From its trail-blazing 90s rave-days to giving birth to the world-conquering Tomorrowland, Belgium has long punched above its modest size in the world of electronic music. Now rising star Siege, whose techy take on house has graced labels from Toolroom and Saved to Yousef’s Circus, Alan Fitzpatrick’s We Are The Braze and Big Beat in the US, can add his name to the influential acts that Belgium has gifted the world.
Raised in Hasselt, outside of Belgium’s best known clubbing centres, Siege is a beacon for the power of focus and self-determination. Buying his first vinyl turntables before he was old enough to go to a club, instead he listened to mixes on the internet, using this knowledge to buy the hottest records of the moment. It was after playing his first major gigs just a year or two later, however, that he realised he wanted to similarly inspire others by producing his own tracks. Self taught by his own dedication and the help of Future Music Magazine, when his first ever remix stopped just shy of the Beatport House Top Ten his reputation was assured.
It was Defected who passed his breakthrough track ‘Crunk’ to Azuli, vocalist Eeva re-singing the hook to Mary J Blige’s classic ‘Family Affair’, beginning an ascent that has made his releases a standard for DJs from Claptone, Mark Knight Carl Cox and Camelphat to the BBC Radio One family of Pete Tong, Danny Howard, Annie Mac and Monki. Continually evolving his sound, Siege’s latest productions have headed in a slightly darker direction, resulting in support from Adam Beyer, Yousef, Alan Fitzpatrick, Hot Since 82 and Nic Fanciulli, the latter of which was so enamoured with Siege’s sound that he signed the two-track Motion EP to his label Saved in summer 2019.
2020 is shaping up to be a breakthrough year for Siege, with two huge upcoming records – Marshall Jefferson x Siege Move Your Body and his remix of Green Velvet’s Bigger Than Prince – set to fire him squarely into the limelight. And with plenty more in the locker for 2020 and beyond, Siege is someone you’ll want to keep an eye on for some time to come.
Follow: Siege