The culmination of a friendship formed in 2004, Joyhauser represents the combined talent of Joris Cielen and Stijn Vanspauwen. Both men hail from Bilzen, a small town in Belgium where they found a common bond through their love of music. Starting out as party promoters, they organised events in their hometown which filled dancefloors right from the start. Their fate was sealed during a visit to seminal festival I Love Techno in 2006, when music really began to take over their lives. DJing separately to begin with, their parties gave them the space to evolve and experiment, eventually deciding to team up on the decks. In 2017, 13 years after they first met, Joris and Stijn conceived Joyhauser as a vehicle for their DJ and production endeavours. From the outset Stijn, an out and out perfectionist, was adamant they wouldn’t release anything until he thought it was good enough. So they took their time, patiently refining their productions, honing a style that was unique to them and holding off releasing their music until it felt right. Parallel to their studio work, Stijn and Joris were building their reputation as DJs in Belgium and beyond, becoming respected selectors with performances at many of Europe’s best-known clubs and festivals including Awakenings, Extrema Outdoor, Tomorrowland and Pukkelpop. They also became part of the family at Labyrinth, one of Belgium’s premier electronic music clubs.