In the vast empire that is Star Wars, the Black Sun is a notoriously powerful crime force in the galaxy. But Time Out wonders if the otherworldly DJ trio Black Sun Empire considers itself the most powerful force in the d’n’b universe.

“My ego is not that big!” says Micha Heyboer, one of the three that make up this Dutch dub group. “We’re down to Earth. We were really attracted to Star Wars when we were young. The first movie came out when we were kids. We like science fiction, we like technology and the evolution of technology. That’s where the name comes from, really. Electronic music wasn’t there without computers and science fiction.”

Based in the Netherlands, this drum’n’bass and dubstep sensation is comprised of Heyboer, his brother Milan and Rene Verdult. With some fresh material in hand, the guys are in Hong Kong for the first time this fortnight. Expect some techy-sounding d’n’b tunes along the lines of their 2010 release Lights and Wires, as well as a sneak peek into their upcoming album.

“We are expanding out into different genres of music – just evolving,” explains Heyboer from Black Sun Empire’s studio in Utrecht. “For now we’re working 24/7 on the new album, trying to finish tunes.”

Heyboer can reveal that he’s collaborating with some prominent groups in the d’n’b scene for the new album, like Audio, Noisia and Nymfo. Heyboer’s especially keen to find out what Hongkongers think of the new tracks. “It’s cool seeing how cultures are different,” he says. “That’s the fun part of it.”

To those drum’n’bass purists wary of venturing into dubstep territory, Heyboer offers these words of advice: “In both, the drums are based on a breakbeat – it’s just a tempo difference. The sounds are quite similar. I think if you love breakbeats as a type of music then you should be open to all kinds of music, not just drum’n’bass, not just dubstep.”

Despite making and producing records for over a decade and a half, Heyboer says there are still some musical frontiers they’ve yet to cross. “We hardly work with vocals so it would be nice to do something like that,” he says. “In the end it’s about what you want to do yourself. We’ll just keep changing however we want to keep changing.”

As for the new album release date? “Hard question!” Heyboer says. “I don’t want to promise anything now because we want to make sure it’s good and not just throw it out.” Judging by their wise words, we think the force may be with them.

Christina Wylie

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