Natural born musicians with a passion for the arts running through their veins from an early age, Dutch producers Lukas Amer and Sjoerd Huissoon fortuitously met one another at the Conservatory of Rotterdam, University of Arts in 2017. After working separately on a number of diverse musical projects for many years, they quickly discovered they shared a passion for similar electronic music, which led to the formation of Amy Root — an artist project established in 2018 characterized by a collective enthusiasm for emotive beats, exhilarating harmonies, and diverse global influences. Influenced by everything from Radiohead, Joni Mitchell and Moderat to Fela Kuti, Paul Simon and Elbow as youngsters, the Amy Root catalog also draws inspiration from the likes of Jon Hopkins, Bonobo, and Jamie XX, exploring multiple world music cultures within a familiar, yet exciting framework. Following the recent release of their Elif EP on Reflektor Records, we caught up with them to find out more.
Exclusive Amy Root Interview
*This interview was edited for clarity*
Hi guys – First off, how did you two meet?
We met at the Conservatory in Rotterdam in 2017. We were in the same music production class and became friends. We shared a big passion for electronic music and music theory. We actually both got rejected the first time when we did audition there. If one of us got through, then we would probably never have been that close!
How would you describe your sound?
We really love to listen to a lot of different music genres and music cultures like African music, Ambient, Bulgarian folk music, Techno, Dance, all kinds of sorts. We really influence our music with all of those interests. We try to make our beats sounding exotic, which is mostly sample-based. Sometimes we record our own samples but we use a lot of analog equipment as well. We try to make our sound as wholesome as possible, with a lot of different harmonies and textures.
Congratulations on your second full EP on Reflektor Records, Elif. How has the feedback been so far?
Really cool! We would never think it would draw attention that much. Our national radio is playing our songs regularly. It is amazing to know that our kind of music is liked by a very broad audience and is fitting in those kinds of playlists as well. That really gives us a lot of energy!
How would you say this EP differs to your debut EP ‘Lynn’ in terms of the sound and the creative process that went into making the record?
We used way more analog equipment and weird little percussion instruments with Elif Therefore our projects mostly consist of only audio, which is giving us the opportunity to play more physically instead of being behind the computer all the time. Nowadays our creative process is always starting with more improvisation and jam sessions. We also experimented with vocals for one of the first times, which is such a nice ingredient to add to our music as well.
Do you draw inspiration from anywhere in particular?
Those 4 years on the conservatorium were very inspiring. We learned a lot about music theory, different music cultures, working with different instruments, wrote music with a lot of people. I guess you could say we created a ‘toolbox’ full of knowledge and information. Every time we want to write music we just open up this toolbox and see what we can use to work with.
We saw that you supported Maribou State at a couple of shows in Europe this summer. That must have been an amazing experience?
It was! Chris and Liam are wonderful people and it was amazing to feel their support and be able to meet them. In Brussels, we did their support in Ancienne Belgique and is was one of our biggest shows. To play on a stage like that for the first time was mesmerizing. After the show, some people came to us for thanking us and taking pictures. This was one of those moments when we got the feeling we were doing something right.
Can you talk to us a bit about your live setup and what that entails?
We work with Ableton a lot. It is such a nice way to organize all your samples and loops. We love our own kind of effect-chains, which we can use live for our instruments as well. We use a Moog Subsequent 37, Dave Smith Prophet Rev2 and some midi (trigger) keyboards. When we have the opportunity, we invite singers that we worked with and perform those songs live on stage.
Do you have anything else planned for this year or anytime soon?
Music, music, music, maybe an album? Who knows. Next to that we want to make our live show even better, and we are preparing a lot now to be fully ready to play live for our audience and listeners outside of Holland as well!
Thanks for taking the time guys!
Thank you so much for having us, it’s been an honor!
Amy Root – Elif
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