Dutch-born IMANU has long transcended his previous alias ‘Signal’. But what about his favourite interests outside music? We put IMANU through the paces with our Show and Tell interview.
Runescape PKing!
I used to play and watch loads of RuneScape content as a kid and it’s how I first discovered dubstep.
Eventually showed this track and some others from this artist to my classmates and found a little crew that was into it! Having people around you that are into the same weird music as you are core imo 🙂
I have a big love for cooking
It’s the in-depth approach that Heston has is very inspiring. Analysing the purpose and reason behind things and applying these to forward-thinking processes is something that I love.
Fashion is probably my second love after music
I see it as more than just an outfit, it’s wearable art in its essence. It’s designers like Rick Owens and Yohji Yamamoto, who in my opinion, are at the forefront of darkness in clothing, focusing on shape, fabric and artistry, rather than relying on colour to bring out their vision.
Back to cooking again!
Peter Goossens is a Michelin star chef from Belgium who used to have a program where he would reinterpret classic Belgian dishes in a Michelin star manner.
I think this way of thinking can be applied to music too, utilising classic sounds such as the ‘Think Break’ or certain Reese basses and putting them in a new light.
My own city, Rotterdam!
I love it as a stand-out city in the Netherlands, being the only city without a classic city centre (due to WWII).
A modern city look, a very multicultural population, fashion, amazing food, and great public transport. One of those places where when I’m bored, I can just venture to the centre and always have something to do.
I’m a big fan of anime
I think Code Geass is my favourite. An anime psychological thriller, but fantasy? Just amazing to me.
I would always recommend this anime to people who are into crime TV shows, especially as an entry anime, together with Death Note. I think both of these perfectly bridge the gap from a more realistic crime to a fantasy world.
Ronaldinho is one of my favourite ever players
I used to play loads of FIFA games back in the days, but my favourite was FIFA Street. A game based on the actual game that you as a kid play with your buddies. Doing tricks, laughing, getting mad when somebody does a pana on you – all things inspired by Ronaldinho, who I’m pretty sure inspired a whole generation of kids. An infectious smile, the best tricks.. What’s not to love about him?
As a kid, I was hugely into cars
I remember my mother bought me a little book on trucks when I was about 2-3 years old. I would be on the street pointing at trucks and yelling “camion!” (“truck” in French). I played all the early Need For Speed games and my father took my to a RAI convention in Amsterdam once. This led me to looking for Dutch car brands, that are quite hard to find! I stumbled upon Spyker some time, and found out about the Spyker C8, and immediately fell in love.
Memento is my all-time favourite movie
The movie that really got me into Christopher Nolan. I used to think movies weren’t for me, being exposed to romcoms, Marvel, and Christmas movies until somebody told me about this movie. I
reluctantly checked it out and immediately fell in love. I started watching loads of Nolan’s movies such as the Batman trilogy, Interstellar, The Prestige, and found myself loving movies again.
Other movies I’ve really enjoyed since are the Bladerunner movies and Shutter Island.
Every Dutch 20-year-something knows about KUD
The worst of the worst humour, making it the best of the best.
Something about the Dutch language makes everything a lot funnier than it should be. Fortunately, they’ve started subtitling some of their more recent work. Unfortunately, I don’t think they convey the humour nearly as well. Still enjoyable though!
Stream IMANU’s new album “Unfold” on Spotify.