Hey Sorza, how is it going?

Doing pretty good! I’ve been keeping busy with a bunch of different projects—music, events, a little bit of everything. Definitely keeping things interesting. 

To start, let’s go back to the beginning. What inspired the creation of the Sorza project, and how did it all come together?

It started in 2020 when everything went into lockdown. At the time, making club music, especially drum & bass, didn’t feel like it made much sense to me. DnB is such a community-driven, experience-based genre, and without that shared energy on the dancefloor, it just wasn’t hitting the same way.

So, I started looking for a different way to express how I was feeling back then, and that led to a collection of tracks that eventually shaped I IDENTIFY. My focus shifted more towards enhancing the listener’s experience in a way that worked outside of a club setting—something you could get lost in on your own as well.

You’re also part of the duo The Outsiders. How do you balance these two projects, given their distinct artistic directions? Do they influence each other in any way?

Jozef and I still love drum & bass, but right now, we’re both more focused on our solo projects. With The Outsiders, our sound naturally leans more towards the euphoric and melodic side, which doesn’t really fit into the world I’m building with Sorza. That said, I think it could be interesting to explore drum & bass from the Sorza perspective—approaching it in a way that feels more in line with that project’s sound.

So you graduated from the Conservatory in 2024. How did your formal music education shape your approach to electronic music? Were there any key lessons or experiences that stood out?

Yeah, studying at the Conservatory definitely helped shape my artistic concept. One of the biggest things I realized is how much I love puzzling with music—taking old ideas and completely reshaping them, or grabbing small elements from past tracks and blending them with new ones. I think I have a pretty good ear for combining and reworking sounds in a way that gives them a fresh perspective.

Another huge takeaway was the importance of community. I’ve always wanted to bring people together through music, and that’s also what led me to start Into the Dome—a collective where we push music and art forward in a meaningful way.

Your latest project, Pillars, which you sometimes refer to as an album, was released in 2024. What’s the story behind it? How did it come to life, and is there a unifying concept or theme that ties the tracks together? Did you use any unique production techniques?

The journey of Pillars started back in March 2023. At the time, I was still sending demos to Nick (Sleepnet) from VISION, and there was this long back-and-forth process of refining the selection. Eventually, we started grouping tracks into different “pillars” based on their sound and feel, and that concept ended up inspiring the title of the project.

For me, Pillars became a way to explore the different sounds and styles I like to dive into with Sorza, while still keeping everything under one cohesive project. I love that I could create really textural, organic tracks alongside more digital and overproduced ones, but still have them all exist within the same world. That contrast—balancing raw, natural elements with heavily processed, electronic sounds—is something I find really exciting in my production process.

This album was released on VISION, a label you’ve described as your favorite for bass music. Why was it important for you to release Pillars on this particular imprint?

Ever since I got into the scene, I’ve been in touch with VISION and Noisia—that started back in 2017. So for me, it just felt natural to release such a personal project with them.

A lot of the music they’ve put out on VISION and Invisible has really shaped me as an artist as well. There are so many tracks from their catalog that directly inspired what became the Sorza project. So in a way, releasing Pillars with them feels like a full-circle moment—like bringing everything back to where it started but from a completely new perspective.

How do you feel your music has evolved since your first album in 2021? What influences or experiences have played a role in shaping your sound over the years?

It’s funny—sometimes I feel like I’m not evolving as fast as I could. But when I go back and listen to my first album and compare it to Pillars, I can really hear how much my sound has sharpened and developed. With I IDENTIFY, I was very focused on exploring sound worlds, really diving into texture and atmosphere. But with Pillars, I wanted to push myself more melodically and see how I could challenge that side of my production.

I think the red thread between both albums is the way I build textures in my tracks and my overall production style. Even though the genres and approaches are different, you can still tell it comes from the same mind. That’s something I really like—being able to evolve while keeping that recognizable core in my music.

2024 has been a huge year for you. Beyond your music, you co-founded Into the Dome. What’s the vision behind this project, and how does it fit into your broader artistic goals?

I feel like the scene I envision doesn’t really exist yet in the Netherlands, but I’m confident there are enough people who would love that kind of party vibe. Into the Dome goes beyond just music—it’s a collective that brings together VJs, (visual) artists, performers, and more. It’s about pushing the whole community, not just focusing on one specific genre of music. It’s actually turned into something much bigger than I ever imagined. We had our first edition in the Melkweg, Amsterdam this January, and I’m super proud of what we’ve built so far.

Looking ahead, I hope people will look back and think about the start of a new music wave and trace it back to Into the Dome. Maybe it sounds a bit pretentious, but that’s the kind of impact I want to make—something lasting that sparks something bigger.

You’ve been involved in projects like Arsyn, the audiovisual live band, and your work in Noisia’s Studio. How important are visuals to your creative process? Do you always envision your music with a visual component?

For me, visuals are super important. My music is pretty abstract—I don’t rely on vocals or lyrics to get a message across. I want my tracks to speak to a wider audience, but not through words, just through sound. What I’ve noticed is that when you add visuals to the music, people who might not necessarily get it just through the sound alone suddenly connect with it in a deeper way.

The soundscapes I create are very visual in their own right. I often feel like there’s an entire world that could be imagined just by listening to the tracks. So when I make something, I’m always thinking about how it could be visually translated—how the music and the visuals can come together to tell a bigger story.

What’s next for Sorza? Any releases, collaborations, projects, or live shows we can expect soon?

There are definitely some exciting collaborations in the works with various artists. I’m a huge fan of releasing big projects, so I have a lot of tracks that I’m still working on to get them into the right “shape” before I release them. Also, with The Outsiders, we have an EP coming out on Liquicity, though we don’t have an official release date yet.

I’d love to take the Pillars audiovisual set on the road more, especially with Aidan (VJ). We performed it live for the first time at Into the Dome, and it was a huge success—both with the crowd and with us. We really enjoyed performing it together.

For this Adrenaline episode, is there a specific vibe or mindset listeners should bring to the mix? When do you think is the perfect moment to tune in?

For this mix, I wanted to do something a bit different and special. Instead of sticking to my usual Sorza-style mix with lots of halftime, I decided to take it in a more clubby direction. I’ve got a lot of unreleased club tracks that I’ve been sitting on, so I tried to incorporate those into the mix, along with some tracks from producers I’m collaborating with or that I’m inspired by.

I wanted the mix to feel underground, so I specifically sought out tracks that might not be super well-known or have a ton of streams. I hope some of these tracks will be new to you.

Even though I’m making a lot of club music, I still really focused on the listener’s experience, so I’d say it’s best to tune in when you’re ready to just vibe and get lost in something fresh and a bit different.

Do you have a favorite track in this episode? What makes it stand out to you, and why did you choose to include it?

I think for me, it’s the very last track in the mix, a remix of ØXN’s “Farmer in the City.” It’s one of my most requested tracks.

It feels very much in the spirit of Sorza to make a track by an experimental Irish band even more experimental. We’ve also created a really beautiful visualizer for it, and we’ve noticed it has a big impact when we perform it live.

TRACKLIST

1. 1. 1. Sorza & Not Yes – ID
      2. Sorza & Not Yes – ID
      3. COIDO – ID (edit)
      4. Sorza & Not Yes – ID
      5. Sorza & Not Yes – ID
      6. Keenan Mundane – O.U.Y.S (Sorza Bootleg)
      7. Keenan Mundane – JOLLY ROGER (Sorza Bootleg)
      8. Sorza – ID
      9. Granul – Düz
      10. James Blake – Fall Back (Sorza Techno edit)
      11. Skrillex & Boys Noize – Fine Day Anthem (edit)
      12. Sorza – Ego Dissolution (HUJUS Remix)
      13. Sorza & ID – ID
      14. COIDO – Into The Bleak
      15. Sorza & Malixe – ID
      16. Sorza & Gaszia – ID
      17. Sorza & Amnes – ID
      18. Gaszia – HEAVYHITTER (edit)
      19. gyrofield – Stockholm (edit)
      20. COIDO – ID
      21. Lord Genmu – Hold It (The Glitch Mob Remix)
      22. Renslink – Pull On… (edit)
      23. Manni Dee – Wet Slide (edit)
      24. MUADEEP – Vendetta
      25. ØXN – Farmer In The City (Sorza Bootleg)

Listen to the previous episode by Aloka here.