Amsterdam Dance event lies 2 weeks behind us and that’s enough time to have recovered from the madness. Running around meeting people, talks, conference, parties and interviews. We were invited by the super friendly people over at Mixmash records to do an interview with the young & talented Kelvin who goes under the moniker Pyrodox.
If you are into Future Bass, Pyrodox should have been on your radar now. And if this is not the case, keep your eyes and ears open. A while ago he had his debut release on the Amsterdam based Mixmash Records. Pyrodox presented the wonderful ‘Never Let Me Go’ (feat. Ina) which is out now!
His previous work also includes an amazing remix for Lady Bee and Grace Tither’s ‘Homeless Heart’. This young Dutch DJ/Producer is known for producing some of the finest Future Bass edits and tracks on his Soundcloud remix account. Soon, he was on the radar of labels all around, resulting in some great collaborations.
With a hit remix of MNEK and Zara Larsson’s ‘Never Forget You’ already under his belt, Pyrodox has shown that his trap and bass inspired style is here to stay.
With ‘Never Let Me Go’ out on Mixmash, both Pyrodox and Mixmash are ready to bring something big to the table. A good reason to sit around a table and have a nice chat with this young talent.
If you are into Future Bass, Pyrodox should have been on your radar for a while now. And if this is not the case, keep your eyes and ears open.Kelvin, how are things?
All fine, thanks.
How do you feel after 3 days of Amsterdam Dance Event and 2 more to go?
It’s quite busy with an overloaded agenda: a lot of meetings, interviews and so on. But then again I get a lot of energy from it. I get to meet a lot of great people and artists. Guess it is a regular drill during events like these.
With your busy agenda, was there time to have a DJ set as well?
Yes of course!. I had to play yesterday (19/10) at the sold out Cray Cray event in Amsterdam. I really enjoyed the night with a fantastic line-up. CMC$ organized the night and got to invite the other artists. So glad to have been part of this event.
You as a young artist, how would you describe yourself in 3 words?
Energetic, using a fresh sound, open-minded
Your manager Carlos is sitting next to you. How would he describe you?
Hard working, curious and smart.
Not so long ago you released a very nice track ‘Never let me go’ on Mixmash records. Do you want to tell us something about it?
It started about a year ago as a rough musical concept. I kept working on the track but decided to sent it around as a demo too. Also to Mixmash records. But I felt it wasn’t finished yet and needed something extra. So Mixmash suggested to add vocals. This was quite a surprise as I never thought it would work with vocals. So they requested a vocalist named INA to come up with lyrics and that made it so much better. After adding the vocals I felt the track was really finished.
So you never expected your track to contain vocals?
No no. It was never my purpose to add vocals.
How does the crowd react?
Vocals really work with this track. Ina did a wonderful job. The intro is very dynamic, it has a nice drop so yes, I can please a crowd with this one. And what makes it more satisfying is that Martin Garrix added my track to his Spotify playlist. So it must be good.
Looking at the near future, what can you tell us about it?
I am quite busy and I can tell there will be some collaborations with other artists in the future: Shelco Garcia & Teenwolf, Lowriderz, Jordi Rivera, CMC$, Giocatori, Avedon and so on.
Also a new EP is up my sleeve. Quite a challenge which I need to speed up a bit, haha.
Talking about challenges. Looking at your Soundcloud profile it tells me you are not afraid to take on a challenge to edit others work. Quite some remixes, different styles & genres? What’s your preferred style or genre?
Yeah. Quite some remixes indeed. At the moment I am focussed on Future Bass. I come from the Dubstep scene which is much harder. But talking about genres, there are so many that I would like to try. But personally I would like to talk about sound, not genres. I try to work on my own sound that I try to embed in each genre I play. So in all the remixes I made you should hear the Pyrodox sound.
Looking at the list of remixes you made quite a few for some big names like Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Chainsmokers, Zara Larsson & MNEK. The list seems endless. How does it work? Do you or your manager contact the other artists and you request to do a remix?
Not always. Most of them are bootlegs. On most of the edits I tried to bend it so it fits with another genre. But as said, I try to keep my sound within the remix. Shaping it in a way so it works nice when playing it live.
You made a remix of Childsplay’s Dansen? A trap shaped version of their Dutch summer hit?
Yeah. And it was quite successful. The reaction of Childsplay was surprisingly very positive. Many remixes were made but only mine got repost on the SoundCloud page of Childsplay. It was a great summer anthem and my remix surely enhanced its success. So happy I did this.
When working like this, is this also a way in trying to get the attention of major artists?
Sure. I always try do work in a subtle way. Not pushing myself but first proving my skills and see what happens. Work hard, play hard.
Looking at your own sound. Where do you draw your creative influences from? What’s your drive?
Sounds strange but when I was younger I listened quite a lot to rock & metal. After that, I got interested in dubstep and from there I moved on to some more fresh & commercial genres that triggered my attention. First instrumental but after that I wanted to hear more with vocals as well. Just what I did with my own track ‘Never Let Me Go.
Looking at the genre you play now and maybe look at the future. Are you open to play or produce more underground techno?
I do like UK Bass, UK Garage and techno. Also to play for a small audience once in a while. My focus is now more on Trap and Future Bass.
When people say EDM is the new pop music, doesn’t it scare you a bit? Don’t you think “I am making pop music” instead of Future Bass?
Well maybe. Actually it depends how you look at it. If I look at what I did with the remix for Childsplay then no, it’s not commercial at all. It sound harder and I am sure it will not be played that easily on national radio. But when I look at my track at Mixmash records, then I feel it’s different. Genres fade and where do you draw the line? As long as people like my music, I am very happy.
Back to you future plans. What is on your whishlist?
Touring would be nice. US, Europe, … As said collaborations as well. Hopefully an album one day. But most important having fun.
Playing back to back with The Chainsmokers would also be awesome. Over time I got quite some respect for those guys.
Last question. We saw a picture with you and a fishing rod on Facebook. What’s the story?
I got it as a birthday present and I was obliged to go fishing. So on a rainy Sunday I got out and went fishing. Did not catch much but it was quite relaxing
Thank you so much for your time.
Right before publication Pyrodox dropped anew fresh cut. Enjoy:
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