7.000 artists and counting

I'm watching four board members of INDEX through my screen in Amsterdam. They're in Subterra, a windowless studio two floors beneath The Hague's Central Station. It used to be a nuclear bunker. Around a table, coffee cups between them, no hierarchy – just four people in a concrete room talking about their passion.

The origin story is beautifully mundane: they love electronic music, The Hague wasn't providing enough of the niche, experimental stuff, so they started INDEX. No manifesto, no grand narrative about revolutionizing the scene. Just: "There wasn't enough happening on that front in Den Haag," one of them says. "We love the niches of the many genres that are just a bit less commercial, more experimental and unique."

These aren't casual music fans organizing occasional events. You can tell within minutes. These are archivists with day jobs, trying to build something that might outlast their own enthusiasm. The proof comes when Jurn, one of the members, mentions almost casually: he follows over 7,000 artists on Bandcamp. Seven thousand. Plus. He listens to everything they release, then shares the best discoveries on Instagram – grateful work that's become one of the reasons INDEX has built such a following. 

What becomes clear over sixty minutes is how they've divided their work. Not based on collective ideals but on who's actually good at what. Jurn is the collector, the one who keeps track of everything happening in the scene. He's always wanted to build something around that instinct to document and organize. Edward makes electronic music himself, which naturally led him to think beyond his own productions: what happens when you try to build community, or maybe even a label? Robert believes making music shouldn't happen alone in attics or bedrooms, INDEX is his attempt to get the "electronic nerds" out of their bubbles and into the same room. Robert laughs when he says "electronic nerds", both self-aware and proud. "We're all guilty of it, sitting alone with our tracks." Daniël noticed his favourite niche in electronic music rarely got programmed anywhere, so he started programming it himself. He also does their graphic design, the visual identity is distinctly his, what he calls a "carte blanche" approach.

They all have jobs. They do INDEX in the margins, researching new DJs, organizing events, creating infrastructure for music they want heard.

"We want to build a community," Edward says at some point. Building a community in 2025 means working through Instagram algorithms and event posts, but it also means something simpler: people bringing people, growing trust slowly around their taste. Someone comes to one event, brings a friend to the next. The network grows through actual attendance, not just follows.

At the same time they're building a website, an actual INDEX. A database for the undatabaseable. Part of the philosophy: transparency. "DJs should share their track lists," Jurn insists. The INDEX will make hiding sources impossible.

After six years of this work, they're definitely seeing growth. Collaborations with platforms help, organizations that understand what they're trying to do, that provide infrastructure for live sets, that reach beyond Den Haag's immediate scene.

The importance of live performance. For their October 31st takeover at Future Intel, they're bringing five live acts along. Artists bringing their own gear into Future Intel's studio, creating on the spot.

"That's where the creativity comes forward," Jurn says. "An appreciation for their work." They're particularly drawn to the edges of IDM, UK bass, deep hypnotic techno, ambient techno – the genres that slip between classifications. UK bass especially, where dubstep and drum & bass meet in experimental ways, distinct from the US bass music scene. "Too complicated for the techno clubs, and maybe not chill enough for the ambient rooms," Daniël explains. Their events become the third space these sounds need.

At the events they work heavily with visuals, as I see it, visuals are their integrated vocabulary. Daniël's design background shapes INDEX's entire visual identity. During events at the Grey Space in the Middle (their regular venue, known for its multidisciplinary programming), visual artists and makers work alongside musicians. For the Future Intel stream, they're coordinating video work that plays against live camera feeds.

There's something disarming about their approach. When I ask about competition with other collectives, they look confused. "We just want more people to hear this music," Jurn says. They share a quick look – the kind that comes from six years of building something together in the margins of their real lives. No ego, just obsession channelled into organization.

We end the call after ninety minutes. They disappear from my screen, back into their concrete room two floors down, back to their day jobs and evening research sessions finding new artists. The work of building something that might matter to 200 people or maybe eventually 10.000, done carefully, from underground.

INDEX takes over Future Intel on October 31st. Their own event follows November 1st at the Grey Space in the Middle, Den Haag, doubling as a release party for Edward's new music.