The Balance mix-CD series has seen its fair share of star performances, but Rotterdam prodigy Joris Voorn has raised the bar with Balance 014. In what is perhaps the most creatively-crafted volume yet, the man condenses over 100 tracks onto two CDs. What could have turned out gimmicky or just plain ugly in less assured hands has become something special.

As Voorn tells ITM, he’s taken “a small bit of this and a small bit of that to make them work together better than how they would work alone.” The “small bits” come from a stellar list of contemporaries: Carl Craig, Radioslave, Minilogue, Aphex Twin and Radiohead among them. It’s a licensing headache, but sweet alchemy for Balance aficionados. This week, Voorn is heading back to our shores to show off his handiwork. ITM’s Jack Tregoning fired him a few questions.

Why did the Balance series seem like a good fit for what you were trying to do with this mix?

The fact that the Balance series work with at least a double CD gave me space to experiment a little more than with just one 70-minute DJ mix. Besides that, I just did what ever I wanted to do, and the Balance guys seemed to be fine with that.

In 2005, you took a similar approach with your FUSE mix. How did you want to advance the concept further on Balance 014?

The setup was indeed similar, but with the Balance mixes I took things to another level, going deeper into the edits – even though this wasn’t really planned in the beginning. There was no real concept at the beginning stage of mixing; things just crystallised along the way.

You’ve got 102 tracks on the mix, some of which you use only fleetingly. Was it a painstaking process of deciding which records blended well with others?

It was quite an organic process in which coincidence played a big part. I had a Traktor setup running next to my Ableton mix file, so I could easily listen to what tracks would fit nicely. For the quieter parts I used iTunes to layer things before deciding to put the in the mix. Of course there were moments when I got stuck, or where I made the wrong decision and had to go back to the part where I was still happy with the flow. About the 102 tracks, I didn’t count them myself nor did I try to get in the Guinness Book Of Records, it’s just how things ended up. Also, don’t forget there are two CDs!

The tracks on Balance 014 come from a wide variety of artists: you have dubby techno, electro, disco, house and vocal tracks in there. However, you smooth them out and made them work for you seamlessly. Is this what you mean by “painting with sound”; using the tracks as raw materials?

Kind of, I guess. By painting with sound I’m referring to the parts where I really take a small bit of this and a small bit of that to make them work together better than how they would work alone. Many times it’s about the transitions between tracks. There’s also moments in the mix where a track gets all the space it needs; it really depends on the music.

Both discs have a distinct character. How did you want to set the two mixes apart – were they intended to communicate different feelings?

Yes, they really were. The Mizuiro Mix is the more uptempo and beat-driven mix, the Midori Mix is more diverse and covers many different genres in electronic music. For me the Midori mix was great to work on because of the challenge to fuse all these different sounds into a well balanced mix. I also gave myself more freedom there to experiment and make more radical changes in the flow of the mix. I chose the easier Mizuiro mix as the staring point on CD1 instead of using the slower-paced Midori as a so-called ‘warm-up CD’. In this way the journey feels more natural to me.

What’s your response to possible criticism that this blending approach undoes the good work done by producers? It’s the kind of critique that was levelled at Richie Hawtin for his DE9 mixes.

I think most of the music I play as a DJ is intended to be used in DJ sets, and therefore will be mixed or used as a tool anyway. I find very little music these days interesting enough to play from start till end anyway, especially on a mix CD that’s meant to live a longer life than a few months. Another thing is: we’ve lived in the age of sampling for about 20 years now: why can we as artists sample ‘70s or ‘80s music freely, but not sample contemporary electronic artists in a project like this?

I also really don’t understand why people don’t just listen to the mix and love it or hate it for the way it sounds, not for the way it’s constructed. In the end it’s of course also up to the artists and labels to decide if they like their music to be used in such a way. For my Balance CD for instance, there was a Norwegian artist called Deatprod. He didn’t want his music to be ‘messed with’, as his record company said, even to a point where money wasn’t an issue. I find that a good enough reason for a contributing artist. It really was a shame though, but we respected it.

Is there a crossover between how you approached Balance 014 and how you work on your own productions?

Not necessarily, however I am broadening my musical horizon at the moment in the studio a lot. I think it’s partly a reaction to what I see and hear around me in terms of electronic dance music. There’s not much emphasis on the musical aspect of dance tracks, it’s all about the beats and the rave sirens. I find it easy enough to find great sounding DJ tools and uber-funky, post-minimal tech-house tracks, but the real standout recognisable tunes are rare to find.

Besides that, my interest in music goes further than the dancefloor, so I like to experiment with other influences. I also don’t think I’ll be able to continue the life of a DJ forever, so I’d like to be prepared to make my ‘transition’ when the time is there.

So, how does this intricate approach extend to your sets in clubs? Are you utilising Ableton to layer tracks, or keeping things simpler when you play out?

I’ll keep things way more simple than in the studio. Everything has to be done in real time. There’s not much time to think things over, which is also great because you can surprise yourself by a spontaneous new mix for instance. For my tour, I have been preparing samples, loops and edits from the Balance mixes to use in my DJ sets, to be able to bring some of the music to the stage as well. Since I’ve play with Traktor Pro for almost a year now, I’ll be able to mix up to four different tracks or loops, which is a perfect limitation in comparison with Ableton in the studio environment.

Last time we saw you in Australia you covered a wide spectrum of sounds and mood in your sets. Can we expect the same again on this visit?

I would hope so. I did some more preparation for this tour, but in the end it’s not just me that makes a good set. A great deal comes back from the people on the dancefloor, as that’s where the instant inspiration is coming from.

Joris Voorn plays the following shows on his Balance 014 CD tour…

Fri 6 Feb – Brown Alley, Melbourne
Sat 7 Feb – Kink @ Nevermind, Sydney
Sun 8 Feb – Family, Brisbane