Belgian band Stavroz – Ijsbrand De Wilde, Gert Beazar, Maxim Helincks, and Pieter De Meester – started as a genre-blurring DJ project in East Flanders and evolved into a band blending acoustic-infused rock and electronic music. Known for their debut album Mindibu (2022) and EP Kick Up The Dust (2023), Stavroz create cinematic, textured soundscapes that merge organic and synthetic sounds. Their music has been shaped by global travels, incorporating instruments from North Africa and the Middle East to craft a unique electronic experience that balances movement and stillness.
Stavroz invites you to ‘Take a Sea’’ – their new full-length album out October 17th via Moodfamily. Across 14 tracks, the Belgian band delivers an atmospheric journey through sound, space, and emotion, blending acoustic instruments with electronic textures. From the hypnotic desert-inspired Hunt to the tender Para Rio and the haunting collaboration with RY X on ‘Lilac’, Take a Seat encourages listeners to slow down, take a breath, and immerse themselves fully in the music. Available digitally and on double vinyl, including a limited edition coloured pressing.
‘Lilac’ explores the theme of “doing it all again” and confronting the past. The track sits perfectly in the space where RY X thrive, minimal, emotional, and atmospheric, with a haunting intimacy that mirrors the delicate longing in the lyrics. Fans of RY X will recognise his signature ethereal vocals and atmospheric soundscapes, while Stvaroz adds a subtle, textured electro-acoustic layer that elevates the track.
To celebrate the release, Stavroz recorded a new mix for our Main Mix series and we sat down with them to talk about everything around the album. Enjoy!
WWD: ‘Take a Seat’ is described as a journey through sound, space, and emotion. How did your travels across North Africa and the Middle East influence the sonic landscape of the album?
During our travels through North Africa and the Middle East, we ended up in some really special places – beautiful landscapes, busy markets, peaceful forests – and we met people who left a big impression on us. There were so many unique sounds and atmospheres that stayed with us, even if we didn’t always realize it right away.
I don’t think we were consciously thinking about those places while making the album, but somehow they naturally found their way in. Certain rhythms, textures, or melodies just stick with you and come back when you least expect it.
At the same time, there were also a few conscious choices. We brought back two guembris from Morocco, along with some other little instruments, and they definitely made it onto the record. So it’s a bit of both – the sounds we carried with us, and the ones we chose to bring in on purpose.
WWD: You incorporated instruments like the gembri and qarqeba for this album. Can you tell us more about your setup and how you approached blending these new sounds with your established style?
Getting those instruments home was already a small adventure — there was some pushing and pulling at the airport, but luckily they made it back safely. Once we had the gembri and qarqeba in our hands, we just started playing around with them, without really overthinking it.
Right away, new riffs and rhythms started to emerge, and they naturally blended into new ideas we were already working on. It wasn’t planned or forced – the sounds just clicked. There’s something so deep and earthy about the gembri, it also sounds great when you play more rock or blues riffs. You can really hear that blend clearly on a track like The Wild.
WWD: Your music often exists in that “in-between space” between genres. How do you decide which elements, organic, electronic, or rhythmic, take the lead on a track?
Honestly, there’s no set formula for how we make a track. Sometimes we’re jamming together and something clicks, other times we’re just digging through endless sample banks on our own, hunting for that one melody or rhythm that sparks something. Once we have a rough idea, it’s about finding the right sounds to match – whether that’s something organic or electronic. Sometimes it all comes together super fast and you just know, and other times it’s days of tweaking and questioning everything. It’s a bit of a messy process, but that’s also kind of the fun of it.
WWD: With ‘Take a Seat,’ you emphasise slowing down and being present in the music. How important is the album format to you, especially in an era dominated by singles and playlists?
Yeah, like we literally say – take a seat. We really believe it’s worth taking the time to actually listen to music, not just have it playing in the background while you’re driving from A to B, or biking, or jogging. We’re not saying it has to be our album (though, you know, we wouldn’t mind), but just putting on a full record from start to finish can be such a different experience. It makes you more aware of what you’re hearing, and you start noticing details, maybe even start thinking differently about things. With Take a Seat, we wanted to create that kind of journey – something you can sit with, absorb, and come back to.
WWD: ‘Para Rio’ has a more tender and delicate tone compared to tracks like ‘Hunt.’ How do you navigate emotional dynamics across the album while keeping the Stavroz identity consistent?
We love playing with contrasts. ‘Para Rio’ is more gentle and emotional, while Hunt leans into something darker and more intense – but for us, it’s all part of the same universe. What helps tie it together is that we often use the same set of instruments. In both of those tracks, for example, the main melodies are played on sax and guitar. So even if the mood shifts from track to track, there’s still that core sound that feels very “Stavroz.” It’s like different shades of the same color. The emotional ups and downs just make the album feel more human and alive.
WWD: When writing “Para Rio”, did you approach it differently than other tracks on the album because of its emotional inspiration?
Yeah, usually a track can take forever to come together – we’ll be digging for the right chords, struggling to find a hook or a melody that feels right. But Para Rio was different. That one came together quickly. Because of the specific emotional inspiration behind it, the chords, the melodies, even the drums just sort of fell into place. It was probably one of the earliest tracks we had for the album. Later on, while shaping the album as a whole, we just added a bit of extra Stavroz flavour to it.
WWD: Can you describe your recording environment for this album? Did you use studios, live spaces, or more unconventional locations while travelling?
Most of the ideas started out in our own home studio – that’s where we tend to experiment and sketch things out. But for this album, we also spent a few days at Daft Studio in Malmedy. That place really gave us the headspace to jam for new ideas and dive deeper into some tracks. A song like Choices, for example, was born there. We also recorded overdubs there – things like drums, piano, and harmonium, because the recording quality is definitely a step up from our home setup. Later on, we wrapped everything up in a central studio in Ghent. And yeah, occasionally something happens on a plane or in a hotel room, we’ve definitely done a bit of tweaking on the go – but the main work happens in those more focused spaces.
WWD: Were there any technical or creative challenges in translating the diverse sounds and atmospheres from your travels into the album, and how did you overcome them?
We never feel like we have to include certain textures or instruments just because we picked them up while travelling. Like, yeah we bought a guembri at some point, but we weren’t trying to force it into anything. That said, it did end up in two or three tracks just because it actually fit the vibe. Same with a field recording we made in Mexico – someone was blowing into a conch shell on the beach, and that sound made it into ‘All Day I Zama’ from the ‘Gold Town’ EP. So it’s not about pushing travel sounds into our music, it’s more like: if it works, great. If not, we just move on and try something else or start a new idea entirely.
WWD: Wise words! Thanks for the chat 🙂
Stavroz: Instagram / SoundCloud