Wouter Van Boxstael, better known as Sixty69nine has been on a consistent rise in the past few years, landing several chart placements and radio support, whilst reaching a peak with his Beatport Top 100 chart entree ‘Hell Yeah’, in 2013.
An esteemed DJ and producer, Sixty69nine has been involved with highly reputable labels and has blessed the stages of some of the world’s biggest festivals, including Tomorrowland.
After getting lured into the realm of trend-following EDM for some time, Sixty69nine has now decided to go back to his beginnings and get back in touch with his unique take on Progressive House. Having seen such developments we’ve decided to have a chat with Sixty69nine about his new musical agenda and discuss his plans for 2016.
T.H.E – Hey, how are you and what are you up to at the moment?
Sixty69nine – Hi, thanks for taking the time to do this interview. You just caught me in the studio working on a new track I started last weekend.
T.H.E – What’s the meaning behind the Sixty69nine moniker?
Sixty69nine – Well, it might surprise you but it’s nothing sexual really. As a child I had this Yin Yang necklace that I used to wear all the time – and when I was a teenager there was this legendary Belgian nightclub ‘Zillion’ that had sort of a “69 Yin Yang” thing going on in their logo. I used to collect all their compilation CDs and that influenced me when I was thinking of potential artist names I guess.
T.H.E – Which part of the world do you call home?
Sixty69nine – I’m from Europe, Belgium to be exact.
T.H.E – When and how did you get involved in the electronic music world?
Sixty69nine – Belgium is a country with a lot of history when it comes to electronic Dance music, nightclubs and festivals. I started collecting vinyl records in the late 90s and also bought my first DJ mixer back then. I still remember going to 3 or 4 record stores every weekend just to find those special tracks my heroes from those days played in my favourite clubs (many of which I couldn’t even go to yet because I was too young).
My first real gig was around the year 2000. I had to do the warming up of a House & Techno party in a local youth club across the street of my parents’ house. It was a huge line-up with DJs like Jan Van Biesen, Dj Pierre (from the legendary Fuse club in Brussels) and Kozz – I was so extremely nervous that night. I recall playing ‘Cygnus X – Superstring’ and I took the needle off the SL1200 from the Rodec mixer channel that was playing. What followed was an awkward silence of 5 seconds. Luckily enough there were only 20 people on the dance floor at that moment.
Production wise I also started in the late 90s – messing around with computer software called Dance Ejay. It was a sample based sequencer on which I made my first tracks. From Dance Ejay I moved to Fruity Loops and Reason. It was in Reason that I made the track that put me on the map in Belgium. The track was called ‘Music in my DNA’. It got signed to ‘The Hype’ records, a prominent Belgian Dance label at that time. The song was released in May 2008 and hit the number 1 spot in the official Belgian Dance charts out of nowhere. I had a small European club hit on my hands and it remained in the Belgian Dance charts for 14 weeks. The track took me from youth clubs and my bedroom and landed me gigs in legendary Belgian clubs like ‘Illusion’ and also got me my first residency at club ‘The Factory’. It was at ‘The Factory’ that I also got the opportunity to host my own club night concept called ‘Home Sweet House’. The opening party back in 2009 had the now world famous Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike as headliners.
T.H.E – Who were your early influencers musically?
My really early influencers were artists like John Digweed, Sasha, James Holden, Booka Shade, Laurent Garnier, Tiesto, The Prodigy, Daft Punk, Green Velvet, Faithless and Roger Sanchez, just to name a few. On a Belgian level I remember collecting mixtapes and CDs from Marko (La Rocca) and Vince (King’s Club).
Later on I got influenced by Axwell, Sebastian Ingrosso, Steve Angello, Dirty South, Thomas Gold, early Avicii stuff, etc…
Nowadays I’m influenced by people who bring and make their music with passion and honesty. Steve Angello’s latest album is a real piece of art (+ Size artists are great), Dirty South is still the king of emotional Big Room Progressive and I also like what Nicky Romero, Stadium X and the rest of the Protocol family are doing. When it comes to deeper music, I have a lot of respect for Hot Since 82, Maceo Plex, Thomas Jack, Kolsch and Tube & Berger.
T.H.E – Do you see yourself more as a DJ or producer?
Sixty69nine – I’ve always loved both – for the moment I’m focusing more on producing, I really want to get better and better. DJing for me has become a bit like riding a bike or a car. I can get in the booth and just do it without getting rusty. Producing on the other hand, is something you have to invest in for hours, weeks, months and years. And I bet even production veterans learn new things every single day. So I love both, but to be able to grow as an artist, I’m spending a lot of my time in my home studio and I also decided to learn how to play the piano.
T.H.E – How would you describe your current style?
Sixty69nine – My current style is vocal or instrumental emotional, melodic Progressive House with a touch of euphoria.
T.H.E – Has your sound changed along the years?
Sixty69nine – Sure, in my early days I made really deep and experimental Progressive House. Obviously as time passed by, the quality of my productions got better.
T.H.E – You’re now re-launching yourself with a fresh musical vision – tell us more about it.
Sixty69nine – Somewhere along 2013/2014 I kinda lost my way in what I call: the “EDM bubble”. All of a sudden DJs became pop stars, social media stats became overly important and these miraculous, magical deejay/producers came out of nowhere. It seemed like they got famous overnight and that they were all these multi-talented musical geniuses or at least they were marketed as such. Don’t get me wrong, some of them really are… and I’m not bashing on anyone. But let’s be honest here, there are a lot of manufactured superstars out there. The Dance music industry has become so saturated and too money driven, dominated by social media hypes, likes and followers. Every country has 100 festivals and 50% of the nightclubs unfortunately have had to shut their doors. Hell, quite a few of the new acts out there don’t even know what it’s like to play an all night DJ set in a club.
But as I was saying – I had a total writer’s block when it comes to productions. I tried so hard to adapt to the current EDM hype style, that I really lost my mojo (as Austin Powers would say). Thank god I found my real passion for music production back, I rebuilt my home studio set-up and I’m just doing my thing. Making music that I like, music of which I hope a lot of other people can sing, dance and relate to… In short, I’m not re-inventing the wheel – I’m just done with trying to fit in somewhere. My goal is not to be famous or to become a superstar. My goal is to be an artist, to enjoy playing and creating music and to share that passion with as many people as possible.
T.H.E – What’s your most memorable career moment so far? And where are you heading to now with Sixty69nine 2.0?
Sixty69nine – I have a few – my first release that became a number 1 Dance chart hit in Belgium, playing at Tomorrowland and my first track in the Beatport top 100. But if I really have to choose one, I would choose playing at Tomorrowland. I met some of my heroes in the artist lounge and I had my closest friends and family there. I had an early time slot. When I started, the area/stage was still quite empty. But by the end of my set the area was as packed as can be – people were going crazy. After my set, I saw my dad backstage with tears in his eyes, and let me tell you, that’s the only time in all these years I saw my father crying. Very memorable stuff.
With Sixty69nine 2.0 I’m trying to show my artistic maturity. I’m going to focus on making my own music uninfluenced by hypes or anything else – just the real deal – and then try to share that with as many people as possible. Of course I have some goals in mind and I would love to be able to play Tomorrowland and other great clubs, parties and festivals again, but not at the cost of artistic integrity, or whatever you want to call it.
T.H.E – You had reached many feats in the past years and after a short break you are now returning with a different concept. Do you see this as picking up from where you’ve left and going through artistic maturity or as a completely new start?
Sixty69nine – I wouldn’t call it a different concept as such, I’m still who I am. The only thing that has changed is that I’m not going to try to be something I’m not, just because it would be easier to become a famous DJ or to get signed by label X or agency Y. It might sound corny to some, but I’m doing it for the love of music – I’m going to do my thing. I’m not going to make Deep House, Future House, Country infused Pop House or anything else just because that’s the IT genre of the moment. If you do that, you’re just chasing hypes that won’t last. There are a lot of DJs out there who change genres just to (try to) achieve more popularity. That’s taking the art out of the artist.
T.H.E – What projects do you have lined-up now?
Sixty69nine – I have an amazing original track ready that I’m very proud of. It features the vocals of a very talented Belgian female singer/songwriter called Jamilla. I can’t reveal too much about it yet. I hope to find a good home for it in order to reach as many people as possible. I also made a massive bootleg remix of Sam Smith’s ‘Writing’s on the wall’, the latest James Bond’s theme song – already supported by Danny Avila and landing radio play in Brazil, Belgium and Germany. Of course I’ve got several projects in the pipe-line that are still ‘under construction’.
T.H.E – Where would you like to see yourself in the months ahead?
Sixty69nine – In the studio making music and signed to a good label that believes in me and my music.
T.H.E – Tell us something not many people know about Sixty69nine?
Sixty69nine – I like to cook, it relaxes me.
T.H.E – Anything to add/shout outs?
Sixty69nine – Big thanks to my close friends, family and all the people who believe in me and what I do.
T.H.E – Thanks Sixty69nine!
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