Techno icons to-be: Sven & Clé
You guys have been at a lot of festivals and parties this summer. Now how did you guys feel about being on StuDay?
Cle: “Look, I’m going to be honest: it feels a bit illegal: playing techno at four o’clock in the afternoon, but the crowd was rocking along! I’m from Antwerp myself and I always think: Antwerp never dissapoints.”
Sven: “We started for a smaller audience, I thought: cozy, we’ll make something of it. But more and more people came anyway, by the end it was completely full. That was nice.”
Cle: “Suddenly boom packed, what a party!”
Sven: “And indeed, techno might be a bit brutal for the afternoon, so we held back sometimes, sometimes lol!” (laughs)
At StuDay this year we have four different zones: the Dance stage, where you stood, as well as the Play, Discover and Recharge zone. As a festival-goer, which zone would you definitely check out?
Sven: “If I wasn’t from Antwerp, I would definitely check the Discover zone, because ‘t Stad has a lot to offer!”
Cle: “I would go to Play, then quickly Recharge and then go rock hard at Dance!”
You guys already drop it: techno is your trademark. How else would you describe your style of music?
Cle: “I think that’s a really fun question! We’re working on that a lot: how do we actually define ourselves? We are not just hard techno DJs, we have a lot of subgenres in our package: trance, funky, melodic… . We are very adaptable to what the audience wants or how the audience reacts. We do all kinds of stuff, but we’re totally addicted to a good bass.”
Sven: “There’s always a fat beat, there just has to be! If there’s no beat, we don’t play it.”
Cle: “No, then we go home.” (laughs)
As DJs, what do you want to see in your audience?
Sven: “Dancing and jumping especially! Seeing people going up and down, smiling faces…”
Cle: “You know when you go to a restaurant and the food is extremely delicious? That face, that’s what we want to see! And we always say to each other: it’s a succes when there’s someone standing there with a fan. That means there’s a ravey vibe or because there are ravers among them. So if you guys are reading this, bring fans next time and we’ll be totally over the moon.”
You guys always perform together. What is actually your mutual vibe as partners in crime and DJ duo?
Cle: “Actually it started very nice: Sven was always my cameraman and that’s where we found each other. We were in Thailand for recordings and there we went exploring together. We suddenly heard music from the jungle and then we started squealing with two and said, ‘How crazy would that be, should we become a DJ duo?’”
Sven: “So we just did that! We recorded a really bad set in Oostende, at that time we couldn’t play very well at all. But we forwarded that to a lot of people with the message: ‘Give us a chance, we’re going to become something really good!’ Fortunately, we got that chance.”
Sven: “Our mutual vibe is really fun, we’re having a super good time together. Sometimes we do fight behind the deck, if someone has had too much to drink, for example. That’s happened to both of us before.” (laughs)
Sven: “We always hear from other people that watching us makes them dance too. That’s a big compliment for us!”
StuDay is, of course, a student festival and the academic year has just begun. Do you have a message to students?
Cle: “No because I’m officially the worst student in the world!” (laughs)
Sven: “I think Cle has only been to school twice and I don’t have a college degree, so I would say party on! Just kidding! Although you have to get out enough to make friends. Friends are super important, that’s what keeps you going to classes and keeps you motivated. So socialize!”
Cle: “Especially for those summaries too.” (laughs)
Sven: “Keep them friends, especially the smart ones.”
Okay, for study tips we clearly don’t need to be with Sven and Clé. But they do have the perfect recipe for throwing a great party: Sven & Clé, their turntable with crazy beats and loud speakers! And hey, don’t forget your fan next time and keep on socializing this academic year!
