Name: Up High Collective
Members: Koen De Petter, Renaldo Maria
Nationality: Belgian
Occupation: Producers, DJs
Current release: Up High Collective's new single "Arushi" is out via San-Kofa Rhythm. Full length album Koinonia will follow October 11th 2023.
Recommendations: Pink Floyd – "Echoes"; Metropolis (1927 movie)

[Read our Jeff Mills interview about Metropolis and his soundtrack work for the movie]

If you enjoyed this Up High Collective interview and would like to stay up to date with the project and their music, visit them on Instagram, Facebook, twitter, and Soundcloud.



When I listen to music, I see shapes, objects and colours. What happens in your body when you're listening? Do you listen with your eyes open or closed?

Some music gives me a feeling of familiarity, as if it transports me back to a certain time in the past, and it sounds like it has been here forever.

Other music simply opens up new possibilities; the presented idea can be so strong that it can change your perception, after which it becomes impossible to un-hear the idea, and you now have a broader understanding and hearing.

Powerful stuff. Both with eyes open and closed!

What were your very first steps in music like and how would you rate the gains made through experience - can one train/learn being an artist?

We both started as hip-hop DJs, scratching and juggling vinyl, listening to music that was created using samples. The logical progression led us to sample vinyl and incorporate other sounds as well.

Copying greater artists is the best training. However, in our position, you have to listen really well; you must be able to dissect and identify the individual parts that make up the whole.

But yes, you can learn. Everyone is unique and can come up with combinations no one has heard yet, for sure. But it takes practice, time, and attention to make it sound good.

According to scientific studies, we make our deepest and most incisive musical experiences between the ages of 13-16. What did music mean to you at that age and what’s changed since then?

We were born in the eighties, so we were teenagers in the nineties. Those times were incredible. Artists made albums, and music was a culture with a lifestyle that went with it.

A lot has changed. Nowadays, it's all about social media, which takes away so many things and it disciplines unaware people in a certain way, that’s really a down side of our times.

People have short attention spans and you can hear it in the way music is presented as well. It’s a battle for attention.

What, would you say, are the key ideas behind your approach to music and what motivates you to create?

For us, making music is like fishing, and the goal is to try to catch a big fish. You have to be patient and keep at it.

You catch a lot of small fish, and that's okay. But now and then, you catch a big one, and the catch alone keeps you on a high for days. Because the big fish sounds like something you've never heard before, a unique combination. The big fish is timeless and moves you and the people who listen to it. The big fish inspires you and gives a unique insight about the world around us and suggests that it all can be better.

Catching it once makes you an addict to fishing for life.

To quote a question by the great Bruce Duffie: When you come up with a musical idea, have you created the idea or have you discovered the idea?

Nothing is original around us, but there can be unique combinations, that's for sure. So I would go with discovering instead of creating.

Paul Simon said “the way that I listen to my own records is not for the chords or the lyrics - my first impression is of the overall sound.” What's your own take on that and how would you define your personal sound?

It's hard to listen to your own music and not be inspired to add to it or change it in some way because an idea is never finished; it grows and never stops. So, you have to abandon it and look at it from a distance, walk away at a certain time to give it its own life.

No, defining our own music is not up to us; that’s up to the people who listen to it. That’s the life the music takes on its own. We bring it to life but we don’t own its life.

Sound, song, and rhythm are all around us, from animal noises to the waves of the ocean. What, if any, are some of the most moving experiences you've had with these non-human-made sounds? In how far would you describe them as “musical”?

Yes, they're all 100% musical. The sum of the parts, the elements separately, can all be inspiring. When you make music, your ears are ‘open’ all the time, and you encounter interesting sounds on a daily basis; they are there all the time.

It’s hard to name just one, because it goes from a strange alley with a unique slap-back reverb to squicky metal from a gate to swallows soaring through the sky. Having a field recorder is a must and a great tool.

From very deep/high/loud/quiet sounds to very long/short/simple/complex compositions - are there extremes in music you feel drawn to and what response do they elicit?

Oh yes, you have to go to the extremes to see what’s possible, because otherwise, you cannot discover something new.

But you go there to find out that’s not where it’s at; most of the time, you have to dial back a bit from the extreme and find the sweet spot.

Could you describe your creative process on the basis of one of your pieces, live performances or albums that's particularly dear to you, please?

Sorry, that’s really hard because of the fact that we are not musicians per se but producers instead. We work on material over a certain time span.

A lot of time goes into listening to music, searching for music or samples, cutting samples, categorizing samples, playing with them, flipping them around—slow, fast, high, low—playing with the duration, the length, and the combination with other samples. Recording new samples from musicians on top of the whole and doing the whole process over again.

It’s a strange and rigorous way of working. You have to keep an ear on the overall vibe and test certain elements with it to see if it matches.

And live, well, live is just a completely different approach.

Do you conduct “experiments” or make use of scientific insights when you're making music?

Yeah, we do, both in the physical realm as well as in the software world. Some programs, like Ableton Live, are great for that. But it's also good to build your own hardware plate reverb from scratch and give it its own funny name and throw some sounds at it.

But yeah, you have to do stuff like that. It's fun to do, and it can be so inspiring.

How does the way you make music reflect the way you live your life? Can we learn lessons about life by understanding music on a deeper level?

Again, 100% yes. Life is about being curious and open to discovering and learning.

There are extremes, but the sweet spot is when you dial back a bit. It’s about realizing we are all unique in our own way, and that’s so special because there are so many of us on this earth.

We all can add our part to the greater sum, the greater good, because it’s out there and inside of us. Music can change the world.

Do you feel as though writing or performing a piece of music is inherently different from something like making a great cup of coffee? What do you express through music that you couldn't or wouldn't in more 'mundane' tasks?

No, yeah, it’s different for sure because of its scale, I think. Mundane stuff is just smaller. Musical vibrations can hit a lot of people at the same time. That’s crazy and very powerful. Something to be wielded responsibly.

We all do have our intentions and spirits, and yes, you make coffee with it in the morning, say hi to your peers, and bring it to the studio or on stage.

Every time I listen to "Albedo 0.39" by Vangelis, I choke up. But the lyrics are made up of nothing but numbers and values. Do you, too, have a song or piece of music that affects you in a way that you can't explain?

Yeah, of course, music can do that. It’s hard to explain why certain music does that and others don’t. It’s definitely 100% personal.

I believe it has something to do with the music you listened to when you were young, but anyway, I’m not sure. Here are some that move us like that:

"A meaningful moment through a meaning(less) process" by Stars Of The Lid



"Every day" by The Cinematic Orchestra



#3 by Aphex Twin



If you could make a wish for the future – what are developments in music you would like to see and hear?

Hmm, tough question, definitely with all the technical access and tools out there. Making music has never been this easy, and we’re on the brink of AI storming the creative atmosphere.

I would say fair artist compensation with streaming services because, let’s be honest, it’s a rip-off!