We head to Amsterdam and ask what is KROOKS?

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I sat down with the founders of a new music label and online magazine called KROOKS. Fenno is an entrepreneur in Creativity and Djordje is a musician with his alias SATORI. Both are long-time friends who decided to team up. Their vision is extraordinarily modern and a new take on how labels can generate more then just your average album, EP or story.

So guys, what is KROOKS exactly?

Djordje: KROOKS is an online community where innovative music is released and inspiring stories are written. This vision comes back in our live events, which should give our music more feeling and depth. Music normally is just music, an album or a gig, but at KROOKS we try to give it more meaning by connecting it to the other disciplines that represent our brand.

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Fenno: We have eight artists that are going to release on our LABEL this coming year and we’ve got thirty authors from the creative industries, the music industry and from the start-up community that represent KROOKS STORIES and who write short inspiring stories on contemporary subjects. Beside the LABEL and the STORIES we also organise label nights called KROOKS by night and live events called KROOKS by day. Our goal is to work towards a big conference next year where all the different components of KROOKS that reflect our core values and disciplines come together.

What are those core values at KROOKS?

Fenno: With our platform we want to inspire people by stimulating creativity and personal growth. In this way we want to give more significance to our music, writings and events. KROOKS thus represents a deeper layer within music; in fact we try to do so with every artistic form we encompass, which, certainly in the mainstream, often is missing. We do so by combining different elements within KROOKS. We have for example musicians that write stories, and not just about music.

Djordje: Lately I was watching a documentary about the Avant Garde period. That was a real inspiration for KROOKS. A group of people and creations that is both experimental and innovative with respect to arts and culture, like Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso and Eric Satie did. The beauty of that time was that they combined all sorts of fine arts and therefore their work had so much more impact. Dali for instance was working on films with Walt Disney and by doing so could give his work more relevance.

When I saw the documentary I was thinking: this is what KROOKS does as well. We’re a community of entrepreneurs, musicians and creative. Together we’re essentially making art: the art of writing, the art of music and the art of event planning.  Different disciplines invigorate each other as well. By collaborating we generate more momentum.

Fenno: Besides this, KROOKS is founded in a time when we are freer then ever. Technology enabled people to be more creative and to have a wider social reach. That’s really cool, but a lot of potential isn’t met. By combining qualitative creativity and by offering it a platform, it really enables people to be inspired and transformed. This enables personal growth and should give a super positive feeling.

The music you release isn’t really definable in a specific genre. How would you describe your sound?

Djordje: It’s true. We rather not think in genres, but more in the creative identities that produce the music. That really appeals to me. Half way during a track of one of our artists the track just goes silent. The only thing the listener is left with is a dialogue between two comic book characters. The way it’s done has so much personality and authenticity that a genre or category really isn’t necessary any more.

Can you be a bit more specific?

Djordje: Okay, this is a bit tough talk from my side, but sometimes you get sent stuff and after just three seconds you know: This isn’t it. You know right away. The essence should be that our music is so bold, that you can’t put it into context with a genre but is instantly recognizable. We aim at releasing innovatory music that has an electronic basis combined with organic and live instrumental elements, but that’s so broad that everything still is possible.

Are you guys looking for artists and what are your plans for the future?

Fenno: We’re always looking for artists that want to collaborate with us that have the same vision and ethos as we do. So people that share our philosophy, core values and artistic vision. By offering a multidisciplinary platform artists can develop themselves and the artistic bar of society in general can be raised in the process.

To find out more, head on over to http://krooks.org/


About the Author

Guy finished his degree in persuasive communication and wrote his thesis on the use of SoundCloud by artists. Now he is an Amsterdam based writer for Decoded magazine. Besides that he’s involved in projects like Free Your Mind festival, Metamorphosa and his own Invite parties and he knows his way around as a DJ.