Thys

Following the breakup of Dutch bass trio Noisia, former member Thijs de Vlieger is about to release his debut Thys EP and make plans for a career in soundtrack production. Danny Turner finds out more

- Danny Turner

After 20 years working alongside Nik Roos and Martijn van Sonderen as one-third of bass behemoth Noisia, Thijs de Vlieger is wasting little time moving on, writing a score for the live contemporary dance and art production Sleeping Beauty Dreams and rebranding himself as Thys for solo electronic productions. His first Thys release is the futuristic three-track EP Unmoved Mover/Unwound – a cinematic odyssey of driving breakbeats, dystopian synths and orchestral passages. The EP was recorded at De Vlieger’s studio in Groningen, Netherlands, where Noisia still operate from separate rooms. Meanwhile, the producer has been further collaborating with sound innovator Amon Tobin following Ghostcards earlier this year.

How would you define the end of Noisia and your decision to go your separate ways?

“While the clashing of ideas can be very beneficial, we’ve been together for 20 years. Between the ages of 18 and 38 you change a lot as a person and develop your own tastes, so it would be very rare for our three tastes to develop perfectly in sync. Staying together was becoming more of an effort and less natural than at the start when our interests were very much aligned.”

You must have felt a sense of security being in the band. Was leaving that behind daunting?

“Exactly that – the opportunity is great but it’s also pretty scary. Speaking of safety and anxiety, we were going to do a very nice farewell tour to close the chapter – not just for the fans but ourselves – and build a bridge for us to transition into the future. Now that whole tour has been cancelled or postponed due to Covid-19, but we still want to do it next year.”