'Depeche Mode are the kings of happy-sad melodies' - DJ Stefaan Van Leuven

When Stefaan Van Leuven turns up to DJ with a USB stick, he never knows which track he'll play first, but he's at least "confident about the selection".

On The Mixtape, without the DJ's "shield" of letting the music speak for itself, Van Leuven chats about fresh tracks he likes and some older ones that influenced Soulwax - like an underrated 1985 single by British band Depeche Mode.

"Depeche Mode are the kings of happy-sad melodies, and [their song 'Shake the Disease'] is such a good snapshot in time," he tells RNZ's Tony Stamp.

Although he works as a DJ here, Van Leuven says it's weird doing it back in Belgium, "with the brothers being so amazing in it."

These "brothers" are David and Stephen Dewaele, who are also successful DJs under the moniker 2manydjs.

Van Leuven was just 17 years old when he first saw David Dewaele DJing at the local skate park one Saturday night in their hometown of Ghent.

"I thought, 'Wow, this guy, that's an amazing selection’. I loved everything he spun, and we got to be friends and started playing music together."

Originally, Van Leuven was the Soulwax singer, until one day David's older brother Stephen asked if he could "practice his voice" with them.

"I was like, 'Okay, here's the mic’. And as soon as he started singing, the rest is history."

Van Leuven, who originally played bass with Soulwax and now works mostly on the production and engineering side, moved to New Zealand with his Kiwi wife and doesn't see himself ever living in Belgium again.

"I don't think I'll ever feel like a Kiwi - listen to my accent - but I love living here. Yeah, there's no chance of going back."

Soulwax's sixth album All Systems Are Lying comes out on 17 October.

Although mainly an electronic band, Soulwax are "rockers at heart", Van Leuven says, and in the early 1990s, rootsy rock sounded "really exotic" to the young Belgians.

New Jersey rock band Monster Magnet's 1991 album Spine of God "slots right in there" with the sound that Soulwax were into at the time. But at a 1992 gig in Holland, the band themselves were "scary".

"They must have been [in Holland] for the whole day, and they might have used some of the local products, because I remember looking into Dave Wyndorf's eyes, and it was like seeing a wild animal. He had no top on, and he was waving his guitar over the crowd. Yeah, I was scared, and it made quite an impact on me."

With its "nice slow groove", this track was a favourite from the Despacio dance event at the 2025 Portola Music Festival in California, Van Leuven says.

Despacio - an "anti-EDM, anti-superstar DJ project" created by LCD Soundsystem frontman James Murphy - is something he recommends everyone try and experience.

Rather than centring attention around a DJ, Murphy's five-hour-plus Despacio events are all about the dancefloor, Van Leuven says.

"There's a big, massive disco ball everybody dances underneath, but it only goes on right at the end. Your eyes kind of adjust to the darkness. Then, when the disco ball hits, it's pretty euphoric."

Despite the "amazing" producer Mark Ellis, Soulwax was going through a big identity crisis when they made the 2004 album Any Minute Now, Van Leuven says.

Then one night, a friend visited the London music studio where they were working and sleeping and played 'Shake the Disease'.

"I remember it fitting so well with that feeling at the time, like the feeling of joy being able to work with this amazing producer, and also feeling quite frustrated.

"I think Depeche Mode are the kings of happy-sad melodies. And that song is such a good snapshot in time."

Picking just one act from the Dewaele brothers' hometown Ghent label DEEWEE was very tough, Van Leuven says.

Charlotte Adigéry was someone he collaborated with on the soundtrack for a friend's film about 15 fictional bands.

"I remember recording with her and having to leave the control room to go and have a look in the vocal booth at how she did it. It was just perfect… her pitch was just there. I didn't have to touch anything. She quickly became part of the DEEWEE family.

"Because I haven't worked on this, the magic is still there for me. Yeah, I love this track. It's kind of like a journey. The sounds, especially the bass. It's kind of like the band Japan."

"I just love [Ditto's] voice. There's something about mixing your super soulful voice with electronics that's really working for me. A little bit like Yazoo. [Ditto] also made that song 'Cruel Intentions' with Simian Mobile Disco."