actually in my head. I wouldn’t say one is better than the other, but certainly there are types of sounds made on analog equipment that are hard to mimic in the box. I’m sure this goes both ways, but I feel like the sounds unique to the computer are perhaps not the sounds that fit with my production style at this point.
Q: Favorite Club/Venue and why does it stand out from the rest?
Jee.. there are so many to choose from. Of course the legendary Trouw from Amsterdam comes to mind, where I had some amazing club nights, but I had only been there a handful of times before it closed. I think if I had to choose right now I would say Radion (also in Amsterdam). I met my girlfriend there three years ago and I have had some memorable nights in Radion. It is built in an old dentist school, where they turned the lecture and practise rooms into the dancefloors. They host really interesting techno parties in there with a very welcoming atmosphere that I admire.
Q: What was the driving force that got you into DJing/Producing and when?
I think I was 16 and working at Mac Donald’s when I first heard Pendulum. At the time I was a big fan of Iron Maidenand metal, and some tracks of the Pendulum album seemed to mingle electronic music with metal. From there I developed the interest to make music like that myself, I was already recording some stuff with my guitar back then, but never attempted anything electronic music wise. After almost 5 years of producing Drum & Bass I made the switch to Electronica and Techno. I guess lately it has mostly been Techno, but I always try to make the tracks up of interesting sounds.
Q: If you were to have a superpower, what would it be and why?
Haha wow.. I am not sure. Wouldn’t it be kinda cool if you could like pause time, but still be able to move around yourself? You get such an insight in the world when you can just check out everything frozen.
Q: Favorite day of the week?
Friday probably. On Friday you are at the end of the workweek and I just love to sit down and work on music into the night. Sometimes I stay up until 4 am just writing a track, kind of to release the tension of the long week.
Q: Favorite sport and why?
Bouldering – Bouldering is a type of climbing where the routes are really short and technical. It’s without a rope and if you fall you’re caught by a mattress. I try to go two times a week and it’s just a place where I forget about everything, about work, uni, music. It’s just me and the wall. Even though it is not a team sport it is still a social thing. You climb alone obviously, but usually there are many people trying to tackle the same problem. And that’s really what it is, it’s not about strength so much, but more about technique and trying to figure out the route.Which goes first, your hand, your feet, your weight to the side? It’s like a puzzle, and your body is part of the solution.
Q: If you would have been given the chance to do a film score from the past, what movie would you choose and why?
I think if I have free choice, I might not go for a movie at all. I’d love to do a film score for series, where you can really set the theme throughout the episodes with your own sounds. Movies are still very much based on symphonies and orchestra’s, but more recently, especially in series I’m finding more interesting electronic music. I would choose “Broen” (The Bridge), but it is a hard pick between some fantastic series such as “Forbrydelsen” (The Killing), “Stranger Things” and “Dark”.
Q: Recommend a Hidden Gem in your Home country
On the way to Maastricht with the train you pass a lot of fields. Somewhere along the train tracks are two giant abandoned silo’s. I think it would be epic to host a party in there, but unfortunately there is no road going there and it’s in the middle of nowhere..
Q: 3 tracks that got you into electronic music
Bonobo – Flutter Listen Here
Pendulum – Hold Your Colour Listen Here
Trentemøller – Take Me Into Your Skin Listen Here
Q: Tell us about your upcoming releases and plans for this year (Exclusive release/announcement)
My next release is a really important one for me personally. I can reveal that the name of the EP will be “Holon”. One of these tracks was in the first batch of Precursor tracks I made since the debut album. That means I have been working on that one for over 2 years! One track has been in development for over a year and a half, but another track only for 2 weeks. Try to figure out which is which…! It will be released on Lines, the label from Malbetrieb end of this year or perhaps beginning of the next. We haven’t set a release date yet.
Q: Tell us a fun fact about yourself that most of your followers don’t know
I still play Pokémon Go
Q: Last but not least, do you have any question for us?
Precursor: Are you planning to host events in Beirut?
Toka Musik: 2019's in the works :)