For the past 25 years, Jeroen Verheij aka Secret Cinema has consistently been regarded as one of world’s top Techno Producers and Live Acts.
Jeroen lives and breathes electronic music not to mention, he still holds as much passion and enthusiasm on stage as he did in the early 90′s. We had the chance to talk with Secret Cinema as he conmemorates 25 years of musical career.
Electronic Groove: Hi Jeroen, Congratulations and thanks for your time to chat with us! You have been continually touring this year to celebrate 25 years’ career. How do you feel about this important achievement?
Secret Cinema: I wish I was 25 years of age, it is what I feel (laughs). But surely time flew by of course. Many things happened and I am glad I could do the thing I love most for all these years. It is always challenging and never bores me, since there are so many different ways of making Techno.
Electronic Groove: During the summer any particular gig highlight you would like to share with us?
Secret Cinema: The one which touched me the most was definitely the one in Perreira, Colombia. I don’t know what happened there but it was just magic. The vibe, the groove, the crowd and I just knew every track I wanted to play without even thinking about it. I flew home with a big smile on my face.
Electronic Groove: Tell us about the Secret Cinema ‘Silver’ Box. What was the idea to deliver this project and what’s inside?
Secret Cinema: It’s not very common to be in this industry for so long and still have so much pleasure in doing music. The idea was to show what my history was like in music form and so we decided to make this box with a USB stick with my ENTIRE discography on it. An animation film for which I did the music score, a CD with my greatest hits and one with live sets from 1995 till 2016. And of course three vinyls with new remixes by artists such as Joris Voorn, Heiko Laux, Enrico Sangiuliano and many others of some of my most important tracks. There is a documentary about my career and don’t forget the postcards, posters and stickers.
Order Secret Cinema‘s ‘Silver’ Box here.
“I wanted to have new music which no one else had yet so I built a group of young talented artist around me”
Electronic Groove: Since 2009 you run GEM Records, what moved you to create it and what’s the label philosophy?
Secret Cinema: Well, before 2009 I never played DJ sets. I always played live-sets, meaning I only played my own music using electronic instruments. That meant I kind of narrowed myself to certain performances. I felt there could be more, so I started DJ-ing and a new world opened up to me. I wanted to have new music which no one else had yet so I built a group of young talented artist around me such as Egbert who’s music I discovered on Myspace before I found out he lived around the corner from me. This music needed a home so I created a platform in the form of Gem Records (Label), Gem Bookings (Booking Agency) and Gem Sessions (Club Events). The label is almost up to its 50th release since 2009!
Electronic Groove: What’s in the pipeline for GEM Records?
Secret Cinema: We still have some remix EP’s coming up as a part of SILVER. We have something big coming up from SQL, more on that soon. We have EP’s from Ramon Tapia, Egbert, Reinier Zonneveld and myself all lined up. So it looks like 2017 will be another big year for us!
“You learn and you guide. 25 years of experience is something I can give, but in return I learn fresh production skills and share the enthusiasm for having a career in music.”
Electronic Groove: You have been working and supporting a group of ‘new’ Techno successful Djs and Producers like Egbert, Enrico Sanguliano, Reinier Zonneveld, Kevin Arnemann, among others. Do you constantly learn from them?
Secret Cinema: You learn and you guide. 25 years of experience is something I can give, but in return I learn fresh production skills and share the enthusiasm for having a career in music. It’s also nice to see them do so well after joining the team, and I hope all of them will have pleasure in music and success while at it!
Electronic Groove: What are your thoughts about the current Techno worldwide scene?
Secret Cinema: There are so many levels of Techno split up into different sub-genres and sub-cultures. It is nice to see there is such a large following for it! I feel Techno people often worry too much about what’s underground and what’s comercial. As far as I’m concerned you’re not underground until you’re dead. When you release music for people to buy, or put yourself out there to get gigs, you are commercial. So stop worrying about how cool you are. Just do your own thing and love what you do.
Order Secret Cinema‘s ‘Silver’ Box here.
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