Artist
Sander Van Doorn
Why we feature this artist Sander van Doorn: the producer behind Koko Koko announces itself through a sharply recognisable instrumental idea. Sander van Doorn’s production gives that idea a large rhythmic setting, making the record feel immediate without depen…
- From
- Netherlands
- Sound
- Electro house, progressive house, tech trance
- Active
- 2004–present
Start with the music
Tracks to explore
The artist, in context
The story of Sander Van Doorn
Why we feature this artist
Sander van Doorn: the producer behind Koko
Koko announces itself through a sharply recognisable instrumental idea. Sander van Doorn’s production gives that idea a large rhythmic setting, making the record feel immediate without depending on a conventional sung chorus. It belongs to a catalogue interested in the point where melodic dance music meets a harder club impact.
Production first
Van Doorn’s own account places production at the beginning of his musical identity. Early experiments with a borrowed Roland Groovebox helped turn an interest in electronic records into making music. DJing then became another way to put those productions in front of people.
The debut album Supernaturalistic appeared in 2008. His work also developed through remixes and the DOORN Records imprint, giving him several different settings in which to explore a sound that did not sit comfortably inside one narrow genre.
From Koko to Purple Haze
Love Is Darkness and Koko formed an important part of the 2011 period. One offers a vocal route into the music; the other demonstrates the power of a concise instrumental phrase. Listening to the pair makes the range more apparent than treating either as a complete definition of the producer.
The Purple Haze album SPECTRVM followed in 2017, giving a darker, rougher musical direction an extended programme. Van Doorn has described the project as a source of creative energy that also fed back into his other work.
Koko remains a useful first listen because the construction is so clear. The musical figure draws attention; the arrangement decides how long to sustain it, when to pull back and how strongly to bring the rhythm through again.
Essential releases
Supernaturalistic
The debut album establishes an early full-length statement.
Koko
An instrumental single built around a distinctive melodic figure.
SPECTRVM — Purple Haze
The album gives the darker project a full-length setting.