Since opening its doors to the public for the first time in 2007, WOEI has left its mark on the international sneaker and streetwear community with several collaborations including Asics, Patta, and Stüssy along the way.
But the interests and passions of the WOEI crew reach far beyond just shoes and apparel; Besides providing the streets with the latest from Nike, Adidas, and Co., music has always been at the heart of the store. Considering the highly curated playlists and mixes that can be heard in the store and hosting some of Rotterdam's most notorious parties, the belief that music unites is deeply ingrained in the WOEI DNA.
For edition #45 of WOEI FM, we’ve invited no one other than Gregory, aka Plentyvyenty.
Scroll down for the full interview and live set he did for us in the bunker of Operator Radio in the heart of the Rotterdam.
To start off: Could you please introduce yourself to us?
Hello! My name is Gregory Vyent, 51 years old, born and raised in Rotterdam. Always hanging around in the Rotterdam ‘scene’.
You and Woei go way back, right? How did you end up in the scene?
I've known Woei for a long time now. Started hanging around and skating between ’85 and ’90 somewhere? We started with rollerskating actually (not a lot of people know this haha), we used to do this at a halfpipe near Witte de With. Later on, we started skateboarding and hanging out with other locals that skated. That’s how our scene, and of course the whole Rotterdam scene, got bigger because everybody started hanging out and went to the same bars and clubs, such as the Energiehal, where we went most Saturdays.
When was your first spark that made you want to start DJing, and how did you develop your wide variety of taste?
I was always involved in music, hip-hop was and is still one of the biggest ’guidelines’ in my life. But besides that also other music, such as house, drum ’n bass, and also reggae sparked my interest because of what was already going on in the scene. I started to feel connected to music because of my uncles that used to have a record shop called White House on the Westerdijk. There I really could check out and hear everything they had to offer. I even managed to really get myself into some rock and punk/hardcore.
But before all of this I think it was my mom that really did it for me because back in the days at home everybody needed to be quiet whenever she put on a soul or funk record!
When did Drunken Lion Soundsystem start?
We started just as a group of friends playing together in the same period when Chocolat started in Off Corso (a big hip-hop party back in the days!). One of our friends did the visuals at the party, and at one point we said “Hey, we could do this too!”, and came up with the name Drunken Lion Soundsystem just randomly because we just thought it sounded good haha! I think we started it in 2004 and went on to play at different bars and clubs, such as the Vagabond on the Binnenweg. Everywhere we went and played, we brought a certain vibe; so every time we played somewhere, a lot of the homies and people we knew started to hang out at our gigs. I think it got a bit bigger for us when we got booked at De Wereld van de Witte de With. We could play way louder and harder and even got a big sound system to play on. So that was a sick experience playing the whole weekend there (these days, that’s not even possible anymore).
The scene these days is growing a lot bigger and faster, kids can start DJing easily these days and can get access to music a lot quicker. What are your thoughts about this?
I think back in the days it was also different and harder. When we played as Drunken Lion Soundsystem, a lot of the people didn’t really dig what we were playing. They probably thought “Who are these young dogs playing this weird stuff?”. These days, it's easier in that sense, but to be honest, I do miss the feeling of togetherness and community in the scene. Of course, it’s just the new generation of thinking and taking over. They do it their way, and I did it my way. I can only embrace it and I'm not gonna be like this old fella telling everybody that back in the days it all used to be better (although sometimes it was!). You gotta respect the new generation, just like my niece Jewel! She’s picking up DJing really fast, does her own thing, and I really respect that. Combining the old stuff with the new. She has a fresh perspective on this DJ thing!
You said your uncles had a record shop. What was it like to have this wide variety of music to your disposal and to dig whenever you liked?
They imported a lot of crazy stuff; especially sick reggae and dub from the UK. I used to listen and hang out a lot in the shop, but to my surprise I never really had the spark to collect a lot of records. I was never really obsessed about having the newest stuff etc. If I look at it now, it’s a shame I didn’t get more into the digging culture. Besides that, it was the exact time everything was switching to CDs. So at one point, I had more CDs than records!
Are there some tracks you'd like to share with the readers?
What can we expect from your upcoming Operator Radio set?
Expect a combination of dub and jungle!
Any future plans we need to look out for?
Well I’m a dad, so I’m focused on that most of the time. Guiding them on the right path in this world. For now, they’re just focused on playing soccer, of course haha! But bit-by-bit I show them the tools of life! Just trying to live and making my own life as easygoing as possible. These days I’m just jamming around at home producing some music.
Do you have anything left to tell the readers?
Check out my set! And be good to each other in this life!
Check out WOEI FM #44 with Serge!
