Sex with NO_ID, it Sells...

Talk us briefly through the formation of NO_ID and how your time in Holland has shaped the music you make today?
NO_ID was originally formed three years ago (2008) and kicked off during that year's ADE. We were two local DJs playing at several parties, actually we used to play field hockey against each other as well, but thats another story. Ralph grew up in the scene playing Defected tracks, and was collecting all of Olav Basoski's 12inches. After witnessing Tiesto's first set at Sensation (2000) Devi decided to get his whole tracklist on EP. Devi's grandmother saved up money for his drivers licence, and he managed spend all of that on DJ equipment (laughs)! We were both very excited to make music and as an experiment we started to work together to try to figure out how to create awesome beats. While both discovering the way to make music we noticed that we had great chemistry. Our friendship grew rapidly because of the shared passion. Thinking in large sounds with an easy to access touch is what we stand for, the sounds we grew up with back in the day. Nowadays our studio is based in the heart of Amsterdam. 

You were championed at the ADE demolition contest with ‘Wurld’, talk us through how you feel this track, in turn with the competition, allowed you both to step forward with your music?
We made this track in 2008, actually one of the first tracks that we really finished and made it trough our elimination process. When Dave Clarke and DJ Pierre commented on the track as having real commercial potential we were completely blown away. From then on we got the chance to release the track on Cloud9 Dance which is part of Armada Music. One of our dearest Friends Fokko Versloot took care of that, the B side of that EP got Remixed by Muzzaik. From there on we had a good product on the market and got a lot of positive feedback, then everything started to move upwards. Unfortunately Fokko passed away in 2009, which was a major loss for us, if it wasn't for him we never got the chance to be where we are now today. "Wurld" will always be a special track for us.

There is a lot of hype about the Dutch influence on House music, what is your take on your peers work: Dirty Dutch hype or genuinely progressive times for Holland’s electronic music scene?
We have a lot of respect for what Chuckie and Afrojack have accomplished over the last years, hower this is not quite the way we handle things. The story in a track and dj-set is something that we are always looking for. We compare Dutch house music a bit with the Dutch Happy Hardcore from the past. The music is easy to access and very explosive for people who have not encountered house music before but we try to bend this into a deeper sound. The Sound NO_ID is a little different to the usual sound in Holland which has been a bit of a burden for us in trying to move upwards. There are only a handful of guys doing what we do in Holland, excluding the famous trance guys. Our audience is bigger overseas than it is in Holland actually. We think Holland needs more of a refreshing progressive sound then what is now usually being heard on the Dutch dancefloors.

You warn your fans to not make any assumptions about the music you make, talk us through your philosophy on making music and whether you feel that identity often overshadows the music these days?
Let the music speak for itself, open yourself to except the unexpected...That's what NO_ID stands for. We try not to stick to a single style and we don't use alter ego's. The brand NO_ID gives us enough space to make the music we like and surprise our audience. A good example of the diversity of our sound is the Sex Sells EP where the three tracks on the EP all have their own identity.  

You say that the music should speak for itself, but what do you feel distinguishes your sound from the competition, as there is clearly something there separating you both from the crowd?
Of course it's really hard to stand out in the crowd. That's why we thought let's do it completely the other way around. By not choosing a specific Identity, people ask them self: Who are they? What is this?
 
Talk us through your forthcoming track ‘Sex Sells’ on Diffused Music; its one hell of a provocative title? 
When we made the hook of Sex Sells we felt that it had a lot of potential for the dancefloor. Still, we consider this track fairly underground so we looked for a name that would definitely trigger the listeners and would not be forgotten easily. The groove is quite sexy and loose but the synth hook is very raw and extravagant. This is caused by the whitenoise on the lead. We often try to find a groovy beat with big sounds. 

Having already bagged releases through CR2, Armada, Ultra and Spinnin, what does it mean to have someone with Michael Woods’influence pushing your music through Diffused? 
We feel really close to Michael's sound and being pushed by him and his team really means a lot to us, we are very honoured! Michael is one of the best producers at this moment, he is a big example to us. His music is open to a very big audience but he still remains credible, this is something that we aspire to have ourselves.

On top of this exciting track, what can we expect from you guys over the next few months on the releases and touring front?
We're very excited about making the follow up EP for Diffused. Apart from this a lot of new tracks are on the way, we're expecting them to be released during the Ibiza season. One of these tracks we did with amazing vocalist Stephen Pickup, Tara McDonald wrote the lyrics for the track, it will probably see daylight in June. 

Sex Sells EP is out now on Beatport and all other good Digital Download stores. Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/content/release/detail/363580/Sex%20Sells%20EP

Soundcloud: http://soundcloud.com/diffusedmusic/sets/no_id-sex-sells-ep-1/ 
YouTube: http://http://youtu.be/bIFBEWHG4S8
Beatport: https://www.beatport.com/en-US/html/content/release/detail/363580/Sex%20Sells%20EP