Droeloe
9:30 Club
∙
Washington
Saturday, April 13 at 10 pm EDT
EDM
Serves Food
Nightclub
Concert Venue
1 +Person going
Saturday, April 13 at 10 pm EDT
EDM
Serves Food
Nightclub
Concert Venue
Entry Options
Details
Artists
Description
Hailing from The Netherlands, DROELOE (pronounced drü-lü) is the creative union of producer / composer Vincent Rooijers and visual designer Hein Hamers. Part music project and part art project, DROELOE is a multidimensional concept that combines each member’s artistic prowess to create a hybrid audiovisual experience that translates across every component of the project, from the speakers, through the artwork, and onto the stage. Weaving sonically progressive music and visually elaborate artwork and graphics, DROELOE seamlessly craft cinematic soundscapes and visual projections that feel like stories and unfold like a piece of art. Recognized in Billboard Dance’s inaugural Ones to Watch series, who noted that their style is “dynamic, compelling and drenched in otherworldly emotions,” DROELOE is today one of the most exciting live art projects in the scene.
After officially forming while attending art school in Utrecht, the Netherlands, DROELOE first broke out in early 2016 when rising star San Holo signed the duo to his buzzing bitbird label, where they unleashed a chain of successful releases. It was their breakout track “zZz,” however, that put DROELOE on the international map: Released in March 2016, the single—which today counts +3.7 million SoundCloud streams and 7 million additional plays on Spotify, where it was a top 10 hit on the Global Viral 50 chart—topped the Hype Machine charts upon release and caught the eyes and ears of industry tastemakers and global art fans alike.
Upon their major breakthrough, DROELOE were quickly anointed as the new faces of future bass, a burgeoning genre pioneered by their label boss, San Holo. While their style features elements of the future-forward genre, as heard on singles like “Bon Voyage” (Monstercat, November 2016), which counts +5 million streams across all platforms, and “Many Words” (bitbird, March 2018), which has amassed +9 million Spotify streams in under a year, the DROELOE sound—percussion-heavy bass with progressive, intricately designed melodies—encompasses a broad spectrum of musical and artistic influences, from trap and electronica to downtempo. The duo has also crossed into mainstream pop territory via their 2016 official remix of the international hit “We Don't Talk Anymore” (Atlantic Records) by Charlie Puth featuring Selena Gomez, which has amassed +22 million streams on Spotify alone. Elsewhere, the viral single “Lines of the Broken” (+18MM/Spotify; +2.5MM SoundCloud), a collaboration with San Holo, blends the pop-leaning vocals of Dutch duo CUT_ with ethereal basslines and dreamy melodies.
DROELOE combine all their wide-ranging influences on their debut EP, A Moment in Time. Released in August 2017 on bitbird, A Moment in Time perfectly encapsulates the duo’s approach to storytelling via music and art. A dynamic collection of diverse styles and influences, the EP reflects all the heartfelt memories and all the small things that comprise life’s special moments. The duo paints an enveloping world of color and sound, weaved together via interconnected themes and beautiful visuals, which include five original cover art works for each of the individual tracks as well as an accompanying visual storyboard. A critical and commercial success, A Moment in Time, which also includes the massive track “Sunburn” (+24MM/Spotify; +1.56MM/SoundCloud, the duo’s biggest hit on bitbird to date), garnered close to 25 million streams in less than a year.
In August 2018, DROELOE followed up with the boundary-pushing The Choices We Face EP for bitbird, a coming-of-age project that chronicles the duo’s musical and artistic journey over the past few years. Collectively, the EP tells a unified story that underlines the creative process and illustrates the enduring, often tumultuous journey one takes when reaching for their wildest dreams. Each of the EP’s seven connected tracks communicates a different feeling and experience, from the beginning stages of your ideas to your retrospective thoughts at the end of your ride. The Choices We Face is led by the massive tracks “Weird Machine” (+1.9MM/Spotify), featuring singer Nevve, as well as “Looking Back” (+2.8MM/Spotify), which sees producer Rooijers writing his own lyrics and singing on record for the first time ever, a nod to the next step in their ongoing creative evolution.
One of the key ingredients of DROELOE’s ambitious aesthetic is their use of stunning visuals and striking graphics, which create the vivid world in which their music and art come to life on record and onstage. Their iconic branded skull, which can be seen across their various cover art and splayed across screens at their live performances, has become synonymous with the duo’s progressive take on music and art. They’ve also extended their graphic art and designs across a number of audiovisual projects and releases, including their hyper-realistic self-directed music video for “Wake the Warrior” (bitbird, October 2016) and their official lyric video for “Lines of the Broken,” which features an ‘80s-styled, VHS-influenced aesthetic. In the summer of 2018, the duo launched a series of pop-up art galleries in Los Angeles and New York City, which showcased the artwork from their recent The Choices We Face EP. For their forthcoming single “Only Be Me,” their first original music in 2019, out February 1 on bitbird, DROELOE have launched an extensive interactive audiovisual campaign based around a mock Only Be Me “mask” product that comes complete with fake infomercials, a faux call center, and make-believe artist avatars.
On the live front, DROELOE have become one of the most in-demand projects on the scene, selling out clubs and venues and performing across the world’s top festival stages. Combining their innovative approach to breathtaking visuals and emotive music, DROELOE create an immersive audiovisual experience unlike any other. In 2017, the duo debuted their first-ever tour, joining big brother San Holo on more than 40 dates across four continents and culminating in festival performances at Escape: Psycho Circus and SnowGlobe Music Festival. In fall 2018, the duo launched The Choices We Face Tour, their first-ever headlining trek, which took them to major venues across North America and featured The Cube, a brand-new audiovisual production; the duo kicks off the second part of the tour in March 2019 and continues through April. In 2018, DROELOE also made their official debut at numerous world-class festivals, including high-profile performances at Coachella’s Do LaB stage, Lollapalooza, EDC Las Vegas, Bonnaroo, BUKU, and Okeechobee.
As DROELOE launches into 2019, the duo is gearing up for their biggest year to date as an internationally touring act and evolving art project. With new music and visuals in tow and a boundary-pushing audiovisual production to boot, DROELOE are elevating their individual creative limits as musicians and visual artists while redefining the possibilities in art.
—John Ochoa, January 2019