Contributing WriterEmerging from a decade-long friendship rooted in late-night music sessions and a shared passion for exploration, After Ours is the latest creative chapter for NYC-based duo Nik and Troy.
Blending their distinct backgrounds—one raised on East Coast bands, the other a lifelong West Coast DJ—they’ve carved out a sound that’s both intuitive and adventurous. With their new project already gaining momentum through energetic releases and boundary-pushing collaborations, After Ours step into the spotlight ready to share the story, vision, and inspirations behind their rapidly evolving world.
What first drew you both together as your new alias After Ours, and how did the idea for this project come to life?
We’ve been best friends for ten years, always connected through music despite coming from totally different backgrounds. One of us grew up on the East Coast playing in bands, the other’s been DJing since middle school in California. We’d spend these late nights with our crew, just seven of us, diving deep into new sounds and sharing music until sunrise. Those sessions meant everything, that’s literally where the name comes from. One night we decided to make a track together, no pressure, and it just clicked instantly. The way we balanced each other just worked, like we’d been doing it forever. We made it official earlier this year, but honestly, After Ours has been ten years in the making.
What inspired “Yenza” – was there a particular moment, mood, or story that sparked the track?
Our first song “GANG” was definitely darker in sound, so we wanted to balance that out with something lighter and more upbeat, something you could sing along to. When we play live, we’re always trying to take people on a journey with highs and lows. “Yenza” sits on the other end of that spectrum from “GANG.” It’s got that energy and brightness that rounds out our sound and gives us more range to work with between this and the other tracks we have coming.
How did the collaboration with Nomula SA come about, and what did they bring to the creative process?
We were connected through a producer and sent her the track to see what she’d do with it. She came back with her vocals and completely elevated the whole song. Her flair and energy transformed it into something bigger than we imagined. She nailed it immediately, honestly. The way her voice sits in the track just brought everything together and gave “Yenza” the soul it needed.
Your label Pigeon House Records is still in its early days – what vision do you have for the label? What is the sound?
Pigeon House is all about the underground DJs around NYC who have their own unique flair and perspective. We’re not concerned with how big someone’s following is, we care about what makes their sound different and authentic. The vision is to build a home for artists who are pushing boundaries and experimenting, people who have something real to say through their music. It’s about community and giving a platform to the sounds that might not fit the mainstream but deserve to be heard.
Do you feel there’s a particular sound or feeling that defines After Ours, or are you still exploring what that means?
I think we’re starting to carve out a sound, but we’re also giving it room to grow. It’s early in the journey, and part of the fun right now is letting it evolve naturally instead of trying to lock it into one box.
How does your production dynamic work as a duo – do you each have set roles, or is it more fluid?
Our dynamic is really fluid. We’ve been close friends for 10+ years now, so we always joke that we can read each other’s minds. Because of that relationship, everything we do ends up feeling natural and totally in sync—nothing about it is forced or broken into strict roles.
Afro House seems to behaving a real global moment right now, how do you tap into that while bringing your own perspective and character?
We’re experimenting with bringing our own cultures and backgrounds into the sound. We have a track we’re working on right now that incorporates a tabla, which is from Nik’s culture. For us, it’s about respecting the foundation of the genre while adding our own influences and experiences to it. We’re not trying to replicate what’s already out there, we want to contribute something that feels authentic to us. That’s the approach we’ll keep taking with everything we put out.
What’s next for After Ours, what have you got coming up?
We’ve got a few more tracks in the vault and some collabs we’re really excited to announce soon. We’re also playing more shows around the NYC area and have some other cities booked that we’ll be announcing soon.
What is one record that has had the most impact on you in life so far?
Nik: For me, it’s hard to pick just one record. Bollywood as a whole has had the biggest impact on how I approach music. I pull a lot of inspiration from the percussion—like tabla—and those groovy bass lines that just make you want to move your hips left to right all night.
Troy: It’s hard to pick one record, but I think it would be In Search Of… by N.E.R.D. It really helped me see how out there and creative artists can be when expressing themselves. You can tell Pharrell really embraced the weird and different sounds to do something so unique. It inspired me to always want to push the envelope and try something new, to not be afraid of experimenting and taking risks with my music.
After Ours single “Yenza” featuring South African singer Nomvula SA is out now on Pigeon House Records
grab it here
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