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Leon Bolier, producer and DJ hailing from the Mecca of the Electronic Dance Music, Netherlands. He has been in the trance scene for some time and continues to excite his fans with his unique blend of energetic melodies and punchy basslines. In conjunction with the release of his new album "Phantasma", Leon has ghosted into the hotseat with STC to talk about his latest creation.

01. Good Morning Leon, have you recovered well from your little mishap that caused you to be out of action for a few weeks? Are you looking forward to your album release and the rest of the year?
Haha, first of all I haven’t been out of action at all! A broken leg doesn’t mean you can’t go anywhere, it just is a bit more of a hassle to do so. So, the last few weeks I have been in the studio, in the office doing promotion, and I have been playing gigs. The leg is alright now though, they removed one of the screws and now I’m able to walk again (more or less that is).
Of course I’m looking forward to the album release; I hope the people listening to the album will enjoy what they hear. For the rest of the year, gigs are piling up, and I’m finally getting my USA working visa as well which means I can start touring over there as well.

02. How has the busy summer schedule been for you prior to your injury? You have played in a few big festivals this year most notably at Tomorrowland, Belgium and had the opportunity to warm up for Tiesto in his “Kaleidoscope World Tour in Poland”. How were both these experiences?
Both experiences were great, the Kaleidoscope gig was two days before I broke my leg, and Tomorrowland was one week after – so like I said, I just kept on going anyway! At both gigs there was a crowd that was really up for going berserk, amazing view! Poland has been one of my favourite countries to play at, and Tomorrowland has become one of my favourite festivals after last year and this year.

03. Your album “Phantasma” will be released at the end of August, how do you feel about your latest accomplishment? Do you feel making an album is a lot tougher to produce?
Not at all, it’s all about the fun and the love for the music. Sometimes it’s a relief not to take the dancefloor into account when producing music, for some Phantasma tracks the same thing appeals – those tracks are made for home listening, instead of being played out to the crowd on the dancefloors. Having said that, of course there are enough dancefloor crackers to be found on the album!

04. Both your albums “Phantasma” and “Pictures” are released in a double CD format compared to other artists. What is the reason behind it? Do you feel you are able to express yourself and show your versatility as a producer?
Of course it’s about that, but it’s about (and I have said that before and after the ‘Pictures’ release as well) giving the people that actually still buy their music some value for money as well.

05. You have collaborated with other producers for your album. Establish names such as Marcus Schossow, Sied van Riel & Roger Shah are some of the collaborators you had the opportunity to work with. Do you choose who you wish to work with or it would be the matter of choosing someone who would be able to suit your style?
Both, but usually it’s just a natural thing to happen – those guys are people I like being around with, and when musicians meet they usually start to make some music together!

 

 

06. Your album cover has a lot of vibrant colours and a unique art style. Does it have a relation to your album’s tracklist? Were you on hand to create the layout or did anyone assist you with the process?
Yep it does have a relation to the album’s tracklist, if you look closely to the whole artwork package you will be able to find the track titles in there (or might not, haha). I wanted the artwork to be like this all the way, and I already knew how it needed to look like before seeing the artwork. I explained this all to my sister – who happens to be great at drawing and painting – and luckily she converted what I meant to what the artwork looks like now, from scratch. Props to her! My bro digitalised everything and made it look pro and fresh. Yes, I really am happy with the artwork.

07. Some of your creations such as “Shimamoto” and “That Morning” have a very atmospheric, orchestra and energetic vibes. How do you define your style of producing?
I don’t know how to describe it in one word or sentence, the music just reflects what music I enjoy and what music has influenced me in the past. When I write a melodic track I want it to sound special in a certain way, and sometimes that is by writing orchestral pieces, piano pieces or using ethnic atmospheric sounds to enhance the overall production. The energetic part turns out to be very useful when you want to play the music out to an audience on a dancefloor ;)

08. How did the name “Shimamoto” come about? It is a town that is situated in Mishima District in Osaka, Japan. Were you influenced by visiting the city or influenced in any way by Japanese culture?
Shimamoto is the name of one of the main characters in Haruki Murakami’s book ‘South of the Border, West of the Sun’ as well. A mysterious woman, dressed in blue all the time. If you know what the artwork for the track looks like, you know what I mean. The book was great, the name Shimamoto sounded right to me and I loved to bend the Japanese ethnic sounds you hear in the track into an electronic dance track.

09. Your career as a DJ/Producer only began to flourish in 2008 onwards. Do you feel you have accomplished a lot throughout your career? Or are you still able to progress more as a DJ/Producer?
Well, that’s the plan indeed! I guess everyone wants to improve throughout the years, and that’s what I still plan to do. In every aspect – production wise, music wise, gig wise, I want to improve – this keeps you on the edge and eager for new things to happen.

10. Speaking of progression, the Top 100 DJ Mag poll has started, do you feel it is a true reflection on how a DJ/Producer has progressed throughout the year or do you gauge your progression through making productions and just having fun being on the decks playing?
You never know what happens in the DJ Mag top 100 poll, and the poll has been discussed by many for a long time already – everyone knows it’s a popularity poll, and it would be a lie to say if I wouldn’t care for that, because basically, going up in the poll means more people like what you do. On a more practical point of view, being in this top 100 means promoters that might not know too much of dance music recognise what you do, which means you will be able to spread your music to more dance lovers over the globe.
Having said that, of course the fun doing what you do is the most important part. You can’t really measure ‘fun’ though, so I don’t know how to relate having fun to progressing as an artist.

11. You have newly established your label “Streamlined” and managed to do a few streamlined nights already. Are you excited for the label’s progression and is it a lot of hard work running a label?
Running a label is a bit different to what I used to do, because now you actually have to take care of other artists and keep them happy. I am glad though, that Spinnin records takes care of most work – promoting the music to the A-list DJs, taking care of distribution, etcetera. My job is to sign great music to my label, promote it as the artist who I am now, and at the same time use Streamlined as a promotional tool for myself and other artists involved. It’s great to see that we have been able to put out some great releases already, and I’m looking forward to releasing even more!

12. There are many upcoming DJ’s and producers breaking through into the trance scene. What are your thoughts on the latest crop of talent out there? Are you excited to collaborate with them in the near future or is it just friendly competition to keep you on your toes?
I am always looking forward to collaborate with great musicians; I don’t care if it’s the oldschool or the nuschool. Every year there’s new talent emerging, the real question is – who will prevail? Sometimes it’s a pity to see that some great talent turned out to be a one hit wonder, or external circumstances forced them to quit making music, whatever circumstances those might be.

 

13. You seemed to have a fascination with the colour pink namely in your album cover and your official website. Is there a particular reason behind it or is it just a random thing?
That’s a random thing, and maybe it’s a thing my bro loves haha, since he designed my website and he decided to add that pink colour to the Phantasma font on the CD cover. Though, when he showed it to me, I fully approved. I like bright, sparkling colours, let’s put it that way.

14. DJ’s now days seemed to be very fond of sushi. Do you have a theory behind this phenomenon and what would your preference of food be?
My explanation would be (because this applies for myself). Wherever I go, usually if promoters take you to a good sushi place, the sushi is good. It’s a safe way to have a good meal wherever you are in the world. When I’m back in Holland I love Italian or Oriental food very much, just as the traditional European kitchen. Sushi is a life saver though, wherever you are.

15. Lastly Leon, can you tell us what you have in store for your fans for the upcoming months ahead?
Loads of new singles, loads of gigs, new ways for them to connect to me as an artist, and ehhh yeah there’s some album coming out as well :)