Interview With Firebeatz at Escape SoCal

Firebeatz is a Dutch music producing duo made up of Tim Benjamin Smulders and Jurre van Doeselaar that formed in Tilburg in 2008. They have gained fame through their dance floor hits like “Dear New York”, “Here We F*cking Go” and “Helicopter” on the EDM scene working alongside well-known acts like Calvin Harris, Tiësto and Martin Garrix. I was lucky enough to be able to sit down with the two before their set at Escape Halloween to talk about their past and some things to look forward too as well.

What kind of music did you guys listen to growing up?

Everything! Classical, Soul, James Brown, Michael Jackson, Madonna, Gloria Estefan, Beasty Boys..

Do you think that influences the music you make now?

Tim: Not at all.. *laughs*
Both: Yes definitely and as we grew older we got into more house music.. dubstep, hip hop.. that totally influences the music we make.

When did you guys decide to make music your focus and become producers?

Tim: I spent a few years playing around with it and then the only thing I could think about when I woke up was making music, everything else didn’t matter anymore. It was to the point where I stopped doing my studies and basically just worked to make enough money so that I could make music.
Both: And then we got to the point where we were making enough money off our music so we didn’t have to work anymore.

So when did you guys decide to become a duo?

Jurre: At school where we met. (The School of Arts in Tilburg, The Netherlands)
Both: After two weeks we made a track together and were like, “let’s do this”.

Do you think it’s better to have a duo than a single? What are the pros of having two people?

Both: Better.. Way better.
Tim: The only thing I can think of that’s not better is financially, you have to split everything *laughs*
Jurre: But then again you can have all the money in the world and if you’re experiencing everything on your own, I wouldn’t like it as much.

So your latest release ‘Ghost Child’ was the first release on Spinnin’s new free music sub-lable ‘Spinnin’ Premium. What’s your opinion’s on that?

Jurre: Yeah it’s brand new, I think it’s good. A lot of DJs are always focusing on Beatport in the beginning.
Tim: Yeah it’s good to take the power away from Beatport *laughs*. Everyone’s trying to produce what’s in the top 10, you should produce what you feel like. You can take risks when it’s free.. Basically you make your money, if it was about that, from shows now anyways.. the money that comes in from Beatport doesn’t even matter, why not give it away for free.
Jurre: And for ourselves it’s good because we are very diverse, we make a lot of types of music.. and it still ends up on Spotify and iTunes a few weeks later so you can still find it through there.

What’s next for you guys? Any big collabs, albums….

We just got out of the studio with Chocolate Puma, really excited about that. We have one with Jay Hardway… one with W&W too. We’re going to sit in the studio with Julian Jordan. And we’re going to focus a lot more on music next year, so we’re going to take the time to maybe work on an EP or album.

Who do you think is an upcoming DJ/Producer to watch out for?

We like the stuff Moxie is doing right now… and DubVision.

What advice would you give to beginning producers?

Tim: Don’t do school and stay in drugs *laughs*
Both: Try to make your own sound… Be yourself, don’t try to sound like everyone else.

If you could go back to when you first started and give yourself a piece of advice, what would it be?

Tim: To cut my hair *laughs* … get a f*ing haircut
Jurre: We were known as the Firebeatles

Firebeatz has had a very busy year with stops at some of the worlds biggest festivals including Creamfields, Beyond Wonderland, Mysteryland, Tomorrowland, EDC, Ultra, and many more. They have many new releases in 2015 including their most recent singles ‘Ghost Child’ & ‘Tornado’.

Connect With Firebeatz:
Website: http://www.firebeatz.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/firebeatz
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Firebeatz
Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/firebeatz