Our Artist of the month, to many, are equivalent of musical gods. They are the undisputed kings in a triplicate of hard-edged, continental drum and bass. They’re one of those rare acts that was not only pivotal in defining the scene but have been active in bringing up the next generation. A trio consisting of consisting of members Nik Roos, Martijn van Sonderen and Thijs de Vlieger from Groningen, Netherlands, they produce a wide variety of music including drum and bass, dubstep, breakbeat and house. Yes, it’s Noisia!
Working from their studio in their hometown of Groningen Nik Roos, Martijn Sonderen and Thijs de Vlieger have gradually developed and cultivated a sound that’s all their own; a sound that’s obsessed with production techniques; a sound that’s instantly recognizable whether you’re hearing three minutes of a Noisia track dropped at a festival. Having pushed the envelope and successfully managed to blend incredible sound design with unrelenting and uncompromising beats and bass-lines, Noisia’s sound is undoubtedly unique.
After releasing their first piece of music on Shadow Law Recordings, the trio went on to rack up releases on some of the biggest labels in the industry such as Moving Shadow, Renegade Hardware, Subtitles and DJ Friction’s Shogun Audio all lining up for the latest Noisia release. In just two years the young Dutchmen had become the go-to producers for hard and heavy beats and had remixed one of the D&B scene’s biggest anthems, Konflict’s ‘Messiah’.
2005 saw NOISIA establish their own label Vision Recordings to put out their drum&bass productions and collaborations and retain creative control of their music. Roos designs almost all of the artwork for the releases on their labels and the guys love the challenges and rewards that come with running a label. In 2007 they established Division Recordings, a label for electro, house, breaks and dubstep. They then went on to establish Invisible Recordings in 2010, catering for the deeper and more experimental side of drum & bass.
Over the past few years, accolades for Noisia have included ‘Best Producers’ at the Dutch D&B Awards in 2006 and 2007, Knowledge Mag Top 20 Tunes of the Decade 2000 – 2009: No 4 with ‘The Tide’, ‘Best Tech DJ’ in the UK National D&B Awards in 2009 and ‘Best Drum&Bass Artist’ on Beatport.
Noisia’s debut studio album “Split the Atom” was released on April 2010. This was a culmination of seven years of studio knowledge and musical experimentation and it was received with such resounding success that deadmau5 picked it up for a Special Edition re-release on his own mau5trap label. Packed with dance floor anthems and more subdued moments, ‘Split The Atom’ was a milestone in Noisia’s already glittering career. The album boasted enormous variety, changes in pace and a unique approach to a wide variety of genres to keep the group’s identity firmly intact. Split the Atom destroyed the lives of clubbers worldwide and the album cemented Noisia’s position as the production masterminds.
Noisia also boast a huge side project in the form of ‘I am Legion’. I Am Legion is a supergroup consisting of Noisia and British rappers Metropolis and Orifice Vulgatron of Foreign Beggars. The supergroup unlike any other, was formed to provide futuristic and cutting edge music. And boy they did.
I am Legion have a self-titled album to their name. The album is a plethora of highly experimental tracks like Losing For You, Warp Speed Thuggin’ and Blue Shift. The album proved to yet another example of the trio’s diversity and music tastes.
2016 was HUGE for Noisia. Last summer’s ‘Outer Edges’ album became one of the standout artist releases of 2016, earning them 3 awards at the Drum and Bass Arena Awards (Best Producer, Best Album with ‘Outer Edges’ & best video with ‘Mantra’), ‘Best Album’ at the UK Drum And Bass Awards, and contributed towards them receiving the Beatport award for ‘Best-Selling Drum & Bass Artist’.
With ‘Outer Edges,’ they didn’t just make drum & bass but they made Noisia music; and their ability to operate and thrive completely in their own lane is inspiring. The album’s consistency in futuristic concepts, its ability to transport you to different worlds, and its bar-raising production and execution make it one of the best releases of 2016.
The accompanying ‘Outer Edges’ audio-visual show, featuring their biggest production to date, raised the bar for electronic music performances. After the launch at Czech Republic’s Let It Roll festival, the band headlined festivals including Sziget, Pukkelpop, Lowlands, and SW4, Tour highlights include selling out their ‘Outer Edges’ shows in London (Electric Brixton) and Amsterdam (Melkweg) months in advance, and a recent headline show at Rampage, the biggest indoor bass music event in the world (capacity 15,000).
.@Noisia_nl announce remixes album featuring @bassnectar , @RolyPorter @IvyLab_ @AmonTobinHQ @Mat_Zo & more! https://t.co/Cb645F0gE4 pic.twitter.com/VPCYwrLqKd
— THE Music Essentials (@TheMusicEss) March 16, 2017
Noisia are now set to release the much hyped ‘Outer Edges Remixes’ album. The features remixes likes of Bassnectar, Ivy Lab, Machinedrum, Amon Tobin, Camo & Krooked, Mat Zo, Dyro, The Upbeats, Mefjus, and more. Handpicked by Nik, Martijn, and Thijs, the artists range from across the electronic music spectrum, with many of the mixes taking the original versions outside of drum & bass entirely – something Noisia were keen to achieve with this project.
While Noisia have transcended their genre and grown into a phenomenon in their own right, drum & bass is at the core of Noisia’s sound, but their visceral brand of electronic music has always ventured further, and the trio have continuously pushed boundaries through their own music via various collaborations.
No matter what Noisia’s vision is, they will always stick to their guns, pushing an uncompromisingly original, emotional and visceral sound and precisely why they are our Artist of the Month.
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