We caught up with Micha from Tinlicker to chat all about their new era with Hero Baldwin, their upcoming Crystal Palace Bowl show, and their first remix in three years.

Last updated: 23rd Jan 2026

Originally published: 30th Jul 2025

For Tinlicker, 2025 is all about stepping into new territory. The Dutch duo are expanding into a trio, with long-time collaborator Hero Baldwin joining their live show full-time as they prepare for their biggest London headline yet at Crystal Palace Bowl this August. It marks the start of a new chapter: fresh energy on stage, a new album in the works, and a live setup designed to push their emotive, melodic sound into even more dynamic territory.

Amidst the change, Micha and Yordi have also dropped their first remix in over three years, reworking The Boxer Rebellion’s beloved 'Diamonds' into a club-ready cut without losing any of the song’s aching heart. The track reunites them with Nathan Nicholson, whose voice has become a thread through some of Tinlicker’s most powerful releases, and lands as they lock themselves away in the studio to write their next record.

We sat down with Micha to talk about the new era of Tinlicker, bringing Hero centre stage, the emotional weight of 'Diamonds', and why their upcoming London show feels like the start of something big.

 

 

Hi Micha, I'd love to start on your new remix of The Boxer Rebellion’s emotional and revered hit ‘Diamonds’. It’s your first remix in three years. Tell me about that track and where the idea to remix this tune came from.

“Well, it was such a popular song here in the Netherlands when it came out, I think it was up there next to Pharrell Williams with something or other when it came out. So yeah, it was crazy big here.

“We’ve worked with Nathan quite a bit in the last few years, and I think he might have asked us because the song was going to be 10 years old, two years ago now, so we kinda missed that, haha, but the idea came up to do a remix. 

“We made a version back then, but we thought it was a bit too happy for the song. We played it live a few times, but then ended up totally changing it. 

“But once we did that, we ended up with a track we all love, and because we love working with Nathan, sticking with it and changing it just felt like the right thing to do.”

 

You mentioned there how it isn’t the first time you’ve worked with Nathan Nicholson. What is it that keeps you coming back to working with him?

“He’s an amazing songwriter. Especially when he works for us, his lyrics always feel real, and his voice has the same kind of echo. It’s not like sugarcoated life is great; he’s been through a few things in life, and you can hear that.”

“We like melancholic music, so it suits our sound really well, and he’s just a nice guy, which is also great. It’s nice to work with people you can also be friends with.”

 

 

Whilst we’re on new music, you guys are currently writing new material for your next album. How’s that going?

“We always want to keep changing, keep evolving, and so we decided to ask Hero Baldwin to be part of our live show.

“Because we want to do another live tour next year, you have to have something to be able to do a tour, haha. It’s not like we don’t want to do an album, but it also makes sense to introduce her with a new one. 

“So yeah, we’re going to write a lot of songs with her on this album, not only so we have more stuff to sing to play live, but just because it’s nice to actually write music. That’s why we’re in the industry anyway, to write music instead of performing. So we decided this year we should lock ourselves more in the studio.

“If you’re constantly on the road, there’s just not enough time to write something decent. You have to wind down and start f**king around in the studio again to come up with stuff that actually feels like it’s worth something. 

“So, constantly being on the road doesn’t work for us. So respect to anyone who does that. We need to step back and reposition ourselves, and ask: Why do we do this?”

 

I think that makes sense, listening to your guys' music, because there's an emotional depth to it that I’d imagine is something that you can’t just think of and push out, that can only be captured with thought and time.

“Yeah, I think it just takes time for us to let the ideas sink in. Some songs are a bit happier, but we like to make music that, I don't know, stands the test of time, and that becomes hard sometimes for ourselves because after you've written so many songs, you find yourself asking: why is this next song good enough? 

 

Maybe second-guessing yourself?

“Yeah, but that's the downfall of creation. It's like once you've created something, there's always a mirror next to you, being like, you've already done this. How is this different? and why is this worth being released? But yeah, sometimes thats a bit of a struggle, but that's good, it’s part of life.

 

I think some of the best things can come from that, too, though.

“Yeah, that's true. So, sometimes we become really depressed, and then we start writing music, haha!

 

Speaking of fresh directions, you mentioned her there; you’ve got Hero Baldwin joining your lineup both for live shows and the upcoming record. She’s someone you’ve worked with a lot in the past. Why was now the point where you wanted her to become a permanent fixture? Was it a natural step in your collaboration? Or was it more of a step you wanted to make to keep changing and evolving, as you’ve just mentioned?

“It’s a bit of both. We worked with her in the past, and she’s a hurricane; she has a lot of energy. 

“Last year, when we ended our tour, we closed it in our hometown, Utrecht, where we did three shows in two days. We had one with a big orchestra and then a live show, and we invited her to sing some of her songs on stage to make it different.

“The energy she added to the stage, we were like: okay, this works, she brings something. If we want to make the difference between our live show and our DJ performances bigger, this feels like a natural step. 

“Also, she’s been working in the music industry for quite a long time, but she’s still like this unpolished diamond. We really like the sound of her voice. And also, it clicks, her as a character clicks. Although she has an insane amount of energy, sometimes it’s like, ‘my god, the Tasmanian devil’s in the studio.’

"Hero writes from the heart, and it fits. It’s going to be an exciting new adventure.”

 

You’re doing the live show, yes, but with these new tracks you’re working on with Hero, is she going to be a real main presence on the record? Because in the past, you’ve worked with a lot of different vocalists on your records, will this one be a bit more homogeneous? 

“To be honest, it’s still a work-in-progress. We’ve written quite a few songs with her, so I think she’s going to be the main vocalist on the record. 

“It makes sense, but at the same time, it’s also kind of weird to totally change what we do, so there might be a few other vocalists on there too. But, I mean, we’ve written six songs in the last couple of months with her, and their redoing the vocals this weekend, actually, so it’s exciting.”

 

It sounds like it! Chat to us a bit about those tracks then. Is there a sonic direction appearing? Is it classically Tinlicker? Or has her voice and input changed how you've approached it?

“Ooo, tough questions, haha. I mean, it's always Tinlicker, because it's us, but we've definitely been searching for some new influences. So, tempo-wise, it goes a little bit more up and down, I think. But it's still the basic dance floor orientated stuff, but it's more ‘songs,’ as the lyrics are quite personal for her.

“I really like what we have so far, but it's kind of hard to pinpoint because we’re right in the middle of it, so saying this is the direction or this is what it's made makes it new. I don't know yet. But it's nice. We're happy so far.

Who knows, maybe in six months the group will be totally in the bin, haha!

She's gone. Back to the drawing board, haha!

“Hahaha, yes, maybe, but honestly, no, it is really exciting.”

 

 

Before we move on to your summer shows with Hero, I’d love to chat a bit more about the vocalists you guys work with, particularly those on your last record, ‘Cold Enough For Snow.’ As someone who grew up as a real indie kid, seeing names like Brian Molko (Placebo), Tom Smith (Editors), and Circa Waves do vocals on a dance record is really cool. I'd love to kind of pick your brain on why such vocalists appealed to you guys. 

“It’s also one of the reasons why we left our label, which was really dance-oriented, and joined an indie label that had connections to these singers.

“The thing is, in our time outside of the studio, we don’t really listen to dance music that much. We listen to bands. It’s the type of vocals we’re drawn to. It also makes it interesting, because these type of frontmen or frontwomen have their own band and their main focus is their own thing. They don’t do too many vocals for other people, so it feels like a special moment when they actually like: this is cool to do once. It becomes something special.

“It might sound stupid, but it’s nicer to have something that hardly anyone uses instead of vocals that you hear all the time. At the same time, people who do a lot of top lines, that's their work, and that's how they make a living. So, it's a logical thing to use. 

“But that's also why it's nice to work with someone who doesn't need to do it. Because for them, they see it as something cool to do. They'll probably do it again in five years, maybe, but they won’t be doing it tomorrow.

So, it feels like an honour. But it’s still weird to think we had Brian Molko in the studio!”

 

I feel like too, these vocalists you've chosen have really interesting voices with unique cadences, Brian Molko and Tom Smith especially, and it just provides something completely different to what you usually get on dance records. 

“They really do, and we were really happy that they were willing to do it as well. It felt very special.  

“But then, after that, you have to find something new again, haha! Maybe we’ll get Bob Dylan next time, he seems to be on a never-ending tour, so we might catch him. My mum loves him, so she’d be happy at least.

 

 

Let's move on to your upcoming live shows with Hero, especially that Crystal Palace Bowl gig coming up in London - your biggest headline show in London to date. How is that all coming together?

“It’s looking really nice. We’re going to have a try-out with Hero next week in Amsterdam in a tiny venue, and then it’s going to be the first actual show with her on a big stage, so that’s going to be special. 

“Also, having UNKLE and Rival Consoles being part of it is really cool because we really like what they do. So for us, it’s an honour to do a show like that. It feels like playing your own little festival.”

“Let’s just hope the weather is good, haha!”

 

I’d love to chat more about the lineup. I’m a massive UNKLE fan, and with the legends Rival Consoles there too, it really does feel like your own little festival. What was it like getting those names confirmed?

“It’s kind of surreal. I was a big DJ Shadow fan, and then UNKLE came along and I thought, wow this is really cool. Some years later, all of a sudden, they’re willing to do a remix for you and play a show. So it’s surreal, but therefore it’s amazing. 

‘We really love what they do, and the same with Rival Consoles. It makes it different from just a dance show. It’s more like a concert, or like we’ve said, more like a festival - a little bit of everything. I hope everybody comes really early and sees everyone. It should really be fun.”

 

It seems to me from chatting to you that you guys show a lot of time and respect to that live show and you’ve mentioned how , with the addition of Hero, it’s something that you really want to differentiate from your DJing. How are you looking to make that happen on these tours outside of adding Hero?

“Well, we play live, of course, so we keep challenging ourselves to switch up what we do, changing the setup, adding stuff. taking away stuff.

“But it is also in the actual show with our lights and our visual guys, and we keep changing the way it looks and feels because you're in control, it's your show, you can do whatever you want as long as there's budget for it.

“And we have a really cool team, they come from the Dutch band industry, so it's a different way of approaching an electronic show. A lot of electronic shows nowadays are time-coded, and everything seems to be a bit too perfect.

"Whereas we still do it all by hand, everything still feels quite analogue, so every show turns out to be different, and that makes it feel human. If it's too perfect, it sometimes feels like you're listening to a CD or watching something that's too registered or planned. 

"But it's nice when, as a fan, you can see everybody's actually working a lot, and for us it feels so rewarding when it goes right. And if it goes wrong, it's actually sometimes adds something to the show as well because people can feel that it’s live, they’re human, and they’re f**king it up haha!

“Which is cool. So, yeah. yeah. Hopefully it will be good."

 

I'm sure it will be. And if it's not, it's human and it's natural, so it's fine!

“Haha! Yeah, exactly. At first, we were a bit nervous. Thinking, does it matter if it's sometimes not super sync, or if I drum out of time sometimes, but as we’ve been saying, it gives that human feel to it a bit. 

 

On you’re other upcoming shows, I’d love to touch on the Melkweg homecoming show in Amsterdam, that’s going to be a much more intimate one, and the first time you’ve really tested this new live format. Are you nervous about that? Or looking forward to testing it all out?

“Well, it can either go really well or it can be really s**t, but then it’s only like 600 people so it’s okay, haha!

But, it’s a try-out. We’re going to just see how it goes and test the waters, see if it makes sense to do it. You can plan something, but you have to do it in order to see if it works or if you feel confident doing it like this.

“It’s also a nice way of having the selected 600 people be at a show that we normally don’t do anymore because the venues are getting bigger and bigger. For them, it’s nice to be part of something that’s maybe less planned but something special.”

 

It’s been great chatting Micha. What else is happening for you guys in the coming months and year, or is it all hands on deck for the London show and new music?

“Well, I hope everybody in the surroundings of London will come to see the Crystal Palace show. Hopefully it will be nice! 

“I’m also just really excited about the future because it’s a new adventure and a new thing for Tinlicker next year. These test shows feel early, but that also makes it fun. We can actually test stuff instead of having everything done, and therefore it will be special, I hope anyway!”

 

 

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Want to catch Tinlicker Live at their upcoming Crystal Palace Bowl gig? Well then, you're in the right place, as tickets are on sale on Skiddle. Either visit the event page and find more information as well as tickets, or just secure them now in the box below!

 

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