Moods is a producer from Rotterdam. Moods, real name Nick Lubbersen, set the tone for his debut LP courtesy of early singles ‘Comfortable,’ ‘Get To Know You’ and ‘Truth.’ As an early indicator of the savvy beatmaker’s switch to song-focused composition, his 14-track debut for Kraak & Smaak’s Boogie Angst imprint sees little of the nostalgic and soulful magic of Mood’s production finesse lost, but instead opens up a world of new dynamics through collaborations from across the globe.   

He has just released a new single named ‘Music Saved My Life’, before the release of his new EP,  Having already established himself as one of the most exciting prospects in electronic music with his slinky original productions and tight, crisp mixes the man is in demand right now. Recent collaborations and remixes with the likes of Two Another, Pip Millett, and Bondax have enhanced his reputation further and on Spotify, he has received in excess of 60 million streams.

We got to speak to Moods about his new single & his brand new EP.

Thanks for talking to ReVamp, in 3 words, describe your sound? 

My pleasure, thanks for having me. 

If I have to describe my sound in 3 words it would be: joyful, warm & full of life.

How did you get into music and who were your inspirations growing up? 

When I was 9 I started skateboarding and through the culture I was introduced to a lot of good music. But it was at the age of 12 when I found out about hiphop beats & producers that we're in that game. At that time I was bumping Pete Rock’s ‘Petestrumentals’ & Nicolay’s ‘City Lights’ to name a few. My brother had a friend who hooked me up with Fruity Loops that same year and that’s where everything started for me. 

You have a new single out ‘Music Saved My Life’, what was the inspiration behind this? 

‘Music Saved My Life’ is a love letter to music. It’s about the profound joy that creating music brings me from time to time. It can give me a vibe that I can’t get anywhere else and is honestly hard to put in words. All I know is my purpose seems to be found in music at that moment.

Translating that into sound was my goal for this one.  

What is your recording and writing process like before the single is released? 

For this album it started with creating demo’s / idea’s at home that would make sense in a live recording studio setting because the band was going to play it live: drums/keys/guitar/bass/horns.

These demo’s already needed a live feel, so the guys could easily understand what I was trying to do here. Sound choices were more organic and it was important to know what was available at the studio in terms of gear. This was quite a challenge and I’ve never done it like this before.

I made a total of 26 demo’s for this album & we ended up stripping it to 8.

The demo’s were very to the point in terms of structure and had the purpose of showing the foundation to the band members & what instruments we could use for what parts. The real magic I wanted to happen in the live recording, so I left plenty of room for improvisation.

After we recorded everything in 4 days I took all the recorded audio home and started mixing it and adding sounds on top myself. The goal was to still give it my signature sound despite being a live recorded project. In the end it was quite the workaround, but worth every minute. 

I’m very grateful I got to work with the amazing team of people. It was truly the most fun project I’ve ever worked on and I think you can hear that in the recordings. So a big big thanks to: 

Joris Feiertag - Drums

Yasper Molle - Guitar

Lennard Vink - Keys

Rik Kraak - Bass

Bart Wirtz - Sax

Dirk Beets - Trumpet 

Oscar de Jong - Co-Producer 

Lucas Meijers - Engineer 

You also have a new album coming out called ‘Music Ruined My Life’, what made you call your album this after releasing a single called ‘Music SAVED my life’? 

The album is simply about my relation with music. I feel like music is ruining my life regularly, and then making it bloom again.. “Music ruined my life, then saved it”. That explains it.

It’s a love / hate thing. A constant cycle and i’m addicted to the feeling of it. That’s why I’ve been doing it for 18 years non stop. 

I think it’s an important quality in any (creative) pursuit. You have to lose yourself in the art to be able to push boundaries for ourselves and the work we make. It can be the most beautiful thing but it can also be very demanding at times. This was just a harsh way to put it as I’m also looking for the humor of it. I thought it would be quite funny to call an album “Music Ruined My life”. 

How has music changed your life and also changed sound over the last couple of years? 

Music has done so much for me. I’ve been able to see the world a bit because of music. Plus I can sustain myself by doing what I love most, which is creating music. It’s truly a blessing in terms of freedom. And it’s a pursuit you can chase for a lifetime. Always new things to learn & do. That’s why the sound keeps evolving as well. I think my sound has gone a bit less electronic over the years. I’ve been more & more inspired by certain music from the 70’s and early 80’s. 

What is next for you? 

There are some tracks to finish that are still pending. Really excited about these because I got to work with some really talented vocalists. More on that soon! And besides that I

I’ll slowly start rolling into a new album. Think about what is possible and challenging. That’s it! 

You can stream Mood's new EP 'Music Ruined My Last' here.