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Hailing from the Netherlands, Kraak & Smaak are a musical production trio that keep us movin’ and groovin’. They create DJ mixes for days, and as we await their forthcoming album Chrome Waves, GroundSounds caught up with the group for an exclusive interview, check it out below!
For those just being introduced to your tunes, how did the group come together and form?
Well, two of us, Mark and Wim already knew each other from DJ’ing around Holland, but besides spinning records they also wanted to produce. However, they didn’t have studio skills, while Oscar, who studied music production and was a gifted keyboard player, was looking for people to make music with; we all come from the same area but this particular bond was forged in the bar in Leiden where Oscar worked at the time. So, we knew each other from there and hit it off immediately, just starting out making music to see where it would lead us.
Where did the name Kraak & Smaak come from? Who came up with it?
It was Wim’s one-man dj firm at the time; it’s a twisted Dutch proverb, now meaning crunchy & tasty. We sent around demos to various European labels and used it as a letter header (yes, pre-internet digital promo’s folks!). Looked kinda nice, some person eating a vinyl record. When we signed to jalapeno the name stuck.
What was it like working with Sam Duckworth on the track ‘Good for the City’?
It was great, he is such a nice person and very relaxed to work with. He also has this cool UK indie voice and on top of it all he is a great songwriter too – something we’re totally bad at. So we’re definitely going to do more in the future and we’ll try to get him over for live shows as much as we can.
The music video for ‘Good for the City’ is AMAZING, what creative genius came up with the concept and idea behind it?
Praise due to director Jonathan Irwin! After we pitched the song on Radar Music Videos and the first batch of ideas came back he was the one that sprung out immediately. The result is a surreal mix of animation, live stuff; to use his own words, ‘a bit like children’s tv on acid’. Every time you watch you see something new. We love it, it works perfectly with the song.
Everyone has been anticipating Chrome Waves, what has it been like working on the album?
It always remains to be seen if you can come up again with yet another burst of creativity that doesn’t go down the path you walked before. Again and again you need to develop, get inspired, stay hungry… Otherwise you stand still creatively at one point or another and it al dies down. So we are always trying to suck up new music, (re-)discover old stuff, get new ideas for vocalists.
So it was important for us that Chrome Waves would still have that broad K&S sound while being different again from 2011’s Electric Hustle. We actually started out with a more upbeat, club based idea for the whole record, a collection of tracks that could also work on the floor and be released on their own. But at the same time we’re no Disclosure or a pure dancefloor act with our recordings, so in the end we arrived again at a mix of various styles, songs, etc. while luckily retaining the ‘up’ character of the album – more than before anyway, something we really wanted to push this time.
What do you guys enjoy most about the Netherlands? What do visitors need to experience?
Well, you can’t beat eating a raw herring with fresh onions, eh? Although foreigners may probably find the idea as unappealing as Peru’s national dish, deep-fried guinea-pig, ha ha.
What inspires you guys?
Just trying to make cool, fun and interesting music on our own terms. Doesn’t it all start with that?
You guys tour all over the world, what cities do you enjoy most?
Blimey… Of course New York, LA, London, Amsterdam, etc. are great although straightforward examples, and we have gigs coming up in Brazil and South-Africa for the first time, but it’s also cool to visit towns that are not your regular destinations at all. In the US for instance we once played with the full live band in Lawrence, Kansas – in the middle of nowhere really with scenes straight from The Last Picture Show.
Can you tell us a little bit about the writing process and how you produce your music?
It could start with a sample we found or Oscar coming up with a nice riff, a loop, etc. From there on we continue to see if we can make it more substantial, see if it sticks so to speak. If it has the potential to become a song instead of a dancefloor track we start to think of vocalists we’d like to try out. If someone’s interested to work with us then we or the label send a demo to him or her and wait for a response. If we both like what we hear we could either finish it by sending versions back and forth or we get together in our leiden studio until we have it nailed. With a track more geared towards the dancefloor it’s more about getting the production right for the clubs and arriving at the best possible arrangement, i.e. works the best in a dj set.
Of the three of us Oscar is the main guy in the studio, Mark and me (Wim) are often in the adjoining room, hearing everything, walking in and out, giving feedback, etc.
What do you guys enjoy most about performing?
Of course we do both dj sets and full live band shows, which have both different dynamics to it, but it’s really great when you are performing to see the energy you put into a show coming right back at you if the vibe is right. The adrenalin and satisfaction involved in good show is just unbeatable.
Do you guys have any good life advice that you could share with us?
Coffee makes the world go round
