This post is also available in: Nederlands (Dutch)
Marcy Goes Wild interviewed numerous DJ’s about their debut. This episode she had a chat with the Dutch DJ duo The Incrowd a.k.a. Paolo and Mr Milano. “We appeared to share a passion for the same music.”
“Shall we start by introducing ourselves? We are Paolo Gambirasi and Hans Pruis, better known as Paolo & Mr Milano, resident DJs and organizers of The Incrowd. Our story goes beyond the music.”
By chance
“One evening we met pure by chance while we were both partying at Club NL in Amsterdam. We started chatting and Paolo (half-Italian) found out from Hans that used to work in Milan. Hans is originally a thoroughbred Groninger though (a province in the north of The Netherlands, ed.). So, that became a night of going crazy in Italian. At that point, we had no idea yet, that we lived in the same neighborhood and that our kids actually were in each other’s class! That surprise presented itself after the weekend on the school courtyard. A close friendship was born.”
Classy and incendiary
“We also appeared to share a passion for the same music. Hans had been toying with the idea of organizing a party for a while. Only for a guest list (read: kindred spirits) – friends who had seen and done everything already. With classy and especially incendiary music that we would play ourselves. That was the start of The Incrowd concept, that celebrates is 5thanniversary at the end of this year.”
Classy and incendiary
“Neither of us had a lot of experience with the organizing of parties, so it was an exciting period. Fortunately, we were allowed to test run at another party. The organization friends4friendsunited organized a theme party, At The Movie, in the Lotz in Amsterdam. We played separately that night. In those days we didn’t play B2B yet. The audience was dressed in beautiful outfits. All of a sudden, we were standing in front of 250+ people! Super exciting! And it was extra special because we knew that the venue was filled with dance lovers from the first hour. People who used to go to Roxy, the iT, the Mazzo and the first festivals. They were all here, right in front of our eyes.”
Build-up
“With this in mind, we had prepared our sets well, so they had a nice build-up. From the very beginning of our DJ existence, we realized that the build-up is essential to set the mood for the course of the evening. Paolo played, by instinct, a mega-deep set and Hans continued with rolling techno until an unprecedented high point was reached.”
Release
“But, oh, how green we were and so nervous. Fortunately, the DJ booth had a high front so no one could see our shaking hands, haha. Our anxiety luckily remained unnoticed. The release afterwards was great. We were showered with praise from an musicwise wise extremely well-educated audience.”
Inviting
“Both of us had musical roots. We both had played the (bass) guitar, also in bands. That experience came in quite handy here. You understand the dynamic of a room and how you can build it up structured. From inviting to exciting. Obviously, recognizing good tracks as an addition to your library is essential. From this background we ended up in electronic music. We have both experienced the entire electronic evolution, from the late seventies of the last century up until now. We’ ve been able to develop our own signature style in this. It was inevitable that this development would lead us to techno. There was no escaping.”
“After the success of this first real gig, we were ready for our own first The Incrowd party. We immediately went big and chose Hotel Arena in Amsterdam as the location. Unbelievable, but we already sold nearly 650 tickets in advance! With two totally unknown DJs as the line-up! We merely had to activate our network: friends invited friends, who invited friends again, and so on. That’s how it works.”
Likeable guys
“Okay, a goodwill factor is essential. And yes, we are two likeable guys who always give attention to and make time for everyone. We are even convinced that this is the secret of our success. Since then, four years ago, we have built up a community of nearly two thousand fans and we are growing steadily. We have established our name and nowadays find ourselves in the spotlights. We couldn’t be prouder!”
Technical need
“Of course, we started simple: with a semi-professional mixer/controller in combination with Serato software. But with our ambition to become better and bigger, our technical need also grew and, in that case, you end up with Traktor. A little later we bought our Allen & Heath 4D sets. This is an analogue four-channel mixer of the highest quality in combination with two integrated digital controllers. Mixing four tracks makes it intensive and mistakes are easily made, but it also presents a challenge. Playing becomes even more fun and exciting. We get the characteristic techno sounds from those fantastic HF filters on the mixer in combination with the reverbs and other effects from Traktor. We still use them. On top of that, we insert a remix deck from Native Instruments. That combination stimulates so much more creativity.”
Experimenting
“Our next step is to connect our controllers. Eight channels and completely B2B. We’re curious how that will turn out. Our styles have grown towards each other, but with eight channels and two completely own music libraries, it must remain of added value. That means: a lot of experimenting.”
“Aside from this, we are also looking for a new permanent venue to host our parties. After two years of Club NL and two years of Hotel Arena, we would like to expand further. So, Amsterdam, let us know! In addition, we also play separately at parties. Our big wish and ambition are to end up on a festival line-up. Mostly because of the recognition; that carries more weight than the glory of the party. We are so ready for it!”
This interview with The Incrowd is originally published on DJMag.nl on April 23d 2015.
Who are The Incrowd?
Long standing Club NL residents Paolo and Mr Milano have their own signature recipe: The Incrowd. An elegant mixture of deep, tech, melodic and tech-house beats.
Join the warm The Incrowd family of techno and tech house lovers, founded by DJs Paolo & Mr Milano.