The word ‘Hoax’ is generally used negatively, commonly associated with deceit and trickery. HOAX (BE) adopted the name to subvert people’s expectations: a break from the norm, and not what you might expect.
Energetic; Emotional; evolving. HOAX (BE) is a rising Belgian electronica DJ and producer specializing in melodic and progressive house and deep techno. With previous releases on labels such as Sony Belgium, Loud Memory, Black Lizard and Blanco Y Negro, HOAX (BE)’s sound is based on expressing emotions through melody and elegant, evocative production as they seek to make their mark on the scene. electronic in 2023 and beyond.
Inspired in music production by his experiences at Belgium’s legendary Tomorrowland festival, HOAX (BE) began exploring various electronic genres, initially producing and playing disco music at outdoor parties before exploring the deeper nuances of house championed by acts like Purple Disco Machine, Tinlicker, Ben Bohmer and Jan Blomqvist.
Self-taught in YouTube videos since the age of 15, HOAX (BE)’s productions are often highly emotional and remain firmly rooted on the dance floor. From the disco-tinged funk of tracks like Hot For You and Deeper Love, which have racked up hundreds of thousands of streams on Spotify, to the epic, progressive scope of 2022’s Vision of You, their music has a clean line and consistency without seeming formulaic, and is consistently energetic, emotional, and evolutionary.
In 2022, HOAX (BE) made their DJ debut in Ibiza, playing three parties over the summer, including a pool party hosted by B Jones, with further performances in Miami for WMC and Amsterdam for ADE.
We have had the pleasure of interviewing him and this has been the result.
Hi Hoax, great to have you with us today! How are you and where are you chatting to us from right now?
Hello! Right now I am back in my home city in Belgium after a few days spent in London doing a photo shoot.
Can you give us a bit of background about your journey in music so far?
I have always been very interested in music and I started producing when I was 16 years old, inspired by watching videos on YouTube. Seeing huge festivals like Tomorrowland and the likes really motivated me to venture into this world. Although I did not grow up in a «music family» and I did not have music training when I was a kid, I self learnt everything by spending countless hrs learning how to produce with my computer. Initially my music was inspired by disco classics and then during the Corona times I dug a bit more deeper into more emotional sounds.
You’re known for giving your own unique spin on well-known tracks and samples – how do you go about selecting these?
As mentioned before, my first approach to music production was working on new versions of disco classics… with a twist. I have always been very interested in digging a little deeper, because I really like to bring some emotion into my tracks. Most of my tracks reflect my inner self and how I feel. And I think people can see themselves a bit in my productions.
For example, the song «Ain’t No Mountain» is not just a cover of the original, I also added an extract taken from an interview by Marvin Gaye in which he was talking about being a musician, the struggles, the way you try to keep things authentic… and I felt this was really similar to what I was feeling at the time… However my disco era is evolving and now I am more into progressive and melodic sounds… I have a ton of unreleased music and I have been working with amazing singers and I am so excited to release them soon!
Are you back to touring now? If so, has it felt strange coming back to live appearances after the pandemic?
The pandemic has been a very crazy time for everyone and it inspired me to let my emotions out through music. It felt really good to be able to play music again and since then I have played all over Belgium and also played in Amsterdam, London, Miami and Ibiza.
During the pandemic there was a lot of talk about what things people would like to change in the music industry. Now that things are getting back to normal, do you see any major changes?
I am quite happy to see how things have gone back to how they were, but I think everyone has been affected by this «gap years» in a way that I think music is more introspective and more authentic.
What’s on the cards for you in 2023?
I am planning to spend most of my summer in Ibiza, other that that I have some trips and gigs planned in LA and Miami for the winter music conference…
Also finally I will be releasing new original music and some remixes as well!
HOAX (BE) SOCIALS
https://soundcloud.com/whoishoax
https://www.facebook.com/whoishoax
https://www.instagram.com/whoishoax
