ARTIST STORY
THE STATE.
De Staat lets rock music writhe, stomp and dance. From a Nijmegen solo project to a band that builds its own world with sound, visuals and movement.
IMAGE CREDIT: Steven Lek / Wikimedia Commons · Record Store Day, Delft, April 19, 2014 · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Responsively cropped; the crop is under the same license.
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Open in Spotify ↗A bass figure keeps pushing through, a guitar seems stuck in a strange movement and Torre Florim sings as if he is watching the situation from a short distance. With De Staat, a song can be physical and thoughtful at the same time. The music invites you to move along, while somewhere a detail keeps grating. That discomfort is often exactly what makes it interesting: the groove works instantly, the peculiarities you discover afterwards.
FIRST THE RECORDING, THEN THE BAND.
De Staat starts in 2006 as Florim's project in Nijmegen. In an interview with 3voor12 from 2008, he said that he had largely recorded the debut himself, with the help of other musicians. Only during the stacking of parts did the practical question arise: how should this work on stage? The solution became a band. Alongside Florim, Vedran Mircetic, Jop van Summeren, Rocco Hueting and Tim van Delft form the quintet.
That origin remains audible. De Staat thinks in sounds and in the way they interlock. A guitar does not have to constantly sound like a familiar rock guitar. A voice can also become a rhythmic part. Yet beneath the experiments, a recognizable band keeps playing: bass and drums lay down the movement, while the other parts sometimes push against it.
FROM DUST TO MACHINERY.
Wait for Evolution appears in 2009. The debut has a dry, grainy power. The riffs are solid, but the record rarely feels rushed. Florim's voice can move almost carelessly over a menacing pattern. This creates a tension between the singer's attitude and the energy of the instruments. It sounds as if the music knows something the narrator does not yet fully want to reveal.
With Machinery from 2011, the sound takes on a more pronounced mechanical side. In Sweatshop, title, repetition and rhythm reinforce each other. The song continues with an infectious stubbornness. Listen to the individual parts and you notice that the power does not come from an endless amount of parts. De Staat chooses clear figures and lets them rub against each other long enough to acquire their own character.
THE CIRCLE GETS LARGER.
I_CON from 2013 brings the different sides of the band sharply together. Down Town has a loose, mobile attraction; Witch Doctor instead focuses on an almost hypnotic repetition. The vocals, the rhythm and the guitar work there as parts of one movement. The song does not have to constantly replace its starting point to maintain tension.
The music video for Witch Doctor, released in 2015, makes that logic visible with an increasingly intense circle of moving people around Florim. Image and music tell the same idea: repetition can set a group in motion. It is a defining moment in the recognizability of De Staat. The band has not only found a sound, but also a way to give that sound a physical form.
On O from 2016, the parts are often clearly placed next to each other. Peptalk is an accessible entry point, with a chorus that quickly sticks without polishing away the strange corners. De Staat understands that a clear structure can actually create space for an unexpected sound. You know where you are in the song and can therefore pay attention to what is changing in the background.
MORE COLOR, MORE CONTRAST.
Bubble Gum from 2019 expands the role of electronics and timbre. Kitty Kitty builds tension with a pattern that keeps presenting itself. The build-up calls for patience: small changes gain weight because the song holds onto its central movement. Tie Me Down, with Luwten, also lets you hear how much space there is within the band sound for another voice and a softer approach.
Then the way of releasing also changes. Red / Yellow / Blue starts in 2021 and is completed in 2023. The band divides the music by mood: red for the dark side, yellow for lighthearted danceability and blue for melancholy. The collective writing gets more space. The full release is available as a cohesive project, while the three colors also exist separately as EPs. That origin deserves its own place alongside the regular album series.
DE STAAT BECOMES DE STAAT.
On September 18, 2026, the self-titled album De Staat was released by V2. The King, The Fire, Glory and The Underdog open this phase. The new work connects the songs with a visual live concept, De Staat Becomes De Staat. Music, light and movement explicitly belong to the same world.
The step aligns with a band that has long been exploring what rhythm can do with a group of people. In The King, power and the repetition of rise and fall return. The concept also gives that theme a form on stage. It remains important to hear the concrete songs: the image enhances the music, but does not take its place.
THE FACTS
NIJMEGEN
2015
ESSENTIAL DISCOGRAPHY
The studio albums, with the complete color project Red / Yellow / Blue and the self-titled album from 2026. Vinticious Versions is a separate series of reworkings.
- 2009Wait for Evolution
- 2011Machinery
- 2013I_CON
- 2016O
- 2019Bubble Gum
- 2023Red / Yellow / Blue — complete release of the three-part studio project
- 2026De Staat
FAQ
Where does De Staat come from?
De Staat comes from Nijmegen. The group started in 2006 as a project by Torre Florim and later grew into a band.
Who is the singer of De Staat?
Torre Florim is the singer, guitarist and founder of De Staat. He is also active as a songwriter and producer.
Who plays in De Staat?
The well-known quintet consists of Torre Florim, Vedran Mircetic, Jop van Summeren, Rocco Hueting and Tim van Delft. Together they combine vocals, guitars, bass, drums, keyboards and percussion.
What is the first album by De Staat?
The debut album is Wait for Evolution, released in 2009. The recordings started as a project that was largely built around Torre Florim.
On which album is Witch Doctor?
Witch Doctor is on I_CON, the third album by De Staat from 2013. The well-known music video was released later; the song itself therefore belongs to that earlier record.
What kind of music does De Staat make?
De Staat makes alternative rock with electronic elements and a strong emphasis on rhythm. Repeating patterns, unexpected sounds and danceable grooves are important parts of their music.
View the artist page of De Staat for the vinyl releases and more to discover. Discover the musical context in ALTERNATIVE ROCK..
Listen further via De Staat, Vinticious Versions, Wait For Evolution, ROCK.
FINAL WORD.
Stay in that movement for a moment.
Start with I_CON and then go to Bubble Gum. You hear how the same band can move from dry riffs to roomier electronic landscapes. Then put on Machinery and pay attention to the rhythmic details. De Staat shows how much adventure can be in a repeating figure: recognizable every time, illuminated just a little differently every time. The music gets more depth when you give it time to let its strange logic be heard.
Back to the beginning: read the ALBUM STORY about Wait for Evolution.
KEEP DIGGING.
DISCOVER MORE.
Read further about the artists, sounds and backgrounds from this story.
IMAGE CREDIT — ALBUM COVER: WAIT FOR EVOLUTION by De Staat. Product cover of the linked SJELF/Bertus release; higher resolution via the official label. Used with permission confirmed by SJELF; image displayed unchanged.
IMAGE CREDIT: SJELF · own Genre Guide image.
IMAGE CREDIT: SJELF · own Genre Guide image.
