Colyn

Loveland, 2018: the track Tale Of Us hadn't even asked for yet

At the Loveland Festival in Amsterdam, Colyn heard his own music coming out of the Tale Of Us DJ booth. He hadn't sent it to them: the demo was circulating and Carmine Conte was playing it in front of thousands of people. That Saturday, between the nerves of introducing himself backstage and a helicopter waiting for the Italians, the relationship began that would place him on Afterlife and turn him into one of the most recognizable signatures of contemporary melodic techno.

From the Brabant attic to De Marktkantine

He grew up in a town in North Brabant, far from any nightlife scene. Dutch trance from Tiësto and Ferry Corsten, then Eric Prydz and later Tale Of Us or Recondite, drew the map. He started producing at sixteen, moved to Amsterdam at eighteen, and passed through the University of Amsterdam and the Herman Brood Academie. Before Colyn, he had released music as Bold Moves, which was darker. In 2018, he signed the LP Binary Choices on Tentacles Recordings, the EP Passengers on Infinite Depth, and became a resident at De Marktkantine, the venue where he honed his craft until the club's closure in 2022.

Afterlife, Rose Avenue and the hallmark of emotion

Amor, on Realm Of Consciousness Pt. IV (2019), was his first hit on Afterlife and ended up in the official Tomorrowland aftermovie. The Resolve EP, with Eriador in heavy rotation by Tale Of Us, pushed him from the local circuit to the international one. Patterns (2020) and Oxygen Levels Low (2022) followed. In parallel, Rose Avenue—RÜFÜS DU SOL's label—released Concepts of Love, Bridges In The Sky (featuring the vocals of his brother Maurits Colijn), and Cyclone (2023). The Martian EP on DGTL and The Future Is The Past opened up another side, more song-oriented. His official remixes include Armin van Buuren and RÜFÜS DU SOL (Wildfire). He describes his palette as a spectrum: from afro influences to melodic techno and indie dance, with cinematic textures.

Cercle, Coachella and life on tour

In 2022, he played for Cercle at the Jatayu Earth’s Center in Kerala and made his debut in the United States. In 2023, he stepped up to the Yuma tent at Coachella. He has performed at Hï Ibiza with Afterlife, DC-10 with Circoloco, Tomorrowland, Brooklyn Mirage, and ten-hour marathons at Thuishaven. The UNFILTERED series documented the flip side of touring. His booking is handled by Encode Talent. He remains anchored in Amsterdam, with his own studio.

A present of collaborations and big dancefloors

In 2025 and 2026, he has continued to release club weapons: Set Me Free with Innellea, See the Light together with Read the News, 1973 with Sultan + Shepard, We Belong with Rolbac, and Desert Sunrise with Sainte Vie. The project is no longer the local secret of Marktkantine: it is one of the stable voices of that Afterlife school that turns melody into festival architecture, with sets designed as an arc rather than a string of peaks.