After a Week in Dallas, Tinlicker Will Return to the Netherlands As Certified Cowboys

The fresh, melancholy and inspiring Tinlicker sound we know today and will hear at Dallas venue Silo on Saturday, April 12, descended from Micha Heyboer and Jordi van Achthoven’s adolescent, raucous roots in the Netherlands.

Like many Dutch youths, the Tinlicker pair grew up bouncing off the walls on gabber, hardstyle and jungle in Netherlands’ fourth largest city, Utrecht, about an hour south of Amsterdam. The legal drinking age in the Netherlands was 14 until 2014, when it was raised to 18. (Meaning, the age of 18 in the U.S. was like 12 for Heyboer and van Achthoven.) As happens to many kids, a taste for electronic music taste either fades or evolves, and Heyboer and van Achthoven are prime examples of evolving palates.

In a typical Dutch moment — where people commute on bikes more than in any other country — Heyboer shows up for our interview pedaling his Batavus Dutch brand city bicycle, then pulls over and drops his kickstand.

“More than 90% of the music we play on Saturday will be our originals or our remixes,” he says. “We can play hard banging stuff and softer, too; there isn’t a scripted plan, there are no rules, the only rule is that we do have to like it.”

Coachella shows bookend this Silo gig on Friday, April 11 and 18, and the boys have elected to post up in Big D on their midweek off days. This means they will likely be full-on JFK conspiracy theorists by the time they fly back to Europe. Follow their socials for obligatory Instagram moments with the Giant Eyeball, Texas barbeque at Terry Black’s, an authentic taqueria experience at Tacos La Gloria and boot shopping in the Stockyards. The duo play baseball in the Netherlands (Heyboer was a pitcher in Little League), and the Rangers have home series against the Angels and Dodgers, so that’s also an option.

Warm grooves and vocals are the fabric of Tinlicker’s sound. It’s fun to peruse their catalog, going back to their 24-track debut album Remember the Future from 2013 up to their latest release, “I Started a Fire,” featuring Hero Baldwin, which dropped a few days ago.

Remember the Future is 12 years old now, but tracks such as “Empty Skies,” “Octopus Tree” and “We Are Young” still sound fresh. Tinlicker’s music touches all emotions, from love to joy and grief. Music is in the ear of the beholder and whatever the vibe, Tinlicker can soundtrack it.

Their second album, This Is Not Our Universe from 2019, is on the Anjunabeats label, and the third, In Another Lifetime from 2022, is on Anjunadeep, which means the "Anjunafamily" will gather on Saturday in Dallas. The duo's latest album, however, is on the Pias Électronique imprint. The label switch isn’t anything against artists Jono, Paavo or Tony, but a different label does create more artistic freedom when it comes to the vocal elements.

“We switched from Anjuna to Pias because we wanted to work with other singers like Brian Molko from Placebo, who we did ‘Nowhere to Go’ with from the Cold Enough for Snow album,” Heyboer says. “Writing lyrics gives us a chance to tell stories, and working with different singers helps us change things because if we keep working with the same singers over and over, then it could cloud our identity.”

The duo is aware of their fans' desire for the hits, which means Tinlicker will likely oblige with “You Take My Hand,” “Because You Move Me” and “Children” and then set up a big moment to roll into their massive slow dance banger, “Rebirth.”

“We didn’t start making music to become famous,” Heyboer says. "The first goal was to play a local place, then we learned we needed a bigger goal, but we remain down to earth because we’re music fans too."

Two Coachella gigs and a date at Silo indicate their bigger goals are happening and anyone who has a conversation with Tinlicker founding member Micha Heyboer will know: He indeed remains down to earth.

Tinlicker plays on Saturday, April 12, at Silo Dallas, 1340 Manufacturing St. General admission tickets are on sale now for $29.95.