Create a Spotify, Youtube, or Soundcloud playlist or podcast, and share it with your fans. Update it on a regular basis, promote it, and of course drop your hot new tracks on it!

You can make a general “trending right now” playlist, or use a specific theme for it; a summer songs playlist, your favorites of a specific year or genre, songs that inspire you, tracks that make your feet move, songs that make your bass go bump-bump, Monday blues tunes, Friday fever beats, “sitting on my couch, petting my cat, updating my Beatport tracklist”… you get the point.

Ask questions

Questions are good for engagement. Ask your fans what their favorite song is, in which city you should perform, or create a poll. Besides a great opportunity for engagement, it could also give you good insights in who your fans are.

We’ve noticed that the change of a profile picture can get much higher engagement rates than a regular photo post. Some of the artist we work with easily get twice as many likes and comments than they normally do.

We’re not saying to change it on a weekly basis, keep it fresh and keep it a bit exclusive, and just change it every once in a while.

The best profile pictures are medium-close shots of the artist, with a bit of upper-body and good recognizable face.

Although the engagement rates for a header photo usually perform less successfully, it doesn’t hurt to change it every few weeks. Try to upload the header photo in the right size (currently: 851x315 pixels), that way it will appear sharper.

Tell stories, get personal

Fans always like to know more about you, the uncut & behind the scenes version. Tell them what inspires you, why you started your career, what inspired you to write a specific song, what you are working on currently, which artists you like yourself or what you dream of. And an occasional foodie post, cat admiration note, or up-date on an opinion you may have about current news could work :)

Throwback Thursdays #tbt

Throwback Thursdays or Flashback Fridays are a great way to look back, and a perfect excuse to reuse your old content. You can easily schedule these ahead of time on Facebook or with apps like Tweetdeck, Hootsuite, or Later Bro on Twitter and other platforms.

Share the highlights of your career or just some of your old youth photos. Don’t be shy… we all had our awkward stages. Photos that call for emotions like “Love”, “Haha”, “Wow”, will rank you higher on your fans’ Facebook timelines.

“On This Day”, by Facebook is a great place to look for material on Tbt’s or Fbf’s.

Introduce the people around you

The members of your crew, fellow musicians, your management, your girl- or boyfriend (although you may inflict some jelly fans), or even your mom… Fans love to see which people are important to you. So don’t hesitate to put the spotlight on the people around you every once in a while.

Oh, and while you’re on it; don’t forget your fans, throw them some love from time to time!

Quotes and lyrics

Nice inspirational quotes, or snippet of lyrics are good go-to’s. It doesn’t matter if they are from yourself, or from someone else– sharing is caring.

Create a lyric video…

Video’s can be very expensive and time consuming to make. But lyric video’s can often be a good, easy and affordable alternative if you want to post one of your songs on YouTube or Facebook. Just search for Lyric Video Maker and you’ll find and many different solutions to create your own video.

Make it personal

We live in a hectic world, it’s ok to have an opinion– it makes you human. Don’t be afraid to show where you stand on issues that are happening around you. Those who have a loud voice are more likely to be followed by a greater amount of people. And who know’s… maybe you’ll make a difference ;)

In case you’ve missed it…

Sharing viral-worthy content is the easiest option to fall back on. Choose one of your own best posts & repost it. Or repost a funny clip, hot song, hilarious gif or photo from someone else. Fans will get a good idea of your humor and may be able to see this “viral worthy” post for the first time (or perhaps the millionth… but it never gets old).

Happy posting everyone! If you want… you can always post this article as well ;) as a matter of fact, we’re going to go ahead and do that ourselves! #sharingiscaring

Find out more about creating your own website within minutes and for free with Revolve here

Originally published at blog.revolve-music.com on April 12, 2017.

But the question is, “Is your track ready to hit the dance floors?”

Great releases are comprised of a healthy balance between creativity, skill, and industry rules. Here are 7 questions to run through before you release:

1) Was it professionally recorded and mastered?

These days we are bombarded with free apps, easily accessible technology, and semi-professional software and gear. All great advancements for the world of music recording, but not by any means, a replacement to a final professional edit and master of a professional music producer or sound engineer.

It’s clear that the funds may not always be there to easily fork out, so do your research and find suitable and affordable means to master. Find other music lovers out there that love to record and have the gear to do so.

2) Does your track sound great on stereo speakers, or bump the bass in the car (in a good way)?

What does this mean? Test your release on many quality sources for a real poll and feel of the power of your sound– it’s also a great way to test your master version. Listening to your track on multiple sources is important and this includes not so state-of-the-arch sources as well like earbuds and cheap headphones. If your track is still sounding good on all devices then you are probably good to go! A good idea is to also ask your trusted fan friends what they are thinking, because you are a bit biased to your own releases right? Which leads me into…

3) Did your track reach the ears of several trusted friends/family/acquaintances?

Opinions of others is not a make-or-break it moment for you, but it is valuable for feedback and insight that you didn’t hear yourself. They could give you points that real fans will think or hear when they hear the track for the first time. In the end your track is created for real human beings like the people you surround yourself with, right?

Guide your pre-listeners with some questions before they give it a listen. Questions like:

• Does the track sound complete?
• Did anything in particular standout in a negative way? Like vocals being to overpowering, drum kicks placed wrong, a distracting effect.
• What was their first impression of the point of the track?
• Would they buy and share it?

Being open-minded to any and all feedback is important in the process of creating and perfecting a track.

4) Does your track leave an impression or lasting identifier?

On average we listen to around 4 hours of music everyday, some even more! That’s a lot of music. For your track to really stand out, it’s important for it to have a defining moment. A moment that will stick in the head of the listener, but most of all be recognizable from the rest. Does your track have that defining sound or moment?

5) Could you have made the song any better?

After listening to your track a thousand times (you may already be quite tired of it), you probably have well identified what can go better. Maybe it’s difficult to make that improvement, or maybe it’s time consuming, but it’s important for you to feel proud of the track. Having confidence in your track means your have brought it to the perfect level where you don’t hear any more areas for improvement.

6) Is your press release ready?

Press releases are the written information about your release that is, what you deem, necessary for listeners to know. Inspiration, release dates, price, influencers, future news… write up a professional press release that will be easy for, duh, press outlets to repost and share. Album artwork is also a major plus!

7) Do you have a marketing plan ready?

When all of the above is ready and checked off, the final piece to the puzzle is finalizing your marketing strategy. Create a detailed strategy and calendar of how you plan to promote and market your new release. Think of strategic times and dates to share your release on your socials, choose which posts to boost with a little bit of budget (well worth it.. even 5€ will go a long way to be seen by new and fresh eyes and ears), which music blogs you will approach, update your website and use all relevant widgets to promote your track… really pin-point who your target audience is and find where they are at and how to reach them. Marketing is creativity, there are no rules or guidelines. Execute what makes most sense to you and your sound and try everything!

My advice to you is to really write out all of your ideas and move them around in, what will create, a strategy. And voilà… there’s your marketing strategy, now get to deploying!

Good luck!

This can sound all quite time intensive, but that’s kind of the point right? Taking time to really spend a good amount on time to perfect your release which in the end can really turn out for the best for you. Is your track reaching the point you wanted it to be at when you first imagined it pre-production? Take the proper time to really appreciate the evolution of a track, don’t just rush it. Rushed releases often sound flat, emotion and lifeless. Is your track pulsing? Is your strategy vibrating?

Originally published at blog.revolve-music.com on April 6, 2017.

Why is it smart to have a domain?

Reason 1: More professional

Having an official domain address stands for professionality and represents that you are serious about your brand and your music. It’s a stamp of dedication and is more professional when sharing your domain with others to visit your website.

Reason 2: Rank at the top of Search Engine Results

When you have your own website with its own domain, your chances of being found on a Google or Bing search are very high. A TLD (top-level domain) are domains like .com. These are what rank best in all search engines, and if the domain is special to your Artist Name then it’s very likely that you will soon rank highest to the top of the results. Creating memorable domains will help that promoters, fans, media, and others to easily navigate to your site.

Having a domain that is rich in keywords, applicable to your brand, will also help attract future fans and drive them to your site which bumps up your traffic drastically– all of which play a huge role in SEO high ranking results. Results are found a bit like this:

Reason 3: Claim your domain

There are millions of people on the internet, claim your domain before someone else. Claiming a domain is important for your artist name and for your branding strategies. As more artists, concepts, companies, ideas, and things become emerged in the scene, the likelihood becomes higher and higher that your desired domain has been taken already, claim it before someone else!

Has your domain already been taken? Don’t worry! There are many ways to still claim a domain that is similar to what you want. Try playing around with the domain you want.

For example: If your artist name is Revolve and Revolve.com is already taken you can try domains like tiestomusic.com, musicbytiesto.com, djtiesto.com, tiestodj.com. Also you can play around with .com, .net, .uk, etc.

Originally published at blog.revolve-music.com on March 20, 2017.

Facebook’s video platform functionality is changing, and one of those changes is a new setting that videos will now play with sound by default on your timeline.

What does this change mean to you as an artist?

This change means that, if your fan’s phone is not set to silent {and you haven’t disabled the feature in Facebook’s mobile settings panel}, every video in their News Feed will have audio fading in as they scroll past it– meaning they will hear videos your post immediately.

This new change in structure is helpful, in particular, to pages like fan pages for artists and labels.

Ideas to utilize auto-volume on videos posted on Facebook:

• Post your music frequently
• Try to go ‘live’ as much as possible
• Recycle old video posts that were successful in the past
• Encourage engagement from listeners by asking them to give an opinion, comment, or best of all… to share it to their friends

I assume Facebook hopes that by turning on sound automatically, it can keep more users engaged for longer with video content on its platform; longer engagement means higher chance of your content finding it’s way to your fan’s ears. Facebook has been transforming its social network into a destination for video, both recorded and live streamed. Video is now a core focus of the company, dominating how it invests resources into new features and controlling every facet of the main app’s design, from the camera to the share option. By autoplaying videos by default, and now by turning the sound on, Facebook is trying to further reframe the context of how users use its app, take advantage of it!

What does this change mean to you as an artist?

This change means that, if your fan’s phone is not set to silent {and you haven’t disabled the feature in Facebook’s mobile settings panel}, every video in their News Feed will have audio fading in as they scroll past it– meaning they will hear videos your post immediately.

This new change in structure is helpful, in particular, to pages like fan pages for artists and labels.

Ideas to utilize auto-volume on videos posted on Facebook:

• Post your music frequently
• Try to go ‘live’ as much as possible
• Recycle old video posts that were successful in the past
• Encourage engagement from listeners by asking them to give an opinion, comment, or best of all… to share it to their friends

I assume Facebook hopes that by turning on sound automatically, it can keep more users engaged for longer with video content on its platform; longer engagement means higher chance of your content finding it’s way to your fan’s ears. Facebook has been transforming its social network into a destination for video, both recorded and live streamed. Video is now a core focus of the company, dominating how it invests resources into new features and controlling every facet of the main app’s design, from the camera to the share option. By autoplaying videos by default, and now by turning the sound on, Facebook is trying to further reframe the context of how users use its app, take advantage of it!

Beginning of campaign start with the first week of showing the craftsmanship of a perfect, healthy, honest burger. It’s #NutritiousNovember at SNCKBR. Second week with an actie for those to post a picture of them on IG eating their custom-made burger for a chance at ‘Beer & Burgers’ night at SNKBR for 6.

• – Men are just as visual as women. Simplicity and space speaks just as loud as a high quality shot of a damn good piece of food… bring in the burger:
• – A break down of the perfect burger leading up to the weekend

– Monday (12pm): Change omslagfoto to ‘The Science of a PRFCT BRGR’

Example:

(Show actual burger) Along the lines of the picture above, but will hire a professional graphic designer to suit the vibe of SNCKBR and its fresh, top quality ingredients- in addition to formatting it in a size that fits comfortably in an ‘omslagfoto’. Each burger component will be ‘side-barred’ to give a story of the thoughtfulness of each ingredient in burger- from the quality of meat all the way down to the choice of lettuce.

– Tuesday (2pm): Beginning of story-telling over each ingredient beginning with the outside and moving in. Header: “The importance of BNS don’t only apply to the body”, add picture of buns used- picture will depict the bread so well that you can almost hear a *CRUUUNCH, as the eye looks at it. Sultry shot of secret sauce- a bun’s best friend. (HIGH HIGH HIGH QUALITY, with use of space and vibrant colors.). Caption: a story of how it’s chosen by restaurant.
Example:

– Wednesday (5pm): Header: “Toppings, toppings, toppings a BRGR” (Mary Poppins ‘Feed the Birds’ reference). Picture: refreshing lettuce, sweating wet tomatoes, purple red onions that would make even Barney blush, guilty-free vegetables to save the day. Caption.

Example:

– Thursday (12pm): Header: “Cheeeeeese. What makes the world go ‘round”. Picture: Cheese is sexy, it’s even sexier when hot and melty. Caption.
Example:

– Friday (12pm): Header: “T.G.I.Fresh”. Picture: The star of the show. Grilled to perfection, juicy af, and almost bigger than the buns who host it. Caption.
Example:

– Saturday (1pm): Watch it all come together. Looks so damn good that guy’s night out just got confirmed, and it starts at SNCKBR. Header: “And now to present, SNCKBR’s #$@&%*! PRFCT BRGR”

*At the end of video show an ice cold beer being pulled, set down next to the burger, speed view of big-ass bite to show the layers of the burger and cook of meat.

Hook, Line, and Sink

Most enter into higher education immediately after high school graduation. At the ripe age of 18 we are meant to know where our future is heading, and in which direction we want to go- the 5 year plan is looking bright and secure. This unrealized daunting reality is often dampened by the overall excitement of entering college, getting out of the parental unit’s house, and of course… freedom. But that reality is quickly resurfaced when the completion of the program is over and we are faced with the decision to either continue our education or enter into the work force. Whichever decision you eventually make there are a few factors that present you with a barrier for both. In theory, a Bachelor’s program is meant to create a foundation (or rod) that gives structure and backbone for whichever decision to you decide to pursue next.

If your decision happens to be to throw out the line in the job market and see what bites you can muster up, the building stage begins. Which hook do you use to catch the attention of who you want? We begin to have a gander at jobs that pertain to what we just devoted 4 years to. Or we can choose to go out on a limb and go for something outside our chosen study and what we actually discovered we want to do. We are quickly faced with job requirements that ask for a few years experience, a Bachelor’s in a related field, some core competencies, and finally we are to turn in a motivation letter and our CV.

How can new graduates possibly have 3–5 years of job experience? How can new graduates, whom entered into a program at 18 thinking they wanted one thing when they’ve now discovered they want another, possibly be considered? We’ve thrown the line out and now are waiting for something to come along and bite. But how do we make that bite turn into a hook? The answer: first our CV and SECOND our motivation letter.

Most employers, indeed, ask for a motivation letter to introduce your CV; but the reality is that the CV is what is first looked at. If it’s interesting then the motivation is glanced at next. CV’s are extremely important. They must give a visual picture through black and white words. You should paint a picture of you as a professional individual. This can be done through the usage of space, wording, organization, and creativity- try to stand out from the hundreds of other black and white CVs they are receiving, don’t be afraid to be bold. After all a big fish can’t be caught with a small hook.

Lastly, create a motivation letter that surpasses the bland and boring typical letters employers receive. Employers want to see honesty and creativity. Step out of the normal motivation letter confines and be bold by identifying a problem you know the company faces (which is why they are looking to hire but probably don’t state in the job description). Second, tell them how you can fill that gap. Try to pick up on the employer’s requirements and phrases and mirror that in describing how you will contribute to the team. Last but not least, close your letter with confidence. Write without doubt, be secure, be strong.

Hook, line, and sink. Good fishin’ everyone!

Nederlands Versie:

Meeste mensen beginnen direct na de middelbare school met een opleiding. Op de, volgens de maatschappij, rijpe leeftijd van 18 is het de bedoeling dat we meteen weten wat we uit het leven willen halen en welke richting we professioneel op willen; een secuur samengesteld 5-jaren plan dat er rooskleurig en solide uitziet. Deze realisatie word vaak overschaduwd door het overwelvende enthousiasme van nieuwe dingen, mensen en het vooruitzicht van ervaringen .. maar voornamelijk de vrijheid en uit het ouderlijk huis zijn. De grote domper komt vaak in de vorm van terugkerende realiteit als het programma voorbij is en de keuze gemaakt moet worden tussen doorstuderen en een werkend lid van de maatschappij worden. Welke keuze er uiteindelijk ook gemaakt word, we worden allemaal geconfronteerd met een aantal factoren die meespelen in het maken van deze keuze. In theorie is een bachelor programma ontworpen om een stabiele fundering te creëren waardoor een gegronde keuze gemaakt kan worden wat de beste beslissing is voor ieder individueel.

Als de keuze valt op het lijntje uitgooien in de banenmarkt en je kijkt wat er bijt, is het bouwen van een carrière vanuit je fundering begonnen. We beginnen met het kijken naar banen die gerelateerd zijn aan de opleiding waar je net 4 jaar aan gewijd hebt, of je gaat voor compleet iets anders, buiten je comfortzone waar je onverwachts een passie voor hebt gevonden. Al snel worden we geconfronteerd met vereiste competenties en benodigde jaren werkervaring, een baan gerelateerd aan je bachelor, wat kern capaciteiten en dan uiteindelijk sturen we een motivatiebrief en ons CV.

Hoe, in hemelsnaam, kunnen net afgestudeerden 3 tot 5 jaar werkervaring hebben? Hoe kan deze groep mensen, die een vrijwel gedwongen keuze heeft moeten maken op 18 jarige leeftijd en die daar op latere leeftijd wellicht op terug komt, in aanmerking komen voor de baan waar voor ze solliciteren? We hebben een lijntje uitgegooid en wachten nu tot er iemand langs komt die bijt. Maar hoe veranderen we beet hebben in vangst? Het antwoord is eerst CV en als tweede een motivatiebrief.

Het is zeker waar dat meeste werkgevers vragen om een motivatiebrief om het CV in te leiden mar in realiteit is het CV waar het eerste naar gekeken word; als dit interessant genoeg is wordt daarna eens naar de motivatiebrief gekeken. Alle aspecten van je CV zijn belangrijk; opmaak, chronologie, lettertype en manier van informatie weergeven; niet iets om te onderschatten dus, het moet een visueel verhaal kunnen worden tussen het zwart op het papier. Als starter moet je een plaatje kunnen schetsen van wie jij als individu bent en voorstelt, belangrijker nog, wil voorstellen. Wees niet bang om creatief te zijn, dit word juist gewaardeerd omdat je een stuk van jezelf laat zien wat je niet in woorden uit kan leggen, want vergeet niet dat een plaatje schetsen meer kan zeggen dan 1000 woorden. Wat ook belangrijk is dat je een open gedachte hebt, als jij moeite en creativiteit in je CV hebt gestoken en een werkgever ziet er niks in, dan is dat bedrijf en die werkgeven geen goede match met jou, neem hier dan ook lering uit voor de volgende sollicitatie.

Om af te sluiten, stel een motivatiebrief op die de sleur doorbreekt van de reguliere brieven die werknemers ontvangen. Werkgevers willen eerlijkheid en creativiteit zien, ik kan het niet vaak genoeg benadrukken. Stap uit je eigen comfortzone, wie weet kom je iets tegen waarvan je nooit had gedacht goed in te zijn of leuk te vinden. Durf eens een probleem aan te kaarten wat je hebt gezien in het bedrijf en onderstreep hoe jij bij zou kunnen dragen om dit op te lossen. Zorg dat je vereisten van je potentiele baan in goed verhaal verwikkeld heb met je eigen visie op dingen, hiermee laat je zien dat je zelfstandig kan werken en conform de vereisten. Er bestaat geen falen, allen overwinningen en lessen, zie dit ook zo en verlies nooit motivatie, dit getuigd van kracht en doorzettingsvermogen; kwaliteiten waar iedereen naar op zoek is!

Rod, Line, and Hook. Good fishin’ everyone!

A MARKTSTROLL WITH TORUS CREATORS- RIDWAN AND GUUST

Torus– noun

Geometry- a surface or solid formed by rotating a closed curve, especially a circle, about a line which lies in the same plane but does not intersect it.

Architecture- a large convex moulding, typically semicircular in cross section, especially as the lowest part of the base of a column.

Laurent Garnier, Marcel Detteman, David August, and Midnight Sun are four nights we had the pleasure of inviting the two creators of the 3D Torus simulation, to join and bring our club nights to the next level- visually. Ridwan Nasruddin and Guust van Uden brought their spin of a vision of recreating a VJ norm in clubs across The Netherlands. Through their journey of utilizing their five senses with a large emphasis on initiation through touch, they’ve created the Torus which they are proud papas of. We sat down with them to discover more of the initial curiosity that sparked the birthplace of this project and learned more about where they plan to bring it in the near future. We are certain that this is not the last we see of them, surely they helped move a special visual journey with the space we have to offer in correlation with the music the Djs brought on these special evenings.

Photo Credits: Patrick Mordi

What prompted your initial interest in the starting point of Torus?

G: Our first reason why we did this project is because we want to do, and we want to make. So we really concentrated on a focus of making a lot of stuff. Then correspond with the concept.
R: We do a lot of research on the internet, we were searching for. He (Guust) wanted to do experiments with light.
G: Light, and how lights fill in shadow. It’s a project where we said to ourselves, “Why should we do research in a theoretical manner?”. We wanted to get out of the computer and make something with our hands. That was the start. We knew our goal, which was to preform at a venue where we like the music and we chose from there which venues we would target by email correspondence. And then we looked into what forums we’d like to work with and he (Ridwan) started with origami and slice forums.
R: And kinds of paper craft. We started to make things with paper to create a more 3D example to get out of the normal flatscreen visuals at clubs. We wanted to make something with structure to add value to the experience. We got inspired initially by the animations of Oskar Fischinger and Walter Ruttman which sparked the visuals we make. The structure of the Torus was inspired by the works of Reuben Margolis and Yoshinbu Miyamoto.

So this wasn’t a school project, and instead was one born from curiosity?

R: No, it is.
G: This is a project for our last year in school, we have a research project that we must complete. We wanted to make installations to complete this project in a different way. This is research by doing and experiencing and seeing how relationships with the outcome relates with businesses. It was the experience we wanted to research. We learned a lot in this last half year, which was our goal.
R: What you see in the Torus is a kind of stage we are in our research. And now we are on to our next step.

Photo Credits: Patrick Mordi

We love our location because we are smushed in between the industrial terrain of Food Center Amsterdam, neighborhoods, and schools- we’re constantly inspired by our changing environment. How does environment drive you guys forward?

G: A lot. It’s our biggest inspiration right now actually. Nature, but also people around us and the interactions we experience.
R: That’s actually the point where we are now. The Torus is based on a mathematical formula called ‘The Golden Ratio’. It exists everywhere we look at the moment.
G: In this research, we’ve encountered this topic to be a huge and a never ending learning trip. We experienced that the internet is a big world where you can experience and get information from other people. We are closer to one another then ever before. We use the internet as a vital tool and we borrow ideas from many sources to conclude in our own. We value those who put something on the internet as a tool to share with the world, this has become our philosophy as well- to share all of our ideas with the world. We made this Torus, which was inspired from the Japanese origami artist we mentioned earlier- Yoshinbu Miyamoto, and he shared this with the world without knowing that he has inspired now two random guys in The Netherlands to create a project to the extent that we have today. He gave us the blueprints to make our own project. And now we feel it’s our responsibility to share our blueprints with the world. With the internet you get something and you give something. It’s a big experience for us and this will drive our next project exponentially.
R: All of this is called ‘Open Source’. The internet is based on this. The coding is open source, outlets like ‘Wikipedia’ is open source… I think we can also do this in the real world. Like what we do with this project will be a way to share and communicate with others to ensure a continuance of open source sharing. Because you are only the person you are, with little difference from the other. We are an image of our past and what created the situation we are living in at this very moment.
G: The philosophy we are sharing with you now was born from the experience we’ve had along the way in this research. We were making, we found some things on the internet, and really ran into some beautiful pieces of knowledge. Ridwan was already writing a paper on open sourcing, so he already was more into this than me- but then I experienced it through this project.

It’s a good relationship then between you two, to experience knowledge which formulated from both of your previous experiences. Do you remember the exact moment that you guys thought together that you want to sell this project to clubs around The Netherlands?

R: Well, we actually like to party… a lot. Mostly our experience at parties is good with the people and the music, but we noticed a huge lack of visuals. And that lack can really take away from the wholistic experience of the party.
G: Music plays a huge role in my life. I have it on constantly.. probably 14 hours a day. I’m not musical, I’m not playing any instruments, but I experience music in a visual sense. When I listen to music I see visuals in my head. So this whole project tended to be a natural outcome. When you work so much with music, it just comes to happen.
R: We were actually more into animation. Guust into anime and me into filming. We were both like… damn this flatscreen, why do we have to just stare into a bright light. So that’s how this was all born. We wanted to use our hands, create something tangible.

Photo Credits: Patrick Mordi

You guys mentioned on your blog that your inspiration originally came from a trip to Art Rotterdam?

G: That’s for our next project actually. Stay tuned

Our blog has become a mix between our current project (Torus) and our project to come.
R: Torus was initiated by visual inspiration. But now our inspiration has evolved into geometrical forums.

Ah, so Torus 2.0 is underway? I know Torus is not fully a business yet, but did you check out what others are doing and see how you can angle your project to show how attractive your visual composition is during a pitch to venues like De Marktkantine?

G: I think we are more interesting because we don’t have any LED screens. That’s a plus for us, because we can make a design that is more special and unique as you mentioned. We take a cool background of origami and slice forms and translate it into how it would fit in a club. I think we think different. We think outside of the big LED screens, pillars, stages- and we think with paper, start really small, and then see where and how we can make this big. And this is done with really different designs, so I think that’s only good and really sets us apart from the rest.
R: The 3D part. There are parties, and there are festivals. In a festival world you can see huge stages and productions that really contribute to an amazing experience. For example, Tomorrowland or Boom Festival- they have really cool stages, but can this experience be scaled down to a club? We don’t see that at the moment. We see parties with hundreds of people and one beamer, one screen… and that’s the extent of visuals. I think this is the part where we can enjoy the freedom of creation and hopefully from there inspire others to really transform the club scene.
G: Contained space is harder to work with, surprisingly. I went to Fusion Festival last year, The Netherlands comes very far behind this festival when it comes to stage production, people, and actually everything. Even the Dixies are beautiful.

Yeah, I’ve heard that several times before that Fusion Festival is the pioneer in wholistic productions and capital decisions like going meatless, which was also nice to see DGTL doing for the first time in The Netherlands this year.

R: We are also ‘less meat-eaters’.

Less?

G: Well I’m vegetarian
R: I’m trying to get there…

Well meat consumption doesn’t necessarily play a role in VJ’ing

I can imagine engineering is a dominate trait in the creation of something like Torus. What’s your background, have you guys always been engineer-like? How do you go from idea to product?

G: That’s our biggest issue actually.
R: We do a lot of research before-hand and just go for it… just make something. We see what works, and what doesn’t.

How do you know where to even begin though?

G: We just make it, we don’t know exactly what we will do to begin… we just do and take it from there. We have a lot of junk in our room, our classrooms, we can find it. We’ve tried a lot of things in the past that didn’t work. Trial and error is what it’s all about in the end.
R: Before we created the Torus, we made mini-versions of it ‘scale-models’. We utilized laser-cutting a lot. We designed it first on the computer, then laser-cut it… and from this we had several versions before we were able to find the right fit. It all comes down to just centimeters in the end.
G: Because we don’t have an engineer background, math and exact calculations don’t play a role in our creations- we just have to try over and over again until it works.

Maybe in the future it could be interesting, and more efficient, to partner with someone who is strong in those areas?

R: We already have the idea to bring more people in. For example, we wanted to have light in the Torus. We ordered 3 or 4 times lights from China. We kept finding lights on the internet thinking they’d be good lights for the Torus, but each time didn’t fit. After awhile we decided we needed to find someone to program the lights and create a system for that.

Tell us something about the whole design, how it fits in different spaces, how flexible it is in tailoring to an organization’s preferences, what effect you try to achieve with certain sets or interactions with other affects (smoke, darkness, lasers).

R: We have ideas for this. We are making the Torus on a small size. But the Torus as is, is very flexible and can adapt to many sizes of spaces. And then there’s the matter of working with only LED lights rather than projection- there are many variables that can be changed to meet demands of certain spaces. We chose this design because of it’s modular form. You would be amazed at how small it is before it’s unpacked.
G: The scale models can also be fitted with LED and can be hung in interesting ways to achieve our desired affect.

You guys mentioned you are working on another project, what happens to Torus then?

R: We’d like to turn it into an art installation. We’ll see if someone is interested in that, as you can tell we more go with the flow… making is always the first step.
G: We want it also to be an installation on it’s own, perhaps with pre-programmed music and visuals. Because we know a lot of people from our study that can make music for a project like this. This would work perfect at festivals on a live stage or even just as a part of the environment. Then we expand Torus outside of venues or stages.

Great minds think alike… and sometimes they don’t. What were some of the hurdles you guys had to overcome in working as partners and as a team together?

G: Well I’m a very difficult person, that’s the first thing. We work together now for more than half a year, we sit every day with each other from 10–17. So it can be tough, especially because I’m not that easy. But in the end it works and we are a good team.
R: We think a lot, but sometimes the direction in which we go can be a bit different. I’m coming from a film background and he’s coming from an animation background. It’s like a different vision on the same thing, or moving image.
G: Like he said, we think alike but also different. And on those differences we have a discussion which in the end helps us grow. But the discussions generally are on about over the small things.

You guys are friends as well?

G: We weren’t before we worked together on this project. We had a project before together and that’s when we discovered we work well together and think alike.
R: Then we went on a short trip together to Morocco.

A little date trip?

R: Exactly

Photo Credits: Patrick Mordi

The beginning of a beautiful relationship… Thank you for joining us and helping take some of our events to the next level.

For more information you can read more about the Torus here

PATRICE BÄUMEL BRINGS MIDNIGHT SUN TO DE MARKTKANTINE

Patrice Bäumel is no new-comer to Amsterdam or it’s electronic music scene. Originally from Dresden Germany, Patrice has been living here since the late 90’s and we are happy to now host him as a resident along with his brand-new concept ‘Midnight Sun’, here at De Marktkantine. With his first edition being a large success, we can only imagine this Friday to be the same story. It’s always a pleasure to peak inside the head of someone as passionate as Patrice Bäumel.

Patrice Bäumel has been a buzzword here in Amsterdam for quite a bit now… you’re trending! Largely due to a renewed wave in House that is starting to break through again out of Amsterdam’s prolonged age of tech-house. What do you think is prompting this large uprise?

I don’t feel like I have ever been a hyped artist in my career, it’s more the result of years of consistent output and staying true to myself, not running with the herd and following trends. Being associated with recognised industry names like Trouw, Kompakt or now Balance definitely helps, but it’s always been about music, not marketing.

What inspired you to name and come up with your new concept ‘Midnight Sun’?

I was sitting next to an older Norwegian man on a plane to London and we got talking about nature. He was telling me about the phenomenon of the midnight sun — the sun that shines day and night and never sets during the summer months in the northern part of Scandinavia. According to him it has an almost psychedelic effect on people. Right then I knew I had my name for the night.

De Marktkantine has some funky souls walking around constantly, why is this venue such a good home for you, in your opinion?

I really love the feng shui of the main room. It’s just the right size, sound and layout for a big night. The staff working there is absolutely wonderful, they are some of the most welcoming people I have ever worked with and take such good care of me. I also love how unpretentious and fun loving the crowd is.

After the great success and pumping sets from yourself, Roman Flügel, and Mind Against from the first edition, who do you find yourself looking forward to inviting in the future editions to come?

Obviously I am hugely excited to have my personal heroes Hot Chip on board. They are responsible for some of my best festival moments of my life. Their sunset set at Melt festival many years ago will stay with me forever, pure happiness. Having Mattheis doing a liveshow is the cherry on the cake — I have considered him to be the biggest talent of the Dutch electronic music scene for years and now he is really starting to make waves internationally. After that? Who knows what the future brings. Booking major international artists has become a more difficult process than ever, every promoter out there seems to be chasing the same few names in the hope of finding the right balance between selling many tickets and offering quality music. I have a wishlist of a few artists I really believe in, let’s see how this pans out in the next months.

Can you tell us something about your creative production process? Do you have any rituals/habits that you do each time before you start producing or editing a new track/remix?

Not really. Before I hit the studio I always need a good night’s sleep for the creative juices to flow. I allow myself the freedom to just not do any work on days that I don’t feel 100% and instead go for a long walk with the dog or do something else that nourishes and recharges me. Once I start a track I first look for a really dominant and easily recognisable element, something that makes the track pop and stand out. That’s the most important ingredient for a hit record, otherwise people will have a hard time remembering the track. Then the track needs to tell a story, there has to be suspense, explosion and release in it. Other than that, I never force it but try to let the music write itself and go with the flow, making good use of every little accident that sounds interesting.

Any news, professional or personal, that you’d like to share or get off of your chest?

I have had a really busy period of making and releasing music, maybe the busiest of my life. Right now it’s just a lot of touring and continuing to look for gold in the studio. Honest work the way I love it. I am off to Mexico for a few gigs and will be back in time for Midnight Sun. On the release front there is a remix on the way that I have made of Steve Reich’s “Drumming”. It’s an all-drums peaktime banger that is really fun to play out.

Detroit, Chicago, Berlin, Manchester, Naples…. which genre is Amsterdam going to be known for in the future?

Just like London, Amsterdam is too multicultural to be tied down to just one sound. I think it’s really in the tradition of a harbour and trading city to be open to a lot of influences. I don’t really see one single dominating influence like Berghain in Berlin that has the power to turn a whole scene into a monoculture and that’s a good thing.

What song gets frequently stuck in your head?

The shitty, super infectious mainstream radio songs they always play at the supermarket. Especially the ones everybody loves to hate — Spin Doctors, Shania Twain. Sticks with me for days! Music is powerful stuff.

If you weren’t a DJ/producer, what type of profession do you think you would be doing?

I think I would be an architect. I love making things and I see myself doing something in that direction in the future, next to producing and djing. I could also happily pursue a career as some kind of visual artist.

For more information click here.

Eclectic selector: The two words that come to mind when I hear the name ‘Viktor Palmer’. But don’t let his underground, dark, tasteful bass beats fool you- Mark van Hooijdonk is one of the sweetest, most polite, kind-hearted people I know. We got the chance to catch up with him; and get to know a bit better the man behind the smile, and the man behind some damn good obscure, unique, dance-urging selections. If we can recommend one thing at this very moment, it would be to dually note the name ‘Viktor Palmer’, we expect a bright future ahead of him and are happy to host him for the first, and certainly not the last, time!

Photo credits: Patrick Mordi

When and where did your love and passion for mixing happen? What started it all?

An old roommate of mine had a pair of turntables, and I always saw him playing on them and I went to parties so was already interested in music. So I thought fuck it, I started to buy records because I wanted to know what was happening and how he was doing that. I thought I would buy records and see what happens. I started to mix, and that was pretty nice, it was really hard to learn how to mix.

Who taught you?

Bas, my old roommate showed me the basics. How to find the first beat, showing me what the low and mid-high is, what the two faders are… that’s it. It was pretty difficult because it was also on belt drive turntables- which I really had to work it on. I think it took about a year until I got my own turn tables. So really it all began with buying records when I was 19, it was fun to play around with them. But I was not always serious with music like nowadays. Sometimes there would be months without buying any records at all.

Do you remember the first record you bought?

Outside agency №1 or 2. Released under the Genosha Label. It was really heavy and intense industrial Hardcore it was really difficult because the tempos were always changing, ranging between 160 and 200. Some tracks I just really couldn’t beat match, and the tempos were not the only weird parts- the structure was too. When I started playing Techno, I began to more easily mix due to the constant tempo and the tracks didn’t have weird breaks in the beginning.

Maybe that’s a style, actually, finding rhythm in unrhythmic beats?

That’s a good way of putting it. Because you have to search for something to mix and build on- create a sound that didn’t previously exist.

Photo credits: Patrick Mordi

Did you ever imagine you would someday be playing at all the big Amsterdam venues?

No! Two years ago when I started with LET, I was approached to be a resident. With this opportunity I really wanted to do something with it. I never imagine ME doing it as a career. It all began as a passion and love for the music. It didn’t matter if people liked it or not- it was always about me having fun. Which is different now-a-days, especially with technology- but everyone knows that story {ease of Traktor}.

Very true, it’s a tool or instrument that many like to utilise. A lot of people are learning to mix and DJ these days indeed, what do you think has set you apart? I know that you’re special, that you are unique- but in your mind what is that special attribute that really makes you stand out?

Ah… well thank you for the compliment. *blushing*; I just try to play records and music that is in line with my character, with how I feel. I want it {my music} to be an expansion off of that. That is something which is by far the most important factor I can bring to the table. I try hard to connect to how I feel and translate that into frequencies. Secondly, technically… When you have an idea, generally you also have an idea on how to work it out. For example: When you have a piece of art- there were steps for that piece of art to come to be. The whole outcome should be perfect. This can be related to music- how a set is built up and that is done by selection and by technique. This is definitely the second most important aspect. I can feel really bad when a set doesn’t work out technically or selection-wise.

That definitely shows your heart and passion. Which we can hear in your sets alongside a special technique. Mixing and techniques vary a lot which makes each successful artist different from the other. Plus many Djs, in my opinion, play the role of storytelling on the dance floor. In relation to what you refer to as your music being a frequency of yourself. What has been the most journey-full set you’ve been at lately?

Marco Shuttle. He plays a lot of different styles in Techno, but still manages to keep it whole and connected. He can go from really Hard Techno to Electro, and then go back without it seeming weird or disconnected. He gets categorized as a ‘Techno’ DJ, but plays a lot outside of that- which I really like. There’s probably a lot of House DJ’s that do that too but I don’t listen to that stuff too much. But I’m aware that there are a lot of eclectic House DJ’s doing that stuff too. Genres are over-rated, in the end any track can be categorized under any genre because it depends on how you use the track in your set. But it does have to be a logical decision in which to use it. If it fits, then it doesn’t matter if it’s House, Techno, Indian, or whatever…

Photo credits: Patrick Mordi

Which you see in many labels- a nice variety of sound and styles. What label are you digging through a lot these days?

Posh Isolation, it’s not Techno, but more this ambient noise- They are the label which I’ve been listening to the most lately. Not everything is the most interesting, but it’s the emotion in their music that they are getting relaying and what they are trying to say, which is so beautiful. It can also be pretty harsh. For my next ‘Red Light Radio’special in two months, I want to do a composition of Posh Isolation tracks. I want to take the proper time to prepare and make it something special. Techno wise, I buy a lot of different stuff.

Only Vinyl?

Vinyl and digital. I’ve been starting to play more digital as of late, really a lot.

Does that fall more under your ‘Okinawa’ concept?

Yeah exactly. I really have to play more digital tracks because if I want to play everything, stay diverse, on vinyl then I would have to spend a shit ton of money every month- I don’t have that money. I wish I could, but I can’t. But in the end, it’s what you do with sound, the carrier is completely irrelevant. A sound that I find that keeps showing up in my sets is from this Finish label- Sähkö founded by Mika Vainio. Sähkö is Finnish for ‘electricity’. The records are not everything, and sometimes nothing is happening, but it just works out perfect. I always keep playing from them{Sähkö}, it seems to fit perfectly in a set every time. And I love how people react to it…screaming and jumping around… which is crazy because it’s practically nothing, just a bleep with a kick.

Are you releasing under a label?

I’m going to release under ‘LET’ which is for me an emotional thing. Actually they’re the reason why I am here, probably, sitting with you today. If they didn’t ask me to become a resident of theirs I probably wouldn’t be doing anything music related as a career. I would be working as a journalist or sociologist right now, and would continue playing records in my room. I wouldn’t consider taking this on seriously without the involvement of them {LET}. That’s why it’s really something for me to release under their name. But other than that, if I could choose any label I would definitely choose Sähkö.

What’s the track name of one of your productions?

5 2. One is up right now on my Soundcloud called ‘Venkel High Spirits’. My track titles come from complete randomness. ‘Venkel High Spirits’ came to be because I was drinking venkel tea. And ‘5 2’ comes from my roommate who was sitting next to me after I finished the track. I said ‘tell me a story’, and he responded about his squash game, that his team won with the score 5–2. Ok, done… track is called 5 2. I don’t like it when there is too much over thinking or fakeness like ‘Glorious Sun Rise’ or bla bla. If my friend would have said anything else, then the track would be called and based on whatever he said at that moment. It’s the music which counts, not names, artwork or limited edition Japanese USB-sticks dipped in gold with a unreleased track from a Sudanese proto-house artist or something like that.

You seem to live really in the moment, and take your creativity from what creates your environment. Who’s getting your creative juices flowing these days?

Um….

God?

Ha!… yeah let’s put that one in.

On another unrelated note… If you had access to any mode of transportation at this very moment… where would you go?

A rocket to the moon.

Not to Mars?

Yeah Mars would also be awesome.

Yeah why the Moon, a dead rock?

I would definitely go there if I could, wouldn’t you? Or I would go to the Mariana Trough. It’s an unreachable deepness in the Sea. I would like to see what’s chilling there.

This Saturday Viktor Palmer, together with Function and Cliff Lothar will take over the second room in De Marktkantine. Final release tickets are available here.