The Søren Interview: 1 Year Matterhorn

This Friday is one of this year’s parties I look the most forward to: the first anniversary of Matterhorn. For the occasion I decided to talk to one of the girls of Søren, DJs and co-founders of the party concept.
Rosalie De Meyer (right) found a space in her very busy agenda to put off her headphones for a couple of minutes and pick up the telephone for a little chat.

Congratulations with the 1 year anniversary of Matterhorn! What are you planning to make this party different than all the previous ones?
Well, we’ve organized some editions in Ghent now, but for us it stays a concept from Antwerp. Hometown glory! That’s why we’re throwing our first anniversary at Magic. The club has the perfect size and that typical ‘Miami Vice’ feel. Just what our party crowd wants and needs.
We’ve also fixed Claptone for a DJ set. He’s cool and suits the Matterhorn deep house style. Plus he’s wearing a golden Venician mask. What an outfit!

Speaking of which: do you girls from Søren already have your outfits?
Amélie and I are terrible at picking our outfits. It’s always a last-minute rush with clothes flying around. As always, we’ll both wear black clothes and coloured lipstick. Still, we want to make sure people don’t think we’re wearing the same outfit.

The two of you clearly have the same style, both in fashion and in music. How would you discribe your music?
It’s something going from tech house to deep house, I guess. In any case it has to be melodious, deep and emotional. We’re girls afterall.

Does the fact that you are girls actually play a role?
We’ve experienced a “ladies first” attitude ourselves already. I guess people are intrigued by two female DJs in a music industry that’s still dominated by men. So maybe it’s a bit easier for us to get booked, but once we’re at the party the crowd will judge you on your DJ skills in the end.
We decided to take this seriously from the very beginning. We don’t want to be a carnival: our black outfits and coloured lips already look enough like costumes, so what we play and how we play has to be professional.

“Matterhorn is coming back to Antwerp.
Hometown Glory!” – Søren

It struck me that Orwell and Clever, the other founders of Matterhorn, won’t play at the 1st anniversary edition. Why?
When we started Matterhorn it was mostly a party with techno music. Sam (from Orwell) and Arthur (Clever) know a lot about that genre, but since everything has gradually moved to deep house, the part of Søren has become bigger. They’re still working behind the scenes, but the two of us have taken the lead now. That’s why we’ll probably be the closing act of this party. It’s our own reward.

Does this actually mean that Matterhorn is coming back to Antwerp for good?
That’s still hard to tell. We’ll keep on organizing parties in Ghent and see how things will go this Friday in Antwerp. I don’t exclude anything. Maybe we’ll even go to yet another city. Time will tell.

Do you have DJ ambitions yourself? These are 3 tips from Rosalie:

1. Don’t be afraid or shy to stand in front of a crowd. It can be an intimidating experience at first, but you’ll get used to it.
2. Don’t panick when you make a mistake. Most people are forgiving. Try to make as few mistakes as possible, though.
3. Know which music style you want to play, then persist and be consequent. Party people like to know what kind of sound they can expect from you.

 
Check out the Facebook event here: MATTERHORN: 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY
 

Vincent