RB Exclusive Interview: Yellow Claw @ Crush AZ

Crush Arizona was nothing short of amazing. You could feel the love all around as one banger after another radiated through the Frontier Hall. Yellow Claw, a sensational DJ duo from Amsterdam, brought the night to a perfect finish as streamers and heart shaped confetti rained over the crowd, decked out in their Blood For Mercy merch.

I had a chance to sit down with Nils Rondhuis from Yellow Claw shortly after their set and ask him a few questions:

That was a really great show. How would you rate the Arizona vibes tonight?

You always have to pull a little bit harder when you’re closing down because people have used up all their energy on the artist before you. It’s a challenge, but I like a challenge. It was good. 

And this was a particularly bass-heavy lineup, people were going hard all night.

Woah, it was boy’s night out. From DVBBS, GTA, W&W, our Holland buddies, it was sick.

Keeping with the crush theme, what’s your favorite love song to drop in sets?

We used to drop Marvin Gaye a lot. Sexual healing, the crowds love that.

Do you have any cool Valentine’s Day stories to share?

Not really to be honest. In Amsterdam when I was growing up it wasn’t such a big deal. Now it’s getting bigger. For some reason it blows over from the United States to Holland. Like growing up we never had Halloween and then five years ago Halloween came. Black Friday has only been around for 2 or 3 years. It’s very Western.

Earlier this month you guys announced your sophomore album. It seems like you guys have been experimenting with your sounds lately. How would you describe the album to fans?

I’m going to be honest with you, 2016 was not an interesting year for music. Everybody was kind of doing the same thing. Listening to the radio everything was sounding the same. After Justin and Skrillex teamed up for “Sorry” everything was that, and that frustrates us. Me and Jim always try to find new stuff. With this album, maybe the freedom’s not there, but we always feel it, ya know? We always do whatever the fuck we want to do. We experimented a lot with this album but there are a couple real ass Yellow Claw joints in there. 

So thinking about 2016 and it being a boring year, what are you hoping for in 2017?

I hope artists are going to be less afraid to drop albums again, real bodies of work, not just shooting singles. That takes time and dedication but that’s how you create memorable shit. In 10 or 20 years nobody is going to say ‘remember that EP’, no, they remember good albums. I hope music is going to be refreshing again. I think that’s already happening with labels losing more of their influence. The power is back to the artist. That’s a good thing.

Last words from Yellow Claw:

The album is coming. Make sure you save at least 15 bucks to buy it on iTunes, you know, so we can pay the rent, keep the lights on in the studio.. We’re gonna drop a bunch of new shit. New videos, new music, new merchandise. We’re doing a whole new clothing line. It’s going to be a big year.

Huge thanks to Yellow Claw for closing out Crush AZ with a bang and taking the time to sit down with us for this interview.

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