Misja Helsloot & Michael de Kooker aka Hel:sløwed / BIG Interview & Guest Mix
Trance has always offered different ways to convey its euphoric sounds. It has changed over the years. Fortunately, this music has not disappeared, and current producers are trying to bring it back to its best light. Certainly, among those who want to do this are Michael de Kooker and Misja Helsloot. Two Dutch producers create the Hel:sløwed project. Their productions are at a high level, and the gentlemen found time to share information about their cooperation. I invite everyone to the fantastic interview conducted only for Visions Of Trance.
Misja: I believe Michael and I met many years ago in a small club in Utrecht. I knew hisn ame because we were also DJing back in those days. Years later he married my social media manager Danielle and so the contact became more and more. And when Corona started I wanted to do something different from trance, I started to combine trance and techno a bit, I started with Gouryella – Tenshi and Randy Katana – In Silence. Showed those ideas to Michael and he kind of felt what my intentions were with that sound, but since Michael is a way better producer than I am he started to help out and that’s how “Hel:sløwed” was born. “In Silence” already got 1.5 mln streams on Spotify, and the remix for Tenshi never got released, which was transformed into “Bashed”, as included on the Pure Trance compilation by Solar Stone.
Michael: Ha, I remember things a bit differently. I’m not sure about the club in Utrecht anymore though. But when I started releasing trance under my own name back in 2007/ 2008 , together with a friend Jeroen (DJ Jerom), Misja was one of the first guys supporting our tracks. He included one of my tracks on a compilation, and I remixed one of his tracks. Misja also organized his own ‘Create’ events, which were close to where I lived. So I frequently visited those events together with Jeroen. Over the years I started working more in the background as a (ghost) producer for other artists, and Misja was working with my wife Danielle, who runs a copywriting and social media company. By then I was thinking of doing some musical projects I was more involved with, not just as a ghost producer. One day Misja visited and we got talking about that and thought we could maybe do a track together. But Misja was already two steps ahead and was thinking of a whole project, which wasn’t really my plan. But I figured it would be cool to see how things went, so I went along with it. At first, wanting to stay in the background a bit more. Misja set the condition that we needed to present it as a duo though. So I was dragged to a photoshoot and here we are. 😂
I think it was a good call though, as the project has been really taking off in a way I didn’t anticipate. I mean, we’re working hard to make it work, but we’re also having a ton of fun. We can’t wait to show you the stuff that’s coming up in 2023!
2. What is trance music for you?
Misja : I discovered trance in like 1994, when Paul van Dyk released his album “45 RPM” including “For An Angel”. From then on I was into the melodic stuff. I still love the good old trance sounds, but not really into the current uplifting anymore. Maybe that’s part of the reason we started this collaboration.
Michael : I was a bit later. I was already into dance music, but I think the first time I found out that “trance” was “trance”, was when I saw the videoclips of Gouryella – Gouryella and System F – Out of The Blue on a Dutch music channel. Gouryella was actually the first trance single I bought and from there, my interest in music and music production grew. I wanted to do that too! So basically Ferry Corsten was the sole reason I got into trance haha. And especially around that era, trance music was very diverse and very creative. It was very playful and fun. And that’s the feeling I’ve always had with trance; diverse, fun, and ‘free’. Some of that feeling I lost over the years, as I felt the genre itself was stuck with more and more of the same tracks. Right now I feel the time has come for a more open-minded approach though, again combining and melding genres. Bringing back that level of playfulness and fun. Which is exactly what we’re trying to do with Hel:sløwed.
3. What are your goals in producing trance music?
Misja : I really want to get rid of all the rules. I want to make music no matter what other people think about it. And really don’t want to call our music Trance, yes it has got melodies, but at a lower BPM. We rather call it “Low Tempo, High Energy” Music. 😊
Michael : Yep, that’s basically it. Trying to not pigeonhole ourselves and having fun while making music, no matter the genre. If anything our goal is to create tracks that are to be considered good tracks in multiple genres. Just as the timeless classics from the 90s. Just think of Age of Love – The Age Of Love (Jam & Spoon Mixes) which is considered a classic over multiple genres. I mean, how cool is that?
Misja : The funny thing is we've never really been together in the studio. Basically, we send idea’s back and forward, and in the end Michael finishes it. But the fact we have a love for certain old tracks we want to remake, gives me a lot of energy to dive in every time!!
Michael : We just discuss which direction we want to go. Send snippets back and forth. See what works, see what doesn’t stick. And just go from there. The same thing goes for classics to remix.
5. Which song are you most proud of and why?
Misja : So far we only have 6 originals, so not that much to choose from. But “In Silence” is my favorite. I felt when I started it, it could be something on a lower tempo. And especially the vocals of That Girl polished the track!!!
Michael : Ha, the thing is; with this project, we’re just getting started. We’ve got more music planned than we’ve released so far and there’s some REALLY cool stuff there. One of them is a collaboration with a songwriting duo from Berlin (Amber Revival) which is a project I have a deep personal connection with. The track itself, the songwriting, the vocal performance; everything just works together so well. So for me, this is “the one”. I'm Really excited to share it with the world.
6. Is the future of Hel:sløwed a debut album?
Misja: Could be, there are no plans yet, but time will tell. 😊
Michael: This one is difficult. Albums nowadays are a bit of a tricky thing, since you can’t give all the tracks the same attention. So I personally prefer to work on really good songs for now and give them all the individual attention they need in regard to promotion and everything, especially for a new act like us. For the future maybe an album with special versions of some of the tracks plus a few new ones could work though.
7. Will your music in 2023 be based on collaborations with other artists?
Misja : At the moment we are working on a track with Daniel Wanrooy and a new track with That Girl is coming up to follow up In Silence.
Michael : And a few more too! The collab with the Berlin songwriting duo ‘Amber Revival’ mentioned earlier. As well as a collab with my good friend Teo Mandrelli & Jordan Grace, plus some others that still need to flesh out.
Misja: No hardware at all. Just a Native Instrument keyboard and a Soundcard. And a shit load of VSTs in Ableton.
Michael : No hardware here either. But that’s mostly because I need the projects to be as flexible as possible for my regular (ghost) production work. Hardware can be a pain in the ass when it comes to workflow. But to be honest; I have my eyes set on a Moog Subsequent 37 for Hel:sløwed. When it comes to software; I personally use FL Studio and a whole bunch of plug-ins and effects.
9. What is the impact of social media on the development of the Hel:sløwed project?
Misja : we are very aware that a new project needs a good presence on the social media, so we try to do our best to entertain our fans and gain new ones.
Michael : More than we’d like to admit. There’s so much music coming out that you need to try and make a difference when promoting yourself. You can have the best track in the world, but if no one knows it even exists, nothing will happen. So it makes life a whole lot easier if the branding is on point.
Misja : We are very grateful for the support they gave us already. And they can expect so much more in the coming years!!
Michael: Yeah! This year has been absolutely crazy. So we’re super happy with the people supporting us. It’s always very special when people just decide to follow and support a ‘new’ act. I feel that requires a certain type of musical personality. And especially with all the nice words, support, and feedback we’ve been getting. With some very personal messages in there as well. That really overwhelmed us and we’re super thankful for that. So a heartfelt: thank you!
TRACKLIST:
01) Will Clarke - Father [Good Company Records]
02) BLR - Guru [Sink or Swim]
03) Emanuel Satie, Maga - Flores (Original Mix) [Scenarios]
04) Hel:sløwed - Flight 643 [AFTR HRS]
05) Helsloot - Traverse [When We Dip XYZ]
06) Pelace - Kali (Hollt Remix) [Infinite Depth]
07) Dark Pulse - Run (Lemon8 & Zoyzi Remix) [Manmademusic Recordings]
08) Carbon - Controlling Your Mind (Original Mix)
09) KASIA - Universal Nation [Armada]
10) Oxia - Domino [Sapiens Recordings]
11) Klangkarussell feat. LissA - Sight Of You (Read The News Remix) [ Bias Beach]
