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The time is here. L’Atelier releases their second EP with the long awaited track Ain’t He Bad!? by Tommy Theo (Tommy Lambrechtsen). Together with Martijn Wijsmuller aka Ghetto Chords, L’Atelier (Gijs van Willigen and Paul Veen) owns the label just edits. Time to have a chat with both the guys of L’Atelier and Tommy Theo – and Martijn who was there in spirit.
Tell me, Gijs, Paul, what does your average week look like?
Gijs: “Well, we’ve been steadily doing shows every week, mostly in and around Amsterdam. Next to spending time in the studio.”
Paul: “True, and the summer is going to be fun too! Lots of festivals and club nights coming up; we’ll be playing at Amsterdam Open Air, Nomads, All We Want, ZeeZout, Ohm and many more.”
We heard you’re getting a lot of support from artists all over the world to play your tracks?
Gijs “True, and thanks, yeah, to name a few we’ve gotten support from Jamie Trench, Nachtbraker, Mark Fanciulli, Tooli, Chez Damier, Derrick Carter, Gerd, Mr. Tophat & Art Alfie, Times Are Ruff, Jacques Renault, Phil Weeks, Tensnake, Doc Martin and many others who we’ve heard to be playing out our tracks.”
Tommy, you’re releasing Ain’t He Bad!? this month. How come it took so long to get a proper release?
Tommy: “Haha good question! I don’t know, I mostly made it as an edit for my DJ sets. At one point I sent it to Paul en Gijs, thinking it would fit their sets too. A couple of weeks later I got a text from them on an early Sunday morning, including a picture of their ‘label meeting’ in Barcelona, saying that they wanted it on the second just edits release. It’ll be my first vinyl release so I’m pretty stoked about it!”
I can imagine! So Tommy, you’ve been in a DJ trio for a long time. We’ve always enjoyed Vriendje van Ferry’s disco-inspired DJ sets, but you’re going solo now?
Tommy: “True, but I’m not leaving Vriendje van Ferry! I’m just taking on some other things on the side. I’ve always had a passion for real house music so I want to do more gigs and productions in that direction. Things are well underway now, I just finished my studio and there’s lots of exiting Tommy Theo stuff coming up in the near future!”
Guys, tell me about the launch of just edits and the first release. How did it all go down?
Paul: “Martijn won the 2014 Vinylized competition in Amsterdam. That’s when he asked us to set up a new label. That’s how just edits was born. The first release had Martijn’s winning track on it (Ghetto Theory) and the EP was named Theory EP. It consequently didn’t take long before four tracks, including a Kid Sublime remix and three Ghetto Chords originals, saw the light of the vinyl pressers. We made 300 copies, threw them in the trunk of our car and spread them across record stores in the Netherlands. We also sent a bunch to Germany, where they sold out in no time.”
Sounds like your hard work is beginning to pay off. And what a great EP! The four to floor house stomper Ain’t He Bad!? has the honor to kick off on the A1 side of the vinyl.
Gijs: “Yep, we wanted to make a solid four tracker. I think we can be pretty proud of it, and we’re also happy to have it as vinyl only release. Since the tracks are indeed hip house anthems, we thought the vinyl would give the tracks some more edge to it.”
What else is there for house-loving ears on this EP, besides Ain’t he bad!?
Gijs: “Second up is Wallace, an edit we once made for a gig. A big jazzy groove with a catchy Biggie sample. Remix duties have been given to Stacy Kidd. Who at first asked for €2.000,- for the remix but then settled for a fairer amount haha.”
Haha, no way, THE Stacy Kidd from Chicago?
Paul: “Yep, he’s one of those producers you can never get enough of. Kidd has had a constant and steady flow of quality house releases over the last 20 years and has always stayed true to his original jazzy and jacking house sound. Something rarely seen these days. He even worked with legendary vocalist Peven Everett. And on top of that his social media presence is fantastic to say the least. Videos of him dancing, singing along to hip hop tracks, working out or dancing to his own songs. Great fun to watch, keeping in mind you see a legend in the game, releasing dozens of tracks on labels line Dance Mania, Peacefrog, Kenlou, Bumpin’ City and many others. Check out the remix he did for Wallace.”
What can we expect from the label in the future?
Gijs: “We’re looking into hosting stages on festivals or in clubs. And maybe some sort of tour with the three of us. Nothing has been decided yet, but we’ll keep you posted!”
Great, thanks guys and keep that real house music vibe alive!
Paul, Gijs and Tommy: “Cheers, and thank you too!”
The release will be available in all major records stores. Pre-order it now at Juno here, the artwork is handmade by Jim Mooijekind!
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