DJ and producer Bakermat has become known for bringing endless, sweet energy, good vibes, and smiles to faces all over the world with his upbeat, jazz-infused electronic music. But after five non-stop years of touring, it was time to take a break.
Many DJs and producers exude the persona of superhero-like figures, unintentionally convincing crowds and fans that they can operate like an immortal energizer bunny. But that’s just not the case. At the end of the day, these men and women are humans, and like the rest of us, they owe it to themselves to rest and recharge. This is just what the Amsterdam-based artist did for 6 straight months. The urge that prompted him to make this move was that he wanted “to go back to the feeling that motivated me to make music in the first place…creating fresh, original, innovative music demands rest, time and experiment.”
For those of you who aren’t familiar, Bakermat’s musical background stems in the influences of his parents. His mother is an opera singer and his father is a lover of all things soul, funk, and jazz. This classical upbringing allowed Bakermat to produce creative pieces, made up of uplifting, melodic, and yet very soulful sounds, that for many years were not present on the mainstream or underground scene. The Dutchman’s short hiatus gave way for him to rediscover his roots as he experimented with new music. He locked himself away with a collection of his most inspiring and diverse influential records to date to focus on reinventing his sound – a sound that he hoped wasn’t necessarily out there yet.
This Spring, Bakermat re-emerged to the scene with two new tracks and the announcement of his PARTYSTARTER tour, which kicked off in June. His originals “Lion” and “Do Your Thing” are by far his most eclectic fusion of funk and electronic to date. Recently, we got the chance to talk to Bakermat about his time off, his experimental process, and new music in the pipeline.
You’ve been on a break and working hard in the U-Studio for a few months now. How has the time been to yourself been?
Bakermat: Touring is a lot of fun, but very time and energy consuming, so I wanted to have a couple of months where I could work on my music without any pressure or limit. I love spending time in the studio and the feeling of creating something new makes me the happiest I can be. I’m not an introvert, but also definitely not an extrovert, I love a little of both. So I do enjoy DJing as well, but not continually. It’s all about balance I guess.
You posted a video on Facebook saying that you wanted to take time to try to find a sound that isn’t there on the musical spectrum. What’s your process like in the studio when you’re trying to create new sounds?
Bakermat: I believe that in order to make fresh, original and innovative music a producer should take the time to experiment and try new stuff. I really felt like going back to my roots trying to make music that isn’t out there yet. Actually this new direction came forth of me experiencing a high level of nostalgia when I was watching and old video of a Fatboy Slim concert at Brighton Beach on Youtube. The music he was playing was so much fun, so much more human and original than the current mainstream dance music. I wanted to bring back this spontaneous, dirty, imperfect sound again and started crafting. I wanted to bring a more modern version, but with the same feeling of that time in dance.
Do you have other releases in the pipeline that you can tell us a little bit about?
Bakermat: I have so much stuff in the pipeline right now! It’s all pretty diverse, I guess. I have an EP coming out soon with a rock inspired dance record of 165 bpm (the fastest I’ve ever made) and a more jazzy dance record. After that I have a very feel-good, summer anthem classic house single that will be my main single for this year. It’s super uplifting and more like my previous work. For the end of this year (fall/winter) I actually have something totally different; a pop/hip hop track. It’s a very sad and emotional song, which I’m working on right now with a hip hop artist from the US. Unfortunately, I can’t say who yet. But you’ll soon find out!
Listen to Bakermat’s “Lion” and “Do Your Thing,” below and check out his latest tour dates here.
Connect with Bakermat:
www.facebook.com/bakermatmusic
www.twitter.com/BakermatMusic
www.instagram.com/bakermatmusic
www.soundcloud.com/bakermatmusic
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