[INTERVIEW] EXPLORE

If you haven’t heard by now, we’re throwing a party with Fete Records this Friday, June 9, at London’s Ace Hotel. To get you ramped up for the upcoming madness, Viper sat down with some of the acts that will be performing on the night. Today, we talk to Belgian DJ Explore about his come up and who he would most love to collaborate with.

Why did you leave the quartet of ‘Losco’ and start making your own music?
The reason I started to do more solo stuff and picked the name ‘Explore’ is because I’m still searching for my own sound, my self and the beauty what the world has to offer. Music has been the perfect gateway for this and I hope that it will keep on giving me the opportunity to keep the quest going.

Who and what inspires you to produce the music that you do? 
I’ve always had a strong love for music since I was little, but never would imagine myself to be doing this. So many years later I think it all started since I bumped a lot of DJ premier, Pete Rock, J Dilla, Madlib, and then I started bumping a lot of my internet homies. Their music, like HW&W, Soulection, Fete Records, but since I heard Mr. Carmack’s music I started out making more bass music, but I get inspired by everything that moves me.

You describe your music as ‘neon rave music’ and in your own words, what does this mean? 
I could describe ‘Neon rave’ best as underground music that you wouldn’t hear in a every day base, but still has its own presence, its own shine and a specific crowd where you could find yourself and rave hard like it was a sound that you could hear in any store, festival, radio and more.

If you could collaborate with anyone, who would it be?

I definitely want to collaborate with more vocalists, rappers, and homies, but if I could collaborate with anyone it would definitely be Flying Lotus, Dorian Concept, Mr. Carmack, Thundercat, Kendrick Lamar, to name a few.

‘Killshow w/explore & mo vibez’ is the most played on your Soundcloud, what’s the meaning and inspiration behind the song/ remix?
Killshot started out as a collaboration between Josh Pan and me in 2016; he sent a couple of projects and that one stood out for me. I put my drums under it, added some percussion bass and extra sounds, but it was only a minute and a half piece like most of my music (pun intended) so a couple of months later we were thinking about dropping it, but it needed something extra, so we asked the homie Mo Vibez if he was down to collaborate, and a week later it was done.

Your ‘Set Sail and Xxplore’ tour in Australia starts soon, what can fans expect from your show?

I’m stoked to go on my second solo tour, after being in Australia two years ago as Losco. I had the best time down under; the people were on point and the vibes were on point. What people could expect from me on this tour is a lot of energy that will result in a journey of all kinds of music, from bass music to house music to oriental grooves.

What can your fans expect from you within the next year?

I know I have been teasing my supporters a lot with snippets and a couple of full songs. But I’m aiming this year for my first EP, called Infinity. I have a lot of collaborations lying around and my second drum kit, Explore surfing pack V2, and whatever the future has in store for me.
Interview by Milica Cosic.

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