This Friday, May 26, Amsterdam artist Nymfo will release the first EP on his brand new label: Love For Low Frequencies.
A walloping statement of intent, the first EP is called Kindred Spirits. An EP by Nymfo himself, it features a wide range of friends and exciting new talents ranging from UK MC Freddy B and newcomer acts Mindset and Untrue plus old friends such as Flowanastasia and fellow Dutchie Waeys.
Building on his 20+ year discography that includes every flavour from trippy, twisted neurofunk to delicate soul via a menu of off-piste adventures in genres such as EDM, house and electronica; Kindred Spirits flexes a full 360 through Nymfo’s sound and sets us up for an exciting future on the label.
Releases are set to drop every six weeks and a lot of the focus and energy will be placed on burgeoning new talent. A lot of it can be heard nicely upfront, too, as Nymfo is one of the new league of presenters on the recently reboosted Kool FM radio. Taking place every third Saturday or the month, his debut show kicked off over the weekend and featured a whole slew of LFLF treats.
1 More Thing actually caught news of his label exclusively on a trip to Amsterdam exactly this time last year. Here’s the interview again, then read on to find out what to expect from Love For Low Frequencies this year.
We last spoke in May and you reckoned the label would launch around last September… What happened?
Well after that we had the summer holiday break and my kids were off school so I stayed at home a lot then got back into the studio and checked all the the music I’d been putting together for the label so far. I was like, ‘Okay, I think I can do better!’ I had to be honest with myself.
I also moved studio into this big building where I am now. So all these things were happening and I was like, ‘Okay, just take your time, don’t rush it. Nobody knows about it yet so take your time. If it takes another year then it takes another year!
Love that. Take your time and make sure you’re absolutely happy with it!
That’s right. And now I’m at the point I’m super happy. I’ve signed six EPs by new artists. They’re all scheduled in now so this week it’s my own EP and then after that there’ll be an EP dropping every six weeks. boom new music I have like a really good design company here which is run by an old friend of mine. He loves the music but he doesn’t do any design for other drum & bass brands so that feels really fresh and exciting, and all the releases are scheduled. So it’s all coming together and I feel like it was worth waiting.
Definitely! That’s such a Dutch way to do things. Being really efficient and getting everything lined up in row. Very inspiring.
Thanks man. I figured everyone can start a label, it’s not that difficult, so I said to myself ‘okay, if I’m going to do this then I need to take my time and do it properly. Not launch it with one EP but then have people waiting months for the next one, you know?
I do indeed! Did you scrap your own EP or did you rework it?
A little bit fifty/fifty. A few songs I deleted, a few songs I rewrote and then I also wrote a bunch of new music.
Sick. I feel like it was important for you to have some friends on there, right? Even the launch EP suggests that with the title Kindred Spirits. Love For Low Frequencies was always going to be a social experience wasn’t it?
Definitely. I’ve always been like that. I release a lot of solo music, but I always like being the social guy in the studio. Let’s work on some music together! And the artists I collaborate with on this EP – both Untrue and Mindset – have releases coming later on down the line. I’d say that both Mindset and Untrue are just breaking through right now so I thought it would be good to give them a little bit of shine already. Then people will be more familiar with them when their releases drop later on down the line. So it’s a little introduction…
Cool. And Flowanastasia needs no introduction. You’ve worked with her in the past.
She’s amazing. I love her energy, her vibe. She’s super positive, she has lots of positive energy and she has a very unique voice and sound.
Her boyfriend Tyr Kohout does all the vocal processing and that’s amazing, too. They send the vocals, I put them in my track and it’s pretty much done, you know? So that’s great, her vocals are great, we have a good connection so I would be crazy not to make more music together.
Ah amazing. With the name Love For Low Frequencies are you going to keep it drum and bass or have you purposefully named it that so you can keep it open with the tempos and styles?
That’s a very good question! Yes, I plan to keep it open. A lot of drum & bass labels have a very specific, quite dark and dystopian look but I wanted to avoid all those type of aesthetic because we’ll definitely be keeping things open musically. Plus I like making lots of different styles, as you know.
Sexual chameleon!
I believe that’s how you once described me, yes! But also because so many producers like making other styles but they never know what to with them or they’re a bit shy and insecure to show their tracks to other people. Which is shame because a lot of times that stuff is amazing!
In the beginning I do want to keep it mainly drum & bass. But as you said, a name like Love For Low Frequencies is perfect for us to take things in any direction.
Love that. You’re purposefully doing things differently with every aspect of the label…
Yes. And Love For Low Frequencies is a pretty long name. Usually people look for that short, catchy name but I wanted to do things the other way around. Plus the logo says LFLF which I think looks wicked and is something a little different. So yeah, you’re right. There’s no point in doing something that’s already been done well before, right?
You’re totally right! You said in the interview we did that this has been bubbling for some time and you always knew you wanted to run a label. I guess you needed the time and space to work it all out?
One hundred percent! And I also took a little time off DJing so I really did have extra time and space. I had DJ’d nonstop for over 20 years. Weekly, monthly, tours, everything, you know? I thought, ‘If could take a little step back, not totally quit, but be just like one or two good shows a month then I’d finally have more time for running a label.
I wanted to do it properly and make time for it. So the time timing is perfect for me now. I’m travelling less, I have more time. Let’s do it!
Love it! I like how you didn’t make a big fanfare of it, you just quietly took a break and your post when you came back was very honest about how you felt from the break.
Yeah, I was curious! Like, ‘okay, I’ve spent so long in nightclubs and festivals all over the world, what does it do to a person?’ I had the occasional bit of FOMO when I saw friends’ stories online from some sick clubs and raves but generally I loved it. It was like ‘Ah man! I wake up in my own bed on Sunday morning, no airports, no hangovers, I get lots of sleep. It was a good test and I came out the other side with positive results. Of course I missed the DJing but I didn’t miss the travelling and the social media and all of that.
Go on that’s great. And it’s great to have you back and on Kool FM too!
I’m really happy to be on that. It’s an honour! It’s a monthly thing and it’s perfect for the label. The show is branded Nymfo Presents Love For Low Frequencies. Every month I’ll have guest mixes from artists who are releasing on the label and friends. It’s the third Saturday of the month and there aren’t many Dutch DJs hosting shows on there so I’m really proud to represent.
Amazing. Will be tuning in! Anything else to add?
Releases are going to be every six weeks and I want to try and help all the artists who I sign for my label to build their profile. I want to share my years of experiences helping other people develop as artists and writers. Hopefully we’ll start doing some label nights eventually and give the artists a place to play and showcase their music. Maybe some mentorships and writing camps. Who knows? It’s a very exciting time.
