Tinlicker on Edge Of Forever, working with Helsloot and Dreams Of The Machine

Some records begin with a meticulously planned studio session. Edge Of Forever, the latest collaboration between Tinlicker and longtime friend Helsloot, began somewhere altogether less conventional: on a tour bus rolling through Europe.

Tinlicker, Jordi van Achthoven, Micha Heyboer and, more recently, vocalist and musician Hero Baldwin, were touring their fourth album, Dreams Of The Machine, with Dutch producer Helsloot, aka Thomas Helsloot, joining them in support. Thousands of miles spent travelling together provided an opportunity to revisit a creative relationship responsible for some remarkable records, not least Because You Move Me, which has surpassed one billion streams.

Yet according to Jordi van Achthoven, returning to that partnership wasn't motivated by numbers, expectations or any calculated attempt to reproduce the past. It was something considerably simpler. “Our friendship keeps getting us back together,” he says. “I think me and Thomas are very similar when it comes to creativity. What’s interesting about that is that we challenge each other when we are creating music together.”

It had also been some time since they had properly made music together. “We didn’t create anything together for quite a while. So, in the tour bus we took the advantage sitting together and writing music, which kind of worked out great. When we are creating it always feels the same, even looking back on our ‘careers’. Creating music is something very special because in a way you’re not really thinking when you’re really creating something.”

That instinctive approach is central to understanding Edge Of Forever. Threading Hero Baldwin's haunting vocal through melodic synth chords, reverb-rich bass and a gently broken rhythmic framework before accelerating towards a far more euphoric conclusion, the track feels simultaneously connected to Tinlicker's melodic history but determined to push beyond it.

Their surroundings played a part. Rather than isolating themselves inside a conventional studio, van Achthoven and Helsloot were creating while the European landscape moved past the windows. “An environment does affect the creativity,” van Achthoven explains. “Sitting in a driving bus, watching the beautiful scenery outside when we were driving through Germany and Denmark added a great vibe to the music.”

For van Achthoven, however, inspiration has rarely depended upon having the perfect studio environment. Quite the opposite. “When I think of it, most of the music I personally created was never created in a studio. Most of the ideas come to mind after doing a certain routine, like brushing teeth, showering, sitting in the bath, walking, or getting bored in a good way.”

Even one of Edge Of Forever's defining characteristics, the way its energy develops as the track gathers pace, was partly the product of accident rather than design. “The song started with the melody and a baseline,” he recalls. “I remember we started off way slower in bpm. After working on it the next day we opened the project and by accident the bpm was way faster. And we decided to keep it. Most of our ideas in the song were created in the moment.”

Creating in the moment might sound straightforward until the history surrounding Tinlicker and Helsloot is considered. Because You Move Me has accumulated more than a billion streams, while another collaboration involving Baldwin, Tell Me, has passed 50 million. Those are figures capable of transforming artistic instinct into commercial expectation. Van Achthoven sees pressure rather differently. “Basically, if we want to choose that path we can feel pressure. We can also choose to not feel pressure. It is really a choice to feel pressure of not.”

The distinction he makes is between creation and the technical decision-making that follows it. “When we’re in a certain ‘zone’ of creating we don’t really think too much. In a creative modus you let your intuition speak and not the brain. The only reason we need our brain in making music is after the creation, to give the song a proper mix down, or the right kind of kick or synthesizer.”

That philosophy helps explain why Edge Of Forever doesn't attempt to become Because You Move Me part two. Tinlicker and Helsloot have already made that record. For van Achthoven, trying to manufacture another version of it would run contrary to the reason for creating music in the first place. “I actually, personally never want to recreate what I’ve already done,” he says. “I want to challenge myself instead of making the same things again. I will definitely become dull and bored and too comfortable repeating myself, and I think that’s a big downfall as an artist.”

It's an attitude that extends beyond music. “I think not just only in music, but in life I want to get out of that comfort zone, learning new things to keep a healthy brain. The problem I see is that a lot of people don’t operate like this in the world, and these people are afraid of change.”

Change has been particularly significant for Tinlicker recently. What was once primarily identified as the electronic production partnership of van Achthoven and Heyboer has evolved into a live trio with Baldwin becoming an integral creative member. That evolution is embedded throughout Dreams Of The Machine. Rather than simply adding vocals to music created by the original duo, the album was constructed collectively. “We created all the songs for the album together, physically together in the studio,” van Achthoven explains. “That was a fun period when we look back. So, the creative process already changed during the writing process. We wanted to make sure the songs really feel that we are all three equally involved in the process of creating.”

Interestingly, having a vocalist permanently inside that creative environment presented an unexpected challenge: knowing when not to use one. “I think in general what it changed most is creating a song without any vocal. That was the hardest part, because you get used to having vocal tracks on a song very easily. So, for example tracks like Spirit of Time are created without the idea of having a vocal on it.”

Dreams Of The Machine subsequently stretches Tinlicker's musical vocabulary considerably wider, bringing melodic electronics into contact with dub techno, acid, indie guitar textures and Baldwin's vocals. But beneath that stylistic breadth lies something considerably heavier. “Maybe Dreams of the Machine is our darkest album to date,” van Achthoven says. “And that’s because I/we as an artist get influenced by the state of the world, whether I like it or not.”

Its darkness, then, isn't simply an aesthetic choice. “Human society is quite a mess at the moment. There is lots of division happening in the world which creates fear and anxiety and all that. And there is quite a seriousness in this album about our state as humanity.”

Seen from that perspective, Edge Of Forever becomes an interesting counterpoint to the album that preceded it. If Dreams Of The Machine absorbed some of the anxiety and division surrounding its creators, the new collaboration offered a momentary release from it. “Edge of Forever feels more light, as a light at the end of the tunnel, and in a way we needed that,” says van Achthoven. “Some sort of relief that it’s ok to feel serious, but it's also ok to enjoy little moments.”

Those moments are increasingly being experienced through Tinlicker's live show. The trio's Dreams Of The Machine tour has transformed music created in the studio into a substantial live production involving around 250 pieces of equipment.

Yet van Achthoven insists that the demands of performing the music aren't allowed to interfere with the initial act of writing it. “While in the creative process I don’t think of it,” he says. “But after, when the song is finished I try to edit the song so it’s more suitable for playing live.”

Consequently, audiences aren't necessarily hearing straightforward reproductions of the records. “Most of the songs we make are not really the same on a stage. We build more around the songs, to create tension.”

That live operation now heads across the Atlantic. Beginning in September, Tinlicker and Helsloot will embark on a 21-date North American run, covering approximately 9,000 miles with their full crew and live production.

And the bus is once again going to become a studio. “Yes, definitely,” van Achthoven says when asked whether another record might emerge before the journey is finished. “I’m recording a lot of material to bring along in the touring bus. I decided to make like a bunch of songs during the tour.”

The plan is already becoming tangible. “That gives us also something to do between shows and it should be fun to do so. So, one of our dressing rooms will be a recording studio. I cannot wait for that.”

What emerges from those sessions remains deliberately undefined. Following the work required to make Dreams Of The Machine and transform it into a live tour, Tinlicker aren't rushing towards another grand statement. “At the moment we enjoy our album tour very much and do not try to think so much ahead yet,” van Achthoven says. “This is the time to give the creative mindset some rest after an album. So instead of rushing with new things we enjoy this part a bit more.”

It's an interesting contradiction: van Achthoven wants to give the album cycle room to breathe while simultaneously packing recording equipment onto the bus. Perhaps that's because creating and planning are two very different things in his world.

After four Tinlicker albums and individual tracks whose audiences can now be counted in hundreds of millions or, in the case of Because You Move Me, billions, van Achthoven is increasingly interested in what happens when an artist refuses to stand still. “I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. because as a human being you evolve during your life. So you are kind of never the same. And when I make music it works the same.”

For him, records capture particular versions of their creators rather than establishing templates that must subsequently be reproduced. “I make certain music in a certain period of time. And after that I’d like to move on and make new things. For me personally it’s very important to challenge myself, otherwise I get bored. And a dull mind is the worst. It makes me lazy.”

He understands that this can create tension between artists and the audiences who become emotionally invested in a particular era of their work. “But I do know that people love the music from an artist from a certain period. And I do see that people are very scared when an artist changes his music.”

History, of course, provides plenty of evidence for the alternative. “I can name so many examples of musicians who changed or reinvented themselves for most of their career. One of our biggest fans John said, David Bowie is a great example. And it’s true, he reinvented himself in his musical career many times.”

Perhaps that makes Edge Of Forever significant for reasons extending beyond another Tinlicker and Helsloot collaboration. It connects different stages of their shared history without attempting to recreate them: the friendship behind their earliest music, the extraordinary success that followed, Baldwin's arrival as part of Tinlicker, the evolution towards a fully live electronic trio and the expansive musical world of Dreams Of The Machine.

Now those relationships are heading back onto the road together. “Looking back on the friendship I have with Thomas and Hero, I’ve known them both for quite some years now. We all worked together in the past years with each other,” van Achthoven reflects. “And now when we’re in the tour bus and performing on stage together I feel that it totally makes sense. It’s great that we didn’t really plan this all out, but that it worked out like this! Much love to them.”

That lack of a predetermined destination feels particularly appropriate. Edge Of Forever began with friends making music on a moving bus, accidentally changed speed when they reopened the project, and became something none of them had attempted to map out in advance.

For Tinlicker, that willingness to follow an idea somewhere unexpected may be considerably more important than knowing exactly where the machine is heading next.

Tinlicker & Helsloot - Edge of Forever is out now on Remember The Future/[PIAS]. Get it on Beatport HERE. Watch the video HERE.

Tinlicker - Dreams Of The Machine LP is out now on Remember The Future/[PIAS]. Get it on Beatport HERE.

Read the full interview with Jordi van Achthoven from Tinlicker on The Night Bazaar HERE.